First Time Testing Water Are These Readings Alright

[midnightrider]

the ammonia was 0 the ph was 6.0 the nitrite is .25 and nitrate was 5.0 .Its a 30 gallon tank with guppys and platies and mollies thanks

 

[mnbyiuopre]

Looks good right now-if you're cycling that is. The ammonia has dropped to zero so that's good and your nitrites and nitrates are look ok too.

 

[three-fingers]

the ammonia was 0 the ph was 6.0 the nitrite is .25 and nitrate was 5.0 .Its a 30 gallon tank with guppys and platies and mollies thanks

I would say no. Unless you are still cycling your tank, you shouldent have any nitrite.
And your fish need a pH over 7.0, they can go a little under but 6 is way too low. I've had trouble with guppies and platies at pH 6.5 and they died.
However that may have just been because they weren't acclimatised slow enough, and my guppies were very poorly bred

 

[midnightrider]

THANKS its been up for about four months how do i fix the problems with it and how do i raise the ph

 

[Davey Jones]

THANKS its been up for about four months how do i fix the problems with it and how do i raise the ph

Aparently if you are having troubles with low pH you can add more aeration this will degass the water and raise pH. I have noidea if this is true or not, it was some thing i saw on a forum somewhere

 

[three-fingers]

THANKS its been up for about four months how do i fix the problems with it and how do i raise the ph

Ok, well if it's been set up for four months it should be cycled by now...the issue is either too many fish or not enough biological filtration. How many fish do you have in the tank and what filter do you use?

What décor do you have in the tank? As some things like bogwood especially decrease the pH, so if you have anything that would alter the pH, take it out.
You should test the water you use for water changes too, since if it is below pH 7, then you will have to add something to the tank to buffer the pH.
To increase the pH you could use coral sand as a substrate, add a filter bag full of crushed coral to your filter (only works with external filters and not a good idea since you need the space inside the filter for biological filteration) or you could add tufa rock/ocean rock to your tank.
I've found that coral sand as a substrate does the the best job of increasing the pH by far, however it can be difficult to change over substrates so the tufa/ocean rock is a good 2nd option. Your going to want to use quite alot of that rock though, and keep testing the water so the pH doesn't go over 8.
Something else to note is that with an alkaline pH (over 7), some species of fish don't like this water so you should always research the fish before you buy them .

Aparently if you are having troubles with low pH you can add more aeration this will degass the water and raise pH. I have noidea if this is true or not, it was some thing i saw on a forum somewhere

Yep, that's true but unless you are injecting co2 to the tank it wont make a noticeable difference (and if you were aerating the tank would defeat the purpose of injecting the co2), plus if your air pump brakes the pH will go down again .

 

[aquaticadmirer]

Ok, well if it's been set up for four months it should be cycled by now...the issue is either too many fish or not enough biological filtration.

Or not enough maintenance/water changes.

 

[celaeno]

you can raise the ph slowly (0.2-0.4 every 3 hrs) by adding the appropriate amount of pure baking soda aka sodium bicarbonate, to the tank water.

 

[three-fingers]

Or not enough maintenance/water changes.

Not really, if that were the case there would be no nitrite reading but a large nitrate reading .

you can raise the ph slowly (0.2-0.4 every 3 hrs) by adding the appropriate amount of pure baking soda aka sodium bicarbonate, to the tank water.

That method works but I don't recommend it since it's not as stable and more expensive in the long run...

 

[thegnu]

your tank must have cycled in 4 months. i think your filtration isn't good enough or you have been doing water changes without dechlorinating the water. did you take the dead fish out. what is the pH reading of the water you are using for water changes after letting it stand for 24 hours. i would keep tetras and blue rams if i was you, they would thrive in your water but like what has been said live bearers don't

 

[midnightrider]

I do weekly water changes is there any way to bring the ph up and keep the fish i have the city water ph is 6.5 thanks

 

[three-fingers]

Yes, just add the ocean/tufa rocks or switch to a coral sand substrate like I said, then you can keep you guppies and platies .
Though IMO right now the more important issue is filteration as this is quicker to solve.
The nitrites in your tank will also be decreasing the pH very slightly...
You need a bigger/second filter .

 

[thegnu]

do as celaeno said. i would use it in say one gallon of water only putting a small amount in, say a quarter tea spoon, give it a good stir and in 12 hours test the pH. if it hasn't raised the pH by too much add a bit more and write down how much you are using till you get the pH to 7.5 then just keep doing this with your water changes so to gradually bring the pH up