What Kind Of Water

[tntprmtns]

I have a new 20 gallon tank that I cycled for about 10 days with live plants and then added 2 dalmation Molly's. My intent is to leave that set up for 30-60 days and then add a couple of mid tankswimmers and a bottom feeder.

My issue is when I removed the water for a change (cycle assist) what kind of water to add back in. Our tap water here is crap, so I get the bottled stuff (alhambra type) I'm using those to fill the tank but it really spikes the ph off the charts even with just a 5 gallon change, should I try distilled? Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[SirGoodFish]

What water did you fill the tank with initially? What was the PH on that? What's the PH on your tapwater? You said your tap isn't any good. Why not? If you can collect rainwater that might be an option. Distilled might not be a good choice since you really need the minerals. Some use Spring Water. Can you collect water from a friend's house periodically? 4 gallons would allow you a 20% water change.

 

[tntprmtns]

What water did you fill the tank with initially? What was the PH on that? What's the PH on your tapwater? You said your tap isn't any good. Why not? If you can collect rainwater that might be an option. Distilled might not be a good choice since you really need the minerals. Some use Spring Water. Can you collect water from a friend's house periodically? 4 gallons would allow you a 20% water change.

I used the bottle but took a week to get the ph right. My tap water has so many minerals that it comes out of the tap milky/murky. But I like the friends house idea. Thanks very much!!!

 

[dbanner]

A proper cycle will take a minimum of 4-6 weeks (less if you have someone to donate some mature filter media).

Cycling just for 10 days with live plants won't do much. You need to dose the tank with household ammonia and wait for your ammonia levels to drop to 0 and then redose. Ammonia will change to nitrites and nitrites will eventually change to nitrates. Only when your tank/filter can eliminate ammonia and nitrates within 24 hours are you properly cycled. Until then your filter cannot handle the waste your fish produce and so ammonia and nitrates will buid up. Any ammonia and nitrates over 0.0ppm (parts per million) is toxic to fish.

As you have already added fish to the tank you are now in what's called a fis-in cycle. This means you will have to do 90% water changes every day. Or sometimes even twice every day to ensure your ammonia and nitrites stay down. Please have a read of the fish-in cycle thread in the beginners section. It will explain what you need to do

I'd also advise you to buy your own test kit to check your water levels daily. A good one which a lot of us use here is the api liquid master test kit good luck

 

[SirGoodFish]

Yes - you will probably want the water ready ahead of time in case of an ammonia spike. Plants can take some ammonia out of the water but they won't do much unless there are hundreds of them. If you do get an ammonia spike then you will be ready to do a water change for the fish. There are also prodcts like ammo-lock that might help you in between water changes.

Over time your tank will cycle and you won't have to worry about ammonia spikes. But yes, I agree that getting an ammonia and a nitrite test kit is a good idea so that you can see when your cycle is finished or when your ammonia is too high.

Your fish will thank you!

Sir Good Fish

By the way, Mollies are the coolest fish. Nicely chosen.