New to aquaria, advice needed!

[MirandaB]

With your water being that soft Endler,Guppies and the like are not going to do well but Chili rasbora would be ideal.
Pea puffers I keep and breed and to be honest might be best left until you're a bit more experienced

 

[Ruskie]

Look up George Farmers YouTube video on making large water changes easier.

From memory I think he has the bucket under the tap in the kitchen with the tap running and a submersible pump in the bucket with a length of hose running into the tank. No lugging buckets about then.

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi @Jayefc1

...I'm not a scientist and have no proof either way apart from what I see in my tanks and having never used a single test in them would not spend my money on them

And it sounds like you don't need test kits. That's great. Save your money! But, if you ever find yourself needing to know your water KH or nitrite, for example, then there are reliable test kits out there.

JPC

 

[Jayefc1]

@jaypeecee well I'm sure you wouldnt mind telling us which ones and the science that you have to prove they are as reliable as you say

Cheers

 

[jaypeecee]

@jaypeecee well I'm sure you wouldnt mind telling us which ones and the science that you have to prove they are as reliable as you say

Hi @Jayefc1

If someone is genuinely interested in pursuing this, I could provide some information. But not if it's just a challenge. My time is much more valuable than that. And you have no need for test kits - you've already said that. Besides, the onus isn't on me to defend test kits. It lies with those who allege that they are inaccurate, useless, etc. I have nothing further to add. Period.

JPC

 

[Nick potts]

@jaypeecee well I'm sure you wouldnt mind telling us which ones and the science that you have to prove they are as reliable as you say

Cheers

Hi @Jayefc1

If someone is genuinely interested in pursuing this, I could provide some information. But not if it's just a challenge. My time is much more valuable than that. And you have no need for test kits - you've already said that. Besides, the onus isn't on me to defend test kits. It lies with those who allege that they are inaccurate, useless, etc. I have nothing further to add. Period.

JPC

Probably not the thread for this discussion, Sorry OP if it's taken your help off course.

For anyone who wants good actionable results, you could try ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) testing from the likes of triton, i used this a lot on my reef tanks.

 

[Ray]

On test kits I think people are at crossed purposes.

If your question is “I want to know if I have the right ratio of Potassium to Magnesium?” or some other complex piece of dosing arcana then the answer is that test kits may not serve your needs as you won’t get the accuracy you need.

If you question is:
“How hard is my water?” or
“Did uprooting all those crypts release any nasties from the substrate?” or as the OP probably wants to know:
“Where am I on this tank cycle graph and can I add livestock yet?”

Then I think that they will serve very well because accuracy is much less important. A debate about, for example, whether you have 2ppm or 3ppm nitrite is meaningless - in either case it confirms what you are seeing and guides your response.

 

[si walker]

Thanks for that Ray.
For someone who has a couple of troubles with reading some words and getting them mixed up now and then, having them colour coded is a great help.
In my perfect world, Nitrite wouldn't be called Nitrite. It would be Bitrite and Nitrate, Citrate. A>B>C.
Anyway thanks for the colour coding!!

Simon.

 

[jaypeecee]

For anyone who wants good actionable results, you could try ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) testing from the likes of triton, i used this a lot on my reef tanks.

Hi @Nick potts

ICP-OES is the definitive test method for many parameters, particularly for heavy metals. But, it does mean sending a water sample to a lab. And, it's outside a lot of people's budget. There are also a few hand-held photometers available from the likes of Hanna and ITS. I also thinks it's useful to give serious consideration to test kits from non-aquatics companies. Instead of limiting ourselves to the hobbyist companies, there are names like ITS, Hach, La Motte and Macherey-Nagel. Although they may be a little more expensive than the well-known aquarium hobby companies, I think it's money well-spent. Compare the cost of a few test kits with some of the aquarium lighting currently being sold, for example.

JPC

 

[mrhoyo]

Right, this went a bit off-topic but now I know I either need or don't need to test and they may or may not be accurate

I do have some tests so I will use them. Whether I need to or not, I don't suppose they can hurt.

When should I test to know which livestock is suitable? If I'm right the ph, GH and possibly KH affect my choices and can't be easily changed.

 

[jaypeecee]

When should I test to know which livestock is suitable? If I'm right the ph, GH and possibly KH affect my choices and can't be easily changed.

Hi @mrhoyo

You can test as soon as your tank is ready for livestock. And, you are correct - pH, GH and KH are the key parameters here. Of these, GH is the most important. When we refer to 'soft' or 'hard' water, we're really referring to GH, General Hardness. And this is mostly comprised of dissolved calcium and magnesium. KH, often known as 'carbonate hardness' or, more accurately, 'alkalinity' is the ability of the water to keep pH stable. So, when selecting fish, for example, look at the recommended water hardness and read these figures as recommended GH*. Good sources of useful data are:

https://seriouslyfish.com

https://www.fishbase.de/search.php

It is possible to change GH and KH but you'll be chasing a ghost if you try to change pH (by whatever means)!

*GH can be measured in degrees (dGH) or parts per million (ppm). Just ask anyone of us here if it gets too confusing!

JPC

 

[mrhoyo]

That makes sense, thanks.
I shall wait until week 4 to test.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

For anyone who wants good actionable results, you could try ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) testing from the likes of triton, i used this a lot on my reef tanks

Yes, <"ICP would be one way forward">, even then there are some issues because seawater is fairly consistent across the oceans, while freshwater is much more variable, ranging from the Rio Negro to Lake Tanganyika.

When should I test to know which livestock is suitable?

I wouldn't, I'd get figures from your water supplier, they have an analytical lab at their disposal an dit will give you a baseline of hardness etc.

After that I'd plant the tank up and <"once the plants have fully grown in"> (after ~ 6 weeks) I'd add the livestock.

cheers Darrel

 

[mrhoyo]

With your water being that soft Endler,Guppies and the like are not going to do well but Chili rasbora would be ideal.
Pea puffers I keep and breed and to be honest might be best left until you're a bit more experienced

I'm curious, what is it about the puffers that's difficult?
Aside from the rasboras, are there any other fish you'd recommend? I have basically no experience of keeping fish successfully.

I'm thinking of getting cherry shrimp and nerite snails, would they be ok in water this soft?

 

[MirandaB]

I'm curious, what is it about the puffers that's difficult?
Aside from the rasboras, are there any other fish you'd recommend? I have basically no experience of keeping fish successfully.

I'm thinking of getting cherry shrimp and nerite snails, would they be ok in water this soft?

Puffers need stable tank conditions, personally I wouldn't keep them in soft water,neutral to moderately hard suits them best ime and at the age most lfs get them in at it's difficult to sex them.
You will get issues with fighting if you end up with too many males to females and the females will get harrassed constantly.
They mostly prefer live food although they can be weaned onto frozen and they need a variety,too many people seem to think they just live on snails and bloodworm.
As to the Cherries and Nerites if the water is super soft you may run into issues with moulting in the shrimp and shell erosion with the snails but to be honest I've never kept anything in soft water so others might be able to advise better

 

[Hufsa]

Ive been having molting issues with cherries in 3 degrees gh water and they seem to be doing better now in 6 degrees, so I would recommend some hardness for them. 5-6 seems to be minimum from what I have read. Caridina might be better suited for very soft water but are classified as more difficult than Neocaridina so YMMV

 

[mrhoyo]

I'm going to do a hardness test before I next change the water to get an idea of what I'm working with.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[mrhoyo]

Right then, keep in mind this is the very first time I've used API test kits - I know some people said not to bother but I have them - but if I'm reading the graph above correctly I'm about bang on for 7 days (some photos are flash and no flash in case it made a difference):
Ammonia: 0.25?



Nitrite: 0?


Nitrate: 0?



Also,

KH (not so clear on this, it said water should go blue to bright yellow but it was never blue and bright yellow is subjective so I added 7 drops eventually. 1 drop should be 1 dKH):








GH:
3 drops 53.7ppm?


PH: 6.9?

 

[si walker]

Must admit that I will do the same thing when I get setup. I also bought a test kit some months ago in prep.
When you say ' reading the graph correctly' is that a graph supplied with the test kit? Im yet to even open it.

Thanks for sharing.

Si

 

[hypnogogia]

If your ammonia is 0.25 and nitrite and nitrate are 0, then your tank is not yet cycled.