New to Tropical fish

[jackreeman2]

Hi, I have kept coldwater fish before, but this is my first time keeping tropical fish.

I have had the tank running since Saturday evening, I have used API Startup kit to kickstart my biological cycle, this treatment is to be used day 1, 14 and 28.
Having left the tank since Saturday, I added the gravel and decorations in Sunday night as this is when I had time to do so.

So we move on to today (Monday), I noticed the water in the tank is slightly cloudy so this prompted me to get some 5 in 1 test strips which I used just now, the results were:

- GH - 180
- Kh - 120 to 180
-PH - 7.0
- NO2 - 0
-NO3- 40-80

Can people please offer some advice on the above results, as I know that the GH and KH is too high for most tropical fish.

Will the cloudiness settle? Along with the GH and KH?
How long should I realistically be waiting before putting fish in?
Should I be purchasing anything to help it along?

All comments will be greatly appreciated!

Jack

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF, and to the "tropical" side of the hobby.

The cloudiness is normal and nothing to be concerned about. It is one of two things, or both. Sediment from the substrate when new or from the tap water can occur; this will settle out. More likely this cloudiness is a bacterial bloom, which will dissipate though it may take more or less days to do so. There are many different species of bacteria in an aquarium; most of us are familiar with the nitrifiers, that deal with the "cycle" of ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, but these are just one type. There are different bacteria that eat organics, and this is what usually causes the cloudiness. Tap water can be quite high in dissolved organics, and the bacteria that eat these can multiply very rapidly, especially by comparison to the nitrifying species.

How long should I realistically be waiting before putting fish in?
Should I be purchasing anything to help it along?

This depends. First, do you have or intend any live plants? If not, you will need to "cycle" before it is safe for fish. The product you refer to as API startup is presumably API's Quick Start, correct? I have not used this particular product; it claims to have nitrifying bacteria. It won't hurt, and it may help.

The NO3 is nitrate, and at 40-80 this needs to be checked. Nitrate can occur in the tap water, so you should test your tap water alone (no additives, just out of the tap) for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to see if any are present. I don't see how nitrate could occur within the aquarium so rapidly from any bacterial supplement, but I can't be definite.

- GH - 180
- Kh - 120 to 180
-PH - 7.0

Is the unit of measurement for the GH and KH either mg/l (milligrams per liter) or ppm (parts per million)? These are identical, meaning that 180 mg/l is the same as 180 ppm. There are several units of measurement for GH and KH so we need to be sure which one is applicable here. Assuming it is one of these, 180 would be moderately hard, equivalent to around 10 dGH. The KH at 120-180, if also ppm or mg/l, is what will buffer the pH so it will not fluctuate much if at all from what it is in the source water.

One question on this pH...if this is your own test, when testing tap water you need to out-gas any CO2 first, by letting a jar or glass of tap water sit 24 hours, then test. This is not needed when testing water from an aquarium with fish.

As for fish, we need to know the tank size; volume (liters or gallons) and dimensions too.

Byron.

 

[jackreeman2]

Welcome to TFF, and to the "tropical" side of the hobby.

The cloudiness is normal and nothing to be concerned about. It is one of two things, or both. Sediment from the substrate when new or from the tap water can occur; this will settle out. More likely this cloudiness is a bacterial bloom, which will dissipate though it may take more or less days to do so. There are many different species of bacteria in an aquarium; most of us are familiar with the nitrifiers, that deal with the "cycle" of ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, but these are just one type. There are different bacteria that eat organics, and this is what usually causes the cloudiness. Tap water can be quite high in dissolved organics, and the bacteria that eat these can multiply very rapidly, especially by comparison to the nitrifying species.



This depends. First, do you have or intend any live plants? If not, you will need to "cycle" before it is safe for fish. The product you refer to as API startup is presumably API's Quick Start, correct? I have not used this particular product; it claims to have nitrifying bacteria. It won't hurt, and it may help.

The NO3 is nitrate, and at 40-80 this needs to be checked. Nitrate can occur in the tap water, so you should test your tap water alone (no additives, just out of the tap) for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to see if any are present. I don't see how nitrate could occur within the aquarium so rapidly from any bacterial supplement, but I can't be definite.



Is the unit of measurement for the GH and KH either mg/l (milligrams per liter) or ppm (parts per million)? These are identical, meaning that 180 mg/l is the same as 180 ppm. There are several units of measurement for GH and KH so we need to be sure which one is applicable here. Assuming it is one of these, 180 would be moderately hard, equivalent to around 10 dGH. The KH at 120-180, if also ppm or mg/l, is what will buffer the pH so it will not fluctuate much if at all from what it is in the source water.

One question on this pH...if this is your own test, when testing tap water you need to out-gas any CO2 first, by letting a jar or glass of tap water sit 24 hours, then test. This is not needed when testing water from an aquarium with fish.

As for fish, we need to know the tank size; volume (liters or gallons) and dimensions too.

Byron.

Hi Byron,

Thanks for that advice.

I've purchased some live moss balls, which is supposed to reduce algae and keep it at bay (apparently).

I will retest the water tonight to see if it has changed.

The strips are measure in Mg/L.

The tank is 29L, and the measurements are 380 x 260 x 405 mm.

So just to be clear, you suggest to leave a mug of tap water for 24 hrs and test it again? Or do you mean its not necesary as its from a tank?

thanks again

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[NickAu]

I've purchased some live moss balls,

Marimo Moss Balls?

 

[Essjay]

Testing tap water pH - test water as soon as you have run it, and leave a mug of water to stand and test that after 24 hours. You will probably find they are different and you need to know both values.

Moss balls are not enough plants I'm afraid. Floating plants are better. Plants use ammonia as fertiliser, and if you have enough of them, they will use all the ammonia excreted by the fish in a tank meaning you won't need to cycle it, just add fish a few at a time and keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels for several days after each addition.

If you don't want to get more plants, you will need to do a fishless cycle using this method http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ If the Quick Start has worked, you'll go through this method in next to no time. If it hasn't, you will have spared any fish from harm.

You tank is quite small, so you won't be able to have many fish I'm afraid. The most suitable would be a betta (siamese fighting fish) - just the one fish, either male or female. I have a male betta in my 26 litre tank.

 

[Byron]

So just to be clear, you suggest to leave a mug of tap water for 24 hrs and test it again? Or do you mean its not necesary as its from a tank?

Essjay covered it, but I will just expand a bit to ensure what I said earlier is not being misunderstood. This only applies to testing pH.

Tap water may have dissolved CO2 in it, and this creates carbonic acid which in turn causes a lower pH. None of this is bad, it just needs to be understood. Testing tap water fresh out of the tap may or may not be accurate depending upon the CO2 dissolved in the water. Allowing tap water to sit for 24 hours out-gasses the CO2. Briskly agitating the water for a spell can also do this, though some say it is less reliable. Also remember that the CO2 level can vary from day to day, so this out-gassing should be done every time fresh tap water is tested for pH. Other tests of tap water for GH, KH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate can be taken without the wait.

Once the tank water has sat in the aquarium for 24 hours, obviously it will out-gas the CO2 just the same. However, in a functioning aquarium with plants, fish and bacteria, the natural organics breakdown also produces CO2 and this will tend to lower the pH over time. There could also be other factors that raise the pH, such as calcareous substances in rock or the substrate. The buffering capacity (the KH) of the water also affects the pH. So my point here is that these other factors may affect the pH test, so it will be accurate with respect to the aquarium water at that point in time, but may not at all be accurate with respect to the actual pH of the source water (tap water) itself. So if you want to know the pH of your source water, it should be taken from the tap as described earlier.

 

[jackreeman2]

Marimo Moss Balls?

Yes thats them

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk