PH, KH, GH and all that good stuff

[myrxn]

Hi everyone so i know most of the basics of all of the levels with freshwater fish stuff but I was wondering if I ever need to raise or lower levels of any of the levels we test for such as PH, ammonia, KH and like all of them?

 

[Naughts]

It is best to choose fish that are suitable for your water source in terms of GH, and as it is linked, pH and KH. It is not recommended to use chemicals to change them as fish need stable levels, fluctuating parameters can kill fish.

Ammonia and nitrite should never be above zero as they poison fish. It is necessary to do large water changes to reduce them if they show up. If you cycle a tank and are careful with maintenance and treatments they should stay at zero.
Nitrates should read below 20 as fish cannot tolerate high nitrates long term. Again they can be reduced via water changes.

This is about cycling, ask questions until you understand it:

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[itiwhetu]

If you every need to move any of these values. I would only do it through natural buffering. When setting up a tank it is important to decide what you want to keep in it at the start and set it up so those fish will be happy. Eg if you are going to keep African cichlids set the tank up with say a lime stone chip base. that will mean it will naturally stay alkaline and hard. If you want to keep Discus use drift wood and maybe peat in the base to make it naturally stay soft and acid.

 

[myrxn]

If you every need to move any of these values. I would only do it through natural buffering. When setting up a tank it is important to decide what you want to keep in it at the start and set it up so those fish will be happy. Eg if you are going to keep African cichlids set the tank up with say a lime stone chip base. that will mean it will naturally stay alkaline and hard. If you want to keep Discus use drift wood and maybe peat in the base to make it naturally stay soft and acid.

im having a betta and cherry shrimps

 

[itiwhetu]

im having a betta and cherry shrimps

So you just want everything to be as neutral as possible

 

[myrxn]

So you just want everything to be as neutral as possible

okay what should the levels be between? like the ph and stuff

 

[itiwhetu]

pH around 7. gH and kH around 60ppm. Nitrates <20, Nitrites and Ammonia 0

 

[Sgooosh]

basically you never want ammonia or nitrite UNLESS you are in the middle of cycling tank