What Does My Tap Water Tell Me?

[peter1979]

My API freshwater kit arrived just npw and i thought that i would test my tap water to see what its like. Also i thought that it would be better to add my ammonia and start my fishless cycle tonight around 9pm as i am usually in at this time and can monitor it the same time every day.
Ok so i tested my tap water for pH, nitrite and nitrate.

pH looks quite high, its hard to tell if its 7.8 or 8 so i have decided on 7.9
nitrite nil
nitrate 40p.p.m. (could this be due to the heavy rain at the moment?)

So what does my tap water tell me please? I have a fuval edge nano tank (i know, i heard all the mixed reviews, but its a matter of space)
I have been researching fish and plants and things. Im interested in microrasboras, bettas and livebearers. From the rasbora range i like galaxys, chillis and exclamation points. Endlers livebearers look very interesting and i like the bettas. What could my water pH do to me in terms of restrictions to this fish list so far? I want some colourful fish for this set up, somehting that stands out and is a bit unusual.

I wll be starting my fish-less cycle tonight.

cheers
peter

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

It looks like my water parameters! I am surrounded by farmland and quite a lot of run off is high in nutrients and that ends up in the water supply. As long as the PH and nitrates remain stable, your fish should adapt (they don't look too mad!) It's when they fluctuate wildly that problems can occur.

Get your waterboard to come out and check. I did and miraculously my nitrate readings went down after they denied that they were high in the first place.

Good luck

 

[OldMan47]

The high pH is a good thing for your fishless cycle and also for many common livebearers, like the endlers.

 

[waterdrop]

The high pH is a good thing for your fishless cycle and also for many common livebearers, like the endlers.

Agree OM, but another thing occurs to me.. I seem to remember you advising another newcomer that endlers will reproduce at such a large rate that trying to deal with them in a nano tank would be really difficult. They really need a larger tank because of all the reproduction, don't they?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Endlers are indeed prolific. If there is no room to raise lots of fry, you should only keep male endlers.