Newbie questions

[Fly258]

I set up a new (first tropical) 60 litre tank 3 weeks ago with 16 neon tetras and 6 black widows, about 21” worth. So far so good and all appear to be doing fine, but I have a few questions regarding water quality.
I was told I need to do a 10% water change each week but I'm not sure what water to use to replace the existing. My tap water has a Ph of 9.0 so I added some Aquasafe for the original setup but I don’t like the idea of adding more chemicals to get rid of others. I have built a setup to collect rainwater but (typically) it hasn't rained since! What I would like to know is where DO I get suitable water from? Is rainwater soft?, what will the Ph be?, and is it ok to add direct to the tank?
I have a domestic water filter and the Ph from that is 7.5 but will it get rid of the chlorine as well?
So far my only option seems to be to filter tap water and leave it for a week to get rid of the chlorine.
I think the set up is about half way through the nitrogen cycle, but I’m not sure what to do if the ammonia / nitrite / nitrate levels get too high, do I change a percentage of the water or will this effect the cycle? I used the foam power filter from my old goldfish tank in this setup, will that speed up the cycle? ie bacteria already present?
Sorry about all the questions and any comments would be much appreciated,
Regards
Jim

 

[Andi]

Hi Fly,

Am a newbie myself and waiting (with baited breath) for the experts to reply . when I first had my hexagonal tank (app 24x18) I was a lfs dream, I bought everything possible to check/correct the water. The fish kept dying and a friend told me he did regular water changes from the tap - nothing else!. Now I don't bother with any chemicals - don't know ph level of tank or chlorine content of water. I may be lucky but my fishes smile at me every day

 

[William]

Firstly I would like to say don't get too worried if the answer to your post is not immediate, we have members from all around the world and so it usually is about 24 hours before you have advice from all sources However you should usually expect a sensible reply within a few hours, and a lot less at peak times

Now on to the questions Usually collecting rainwater is not a good idea, its usually slightly acidic however since you asked. I've not tried it myself but I have heard people say it is not good, besides as you say what do you do when it doesn't rain

pH 9 is not extortionate and if that is your tap water then the LFS probably has the same and so the fish may well be used to it

Do the testing using Ammonia and NitrIte test kits. Tell us your readings. Anything over 1 in either of them and I would suggest a 20% daily water change. Other people say more but thats whats worked for me. It will slow down the cycle marginally but is well worth it in the benefits for your fish . Neon tetras are not very hardy and unfortunately during hte cycle you may expect to lose a few of them The stuff from your goldfish tank may well have speeded up the cycle by a couple of days, thats what I did and my tank cycled in 2 weeks.

As for water changes, buy a gravel vaccuum preferably a manual one which you suck as it will never break down

I think thats answered most of your questions, I am sure other members can answer the ones I haven't

Oh and Welcome to the Forum!!

 

[Fly258]

Hi William, thanks for all the info and the welcome.
I have been out and bought a test kit and taken a crash course in applied chemistry and come up with the following results...........
Water temp..............25 C
Ph.............................8.0
KH.............................6.0
GH..........................>14.0
NO2...........................0.25
NO3...........................40.0
Comparing it with all the bumff that comes with the kit, it seems things could be better (and hopefully will be after a complete cycle) but not life threatening.
Any interpretation of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your reply Andi, I hope your method of "straight from the tap" works OK but I would check to see if you fish are actually smiling at you and not grimacing

Regards
Jim

 

[Andi]

lol Jim,

Smiling (I think). The tank is a little over 2 years old, I still have 10 of the original 18 fish. For me thats good . How long should my fish live ?(ok, ok, so its a piece of string type Q)

Hey, I'm here now, so maybe I'll learn a little more? and be a better father to my babies

 

[Dragonslair]

Hi Fly,
Master Sturgeon Surgeon here.
Looking at the figures you've given and in view of the species of fish you have, It does surprise me that you have not suffered any losses.
For your species of fish, the Ph max should be 7.5, the hardness of the water is not too important, but you Nitrite/Nitrate levels are far too high. These are common problems that all beginners have. It commonly known as new tank syndrome. There is a link somewhere that one of our past colleagues put up.(Davy) I would not recommend rain water. The reason is when it rains it catches all the atmospheric contaminates in the air and then brings it down, depending how you catch the water further contamination occurs. The worst comtamination is your roof and gutters.
Tap water is by far the safest and if you put in a dechloronator and something like ammo-lock then the water is reasonably safe. You need to test the ordinary tap water in your area first to obtain a Ph reading. There are products on the market that can reduce the Ph levels in your tank. I would advise extreme caution if you decide to use these. Any sudden changes to the Ph levels can and probably kill your fish.(Ph.shock syndrome) If you must use these chems. lower you Ph no more than .2 at a time. This may take a few days before achieving your desired level. The thing to remember, you must keep it that way if you bring down the levels using chems. Nitrites/Nitrates increase because there is no maturity in the tank and the friendly bacteria have not established themselves yet. Overfeeding can also cause No2/3 problems.

 

[Fly258]

Andi, that was supposed to be a SMILE smilie, some how it turned out wrong, it WAS meant in good humour, hope it works this time
Regards
Jim

 

[Andi]

hehe Jim watch your back - there are some newbie eaters in here



In the words of Kenny Everett - "its all done in the best possible taste"

 

[Fly258]

Hi Master Sturgeon Surgeon,
Many thanks for the info, I will try and sort out the problems with the ph once the nitrite/nitrate levels have dropped a bit. I was talking to the guy in my LFS today and he said they keep their tetras in the local tap water with the same ph of 8.5. He advised my not to change the ph untill the tank has settled down and completed the cycle. I suppose till then its a case of "hope and pray"
Regards
Jim

 

[slt]

newbe eaters , we kike newbes they taste , i mean they're great,
welcome and yes it is all done in the best possible taste lol

 

[Andi]

slt, I heard that, tho you love newbies - you couldnt eat a whole one

Hey, the old ones are the best lol
anyways - I'm a fish friend now, that mean i'm safe?

 

[slt]

hey eat an whole one, mmm now i'll have to consult with cryosi over that
one lol not quite sure how much rooms left ih the fridge hee hee yes the old ones are the best, fish friend,
should be safe now, lol

 

[Andi]

phewww, can sleep well at night now

hey, Cheshire sounds posh - but I know some pretty rough places there lol - where are you?

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

slt & cryosi have you seen the movie cannibal holocaust?

Or did you write it?

 

[Andi]

LMAO