Need Pointers

[BullDawg6580]

I've been keeping fish for about 4 months now and I have a 10 gal that's been set up for about 2 months.
Not to sound like a total noob, but I need pointers
I have 6 black skirt tetras and a pleco (please spare the lecture of how the pleco needs more room... I know. He's a baby now and I am working on getting a bigger tank.)
I also have some water questions
I tested my water today and I have a ph of 8.2. Is this too high? What inexpensive things can I do to lower it if it is too high.
Also my ammonia is hanging at .25 ppm. Is this bad? My nitrates keep climbing. Is my tank not done cycling yet?

Also... please be nice... I've got no idea what I'm doing... fish are just pretty and I want to keep them happy and healthy!

 

[Cossie1111]

8.2 is very high, Ph should generally be around 7.0
To lower you use conditioning salts (showmaster water conditioner) this will bring the ph down to neutral over a few days and keep it around that. Remember to us Ph is just a few small increments but to fish one increment is big. That said fish can adjust but its still better for it to be neutral.

Your ammonia will start to stress your fish so you can either do a 90% water change or add ammonia reducing products (i like seachem prime)

Nitrates you can leave up to 80ppm before doing a water change.

If you dont have a product that will lower ammonia, You need to do a 90% water RIGHT NOW. Ammonia is much more toxic at high ph and at 8.4 you have a real issue .You also need to add water conditioner to drop the Ph, if you dont have any driftwood might help.

 

[BullDawg6580]

8.2 is very high, Ph should generally be around 7.0
To lower you use conditioning salts (aquamaster water conditioner) this will bring the ph down to neutral over a few days and keep it around that. Remember to us Ph is just a few small increments but to fish one increment is big.

Your ammonia will start to stress your fish so you can either do a 90% water change or add ammonia reducing products (i like seachem prime)

Nitrates you can leave up to 80ppm before doing a water change.

If you dont have a product that will lower ammonia, You need to do a 90% water RIGHT NOW. Ammonia is much more toxic at high ph and at 8.4 you have a real issue .You also need to add water conditioner to drop the Ph, if you dont have any driftwood might help.

I'm just going off of what I've read to this point... but won't the 90% water change stress the fish out a lot as well... again, the only thing I know is what forums like this have been able to tell me.

Side note... I tried the conditioner and it worked for maybe an hour... would adding distilled water level it out?

 

[Cossie1111]

I'm just going off of what I've read to this point... but won't the 90% water change stress the fish out a lot as well... again, the only thing I know is what forums like this have been able to tell me.

Side note... I tried the conditioner and it worked for maybe an hour... would adding distilled water level it out?

The ammonia will stress your fish alot more, especially at your ph. You NEED to do a water change. Remember to dechlorinate the water before adding it.

Use more water conditioner if you have to.
Drift wood and peat moss can also help.

 

[Tolak]

What are you using to test the water, and what is your water hardness? Hardness stabilizes pH, generally water with a higher pH is also quite hard. You won't have much luck adding anything to adjust the pH of harder water, as first something must be removed; dissolved minerals.

If the fish are doing fine at that pH there's no reason to attempt adjusting it. Most commonly found lfs fish, which yours are, can adjust to a wide pH & hardness range. As far as the ammonia reading, as long as you are using enough dechlorinator, and rinsing the filter media in dechlorinated water when cleaning it may be down to the test kit being used. As a precaution a large water change with double the dechlorinator is a good idea. If you are going to start using a mix of distilled & tap go at it slowly, as a sudden change in hardness is much more detrimental than a sudden change in pH.

 

[BullDawg6580]

I'm going one cup/2.5gal... that should be gradual enough... right? and for the month that I've been testing my water the ammonia's been at .25 solid... I wished I knew what the hardness was... I can't find a test that's in my price range.

 

[Cossie1111]

It sounds like your going through a fish-in cycle.
Did you fishless cycle?

I suggest you do 25% water changes daily and a 90% water change today or tommorow.

Ammonia should ALWAYS be 0

 

[BullDawg6580]

It sounds like your going through a fish-in cycle.
Did you fishless cycle?

I suggest you do 25% water changes daily and a 90% water change today or tommorow.

Ammonia should ALWAYS be 0

Forgive me for I am noob... I didn't think I needed one when I started. So you think it's still cycling?

 

[Cossie1111]

Forgive me for I am noob... I didn't think I needed one when I started. So you think it's still cycling?

Of course, like I said, 25% water changes daily. Also dont add any new fish.

And that plec will start to become a bigger problem as time goes on.

 

[minnnt]

First of all, welcome to the forum! A fish-less cycle is usually recommended, but it isn't the only way to cycle a filter.

A fish in cycle is what you are currently doing, so daily water changes will help to keep your fish from highly dangerous levels of ammonia. At the minute a reading of 0.25 ammonia will probably be an irritant to the fish. Any higher and it will probably start to irritate them more, eventually leading to it burning them if allowed to get any higher.

Water changes are yours and your fishes friends. Quite a large water change is relatively easy to do with a 10G tank so shouldn't be too much of a pain or too time consuming and the effects will be greatly recieved by your fish.

A 10-15 litre water change each day will help you through the cycling process. If you notice higher readings then increase the percentage of the water change to accomodate.

8.2 is a little high, a way of taking a little off is to use bogwood, peat, indian almond leaves or alder cones in the tank or filter. This teamed with a gradual change to a 40/60 or 50/50 mix of distilled and tap water should create a much nicer environmnt for your fish.

 

[Xraymark]

Test your tap water for ammonia.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Your pH is fine for black skirt tetra and the plec will probably be ok too but it depends on the type. The worst thing you can do is start to mess with the pH. A stable pH even at 8.2 is better than a unstable lower pH. There really is no need to mess with it, leave it alone (get the message? ) .

The rising nitrate is a good thing if you really mean nitrate and not nitrite. If it is nitrate that's rising then your second stage bacteria are doing their job and that's good. If, on the other hand, you really meant nitrite is rising, that's bad and along with your high ammonia level is even worse. You definitely have, at least, a partially uncycled tank and the way to deal with that, as already mentioned, is to make frequent water changes. But you need a liquid test kit to do this properly, is that what you have? What are your current readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature?

 

[BullDawg6580]

Thanks guys... I do have a liquid test kit. How will I know when my tank is done cycling? No more ammonia?