Stressed about tank

k19smith

I myself would only add 2 fish to start maybe 3, it will take longer but you have a better chance of the fish living.

Just do some research there are lots of fish that like the higher ph.

bigfish93

Glad to see you are asking a lot of questions. I am new to all of this myself and I can tell you from experience, research is the best thing in this hobby. If you are unsure about something, take a moment to think about it and look it up. Patience is also very important because rushing to put fish in your tank almost always leads to bad things.

You said that you have the API mastet test kit? If you do then it should have come with a pH test and a high pH test. The ph test does only go up to 7.6 but the high pH test goes all the way up to 8.8. As for the water conditioner, like others have said, different kinds require different amounts. I am using Aqueon water conditioner for my tank. It says to use 5ml for 10 gallons of water.

Like the others have told you, it is a lot easier and less stressful to get fish that require the water parameters from you tap. Trying to adjust these with chemicals is a very bad idea. In most cases it leads to pH swings which are deadly to fish. As KendraMc said, there are natural ways of lowering it, but its a lot of work. I suggest just leaving it alone as it will be easier in the long run.

There are a couple ways to cycle an aquarium, one of which being the fish in method that you said you were going to do. Most members on here would not advise using this method because it places a lot of stress on the fish and usually kills them. If they do not die then you are stuck with fish that I'm sure you did not want in your tank. I suggest using the fishless cycle or the silent cycle (for planted tanks). You can search these on this forum or google.

You are off to a great start by asking questions. I am glad that you returned the tank because it would most likely cause you problems down the road. Remember to take your time and enjoy the hobby. Afterall, thats what its all about right?

Electric

I once had some colored gravel that was causing my pH to shoot up about 2 points higher than the plain tap water. If you want to test it out, set out 2 seperate cups of untreated tap water, one with and one without gravel, and test the pH of each after 24 hours to see if that could explain the pH increase.

BarbH

Hello and welcome to TFK

Good advice has been given by other members. If you have an API master test kit than you should have the regular ph test and also a high ph test that should have come with your kit. It is not unusal for the ph right out the tap to be higher if you test right away. If you let the tap water sit over night and test the next day you will be able to get a more accurate reading of what the ph of the water from the tap is.

As for your substrate is it regular aquarium gravel? If it is something like crushed coral, this will raise the ph in the tank.

As for mollys they do better in harder more basic water, as any other livebearers do. I would question the reason why the store is wanting this type of fish to be kept in such a low ph.

For adjusting the hardness or ph in the water there are some natural ways to be able to go about doing so. Knowing what the GH and KH of your water is would be good. This information can be found out from your local water people. Many have this information available online, if you are unable to find out the information online than you can try giving them a call to find out the general hardness and the carbon hardness of your water.

KendraMc

if you buy the API master kit, it comes with a regular pH test and a high range pH test. also, a natural way to bring your pH down a little bit is to put some driftwood in or something like that. if you get driftwood, though, make sure to soak it in a bucket or something first, or the tannins can turn your water brown. not dangerous to the fish, just not as nice to look at.

brownmane

Everyone is giving you great advice. How are things going? I forgot, but my water started out around 7.6 and I have had my tank (20 gal) going since last October. I have 7 lemon tetra in it which were the first fish I put in it. I then found a nice piece of driftwood for my tank (can't remember when that went in) and my pH is now around 7.2. That is because the driftwood has changed the pH as well as mine is planted and is aged now. My tetra are happy and healthy. I added corydoras a few months later as they do much better in an aged tank.

As others said, take your time, a hobby is not fun if it is causing too much stress. You'll be happier if you have the fish you want instead of using fish to cycle a tank and then those fish are not what you want. I agree with bigfish93. Patience is the most difficult thing to have, but many good things come from it.