stressed,,,super stressed,,, fingers xx`ed

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

ok ,,tank set up 130 gallons,--- tank cycled, ---my quarantined fish have been added to main tank 4 redheaded Geophagus,,4 angel fish,,2 corydoras,,--- set up water ageing barrel-- water is at 85 F --light sand-- little driftwood--So all seems good UNTILL i get to my water perimeters now this is what makes me nervous, OUT OF TAP Ph 7.6 High Ph 7.4 Ammonia 0 Nitrite o Nitrate 0,,,24 HOURS AGED WATER Ph 7.6 High Ph 8.4 ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0,,, WATER OUT OF TANK Ph 7.6 High Ph 8.4 ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0---- I have ordered a few other test kits for iron ETC... I am super nervous about my PH i really dont want to kill my Discus ( which i do already have ordered from Kenny and should be receiving soon).... Should I or Shouldnt I get theses fish I would rather give them away then have them die in my tank... what should i do?? should i try them or not risk it. OHH BTW i have well water... maybe im panicking over nothing,,,

[jmf3460]

WATER OUT OF TANK Ph 7.6 High Ph 8.4

what does this mean?

[Second Hand Pat]

I think you mean ph in tank is 7.6 and aged ph is 8.4? My tap ph is 7.4 and aged four hours is 8.2. I have both wilds and domestics in 8.2 water. Remember that the ph is drops after it has been in the tank for a while. I think you are ok. If you are still worried add some RO water.
Pat

[Kyla]

it also sounds like u r using both api ph testers - one tester is used for lower ph water and one is used for higher ph water. if u use the lower ph tester and get the highest reading on the colour strip, then ur ph might be higer than that soecific tester can detect, so you use the higher ph test kit instead. it sounds like u r saying that straight from tap ur ph is about 7.6? on the high kit and then after aging it is 8.4? on the high test kit.

if u r getting a reading of 8.4 ph in ur main tank u dont need to bother testing that tank again with the low ph test because the low test kit cant read ur higher ph properly. the choice between high and low testers are available because some ppl have high ph in some tanks and low ph in others.

this means that if u do a large water change with straight tap water the ph in ur tank may drop at first, and then rise over the day as it ages and settles out at 8.4. your best bet would be to age/aerate/heat your water for a day before using it in ur tank for water changes. lots of ppl do this using barrels and its a great way to prepare water for fish.

i have my fish in a ph higher than 8 right now (its been a while since i actually tested, i should do some tests now that i think about it). ph above 8 can be ok for discus as long as ur ph remains stable - having a stable ph is more important than the actual ph of the water or trying to "simulate" the discus' natural habitat ph which is very low. the last thing u want to do is try messing with the ph value of ur water to change it. most discus are acclimated to living in higher ph nowadays anyway.

in july my city is going to add sodium hydroxide to our drinking water and that will cause tap water ph to jump up to about 9.6 - way too high for discus! so i age my water in a big barrel and aerate and heat it for a day, and it drops back down to its resting ph, about 8.4 last time i experimented with a sample. once the water is aged it is ok to use for water changes and the ph wont swing in the tank - i def wouldnt want to add 9.6 ph water straight from tap to my tank because this would raise the ph and then the ph would drop again during the day! you would have the opposite problem with ur tap water - adding water to ur tank straight from tap would lower ur ph and then during the day the ph would climb back up again.

if u havent already got an aging barrel system set up there are lots of examples of them on this site. they take up a bit of space but they make wc a breeze.

[JonAir]

Ask kenny about his water. I had the same concern when I ordered my fish last year but he assured me his water was way high in PH. Can't remember his PH, something in the low 8's.

[DatDiscusDude]

Ask kenny about his water. I had the same concern when I ordered my fish last year but he assured me his water was way high in PH. Can't remember his PH, something in the low 8's.

+1 - In my past dealings with Kenny, he will walk you right through it all based on where his fish are coming from and where your water is.

CONSISTENCY - that is key! As long as you give them good stable conditions the fish will adjust. Obviously, you don't want to shock them and need to transition but Kenny will help there.

Also, a lot of this is prob. just nerves and excitement. Let it be joy and not stress and enjoy the ride!!!

[bluelagoon]

Hi,I'm just wondering how long the tank has been cycling.I would get another test kit for a least the nitrates.Readings indicate to me that the tank has not cycled yet.Your should always read some nitrates especially with stock in the tank..Ammonia is toxic with PH at those levels.Just throwing that out there.

[Kyla]

yah ur nitrate should have some sort of reading (zero is not normal nitrate result for a cycled tank) sometimes u really have to shake those nitrate bottles like crazy, even bang them in a table a bunch, to get the liquid mixed properly for testing. try that and retest the nitrate and see what result u get. what kind of water changing % and frequency are you planning to do? are you quaranting the new fish first or adding them directly to ur tank?

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Thank You All,,, i knew you all would calm me down and help walk me through this... lets see where to start,,,sorry Jacklyn guess i should have said water IN tank and not out LOL yep reading that does sound alittle confusing,,, Thank You Pat for posting your PH that makes me feel better seeing how high someone elses is and your fish look GREAT,,, I remember when you 1st set up your Wilds tank I have been on and off this site since way back then ,, sure seems like a long time ago,,, BUT finally im ready for my own Discus challenge.. There should be some sort of reward for the longest NONowning Discus member,,,LOL i think i would win,,,, KYLA thank You for all the info you put it in a sense that i could understand,,, really really makes a difference...and yes i have a ageing barrel set up it is a 45 gallon with heater and is aerated and temp is set at 85.... not sure on the cycling but pretty sure it is ,,,my Aunt breeds Angle fish has for years and thats where i got my 4 small ones from she gave me a really good dirty full of good stuff sponge and i squeezed all the brown out of it into my tank then put the sponge into my sump then i added my fish then i also added aquavitro seed for 10 days,,,So i HOPE hope its cycled,, i will be doing the 45 gal water changes daily or everyother day depending on how my fish like it. Jonair and Datdiscusdude Kenny said i would have no problem his is high 7 low 8 if i remember right,,, Bluelagoon all fish were in quarantine for only 3 wks then added to tank they have been in main tank for 3 wks now and all seems fine,,,I will try and take Pic later but tank is nothing special looks like most of them on here,,, but I like it and figure i can change things when all fish adjust...