Newbie With Questions

[ninjatsu]

I recently decided to take up this hobby that always has interested me. I decided on going with a smaller tank to begin with because it will have to be transported on occasion. Through careful research I decided to go with Dwarf Puffers and maybe an oto? (I haven't decided to go with 1male/1female puffer or 1male/2female).

1. Since Dwarf Puffers love dense plants I want to switch over to love plants. Right now I have 4 small artificial plants in my tank now. If I wanted to put live plants in how would I go about it? Do I need to soak them in water then place them in the tank? Should I put them in before I start the cycling process of adding ammonia ect.

2. My tank has been set up for a week now. After I filled it I put the correct number of drops to dechlorinize the water. I haven't started the cycling process yet because I wasn't sure of the plant situation. But I did some tests on the tank water and tap water.

Tap Water
pH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

Tank Water
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0


I was really surprised that the tank water had a pH of 8.2. How do I go about solving this problem? Thanks in advance for any help you give.


Heres my amateur tank in process. I plan on discarding the right side of the tank and making it with live plants.

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It makes sense that your tap water and tank water parameterswould be the same as far as toxins are concerned. You don't have an ammonia source so therefore no ammonia or nitrite. The cause of the pH rise could be one of your decorations. From looking at the photo of the tank, it looks like you have standard aquarium gravel which shouldn't be an issue. Have you added any rocks or decorations that weren't purchased at the store? Also, if you are using liquid tests, make sure you are using the high pH for both tests. I think the regular pH test will show 7.4 as a max regardless of how high it is.

 

[ninjatsu]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It makes sense that your tap water and tank water parameterswould be the same as far as toxins are concerned. You don't have an ammonia source so therefore no ammonia or nitrite. The cause of the pH rise could be one of your decorations. From looking at the photo of the tank, it looks like you have standard aquarium gravel which shouldn't be an issue. Have you added any rocks or decorations that weren't purchased at the store? Also, if you are using liquid tests, make sure you are using the high pH for both tests. I think the regular pH test will show 7.4 as a max regardless of how high it is.

My decorations in the tank include a castle, artificial plants, and small bogwood bought at LFS. I soaked the bogwood in water for 4 hours before adding it to the tank. Maybe should have been longer? I use API to test the water and used high pH for the tests.

 

[rdd1952]

The bogwood wouldn't be an issue with the pH. In actuallity, it would tend to lower it slightly. Try running some tap water and letting it stand for 24 hours and then test it. It may be that the pH is rising after it has gassed out.

 

[ninjatsu]

The bogwood wouldn't be an issue with the pH. In actuallity, it would tend to lower it slightly. Try running some tap water and letting it stand for 24 hours and then test it. It may be that the pH is rising after it has gassed out.

I'll set out some tap water and test it tomorrow and get back to you. Thanks for the help so far