# Am i good to go?



## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Ok heres how it is. I got 2 Marineland Emperor Bio-Wheel 400 Power Filter and once i got them i put one in my tank that has been running for like 2years now and the filter was in there for about 18-20day with 2 other filter that were all good and everything then i put the Emperor 400 in my 75g i got along with the other one that i got that was not used and i added 6 goldfish about 10-12 days ago and plants 2days ago. i got a test kit called tetra test laborett but it doesent test nitrate only nitrite and i looked at the 2 lfs and walmart and couldnt find any kind of thing that tests nitrate.

I tested today and got:

NO2: <0.3 is yellow and mines mostly yellow but kinda green and the next block is orange so id guess 0.1 maybe idk

NH3 + NH4: 0mg/l

PH is like 8-8.5..my PH is 8 in my other tank so i guess its never going down..i added 2 rocks from my driveway to hold down a piece of wood in my tank n i read if you add a type of rock its makes you PH higher..but i added it yesterday do you think it raised it? (i use well water with a watersoftener)...should i do a 50% water change then test again?


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

well thats what it looks like for now


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Ooh...you use softened water? What's the softening agent?

Also, it depends on the type of rock whether it will raise the pH or not...can we get a close-up of it?


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Ok yea give me a few ill take the rock out and see if i cant get a good pic...


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Sounds good. I'll be able to let you know later this evening most likely.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Tison said:


> Ok yea give me a few ill take the rock out and see if i cant get a good pic...


Ok well my cuz took his camera which is the one i used for all the pics i have so i had to use my web cam so here they are..really bad but maybe it will help a tad bit?


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

ChilDawg said:


> Ooh...you use softened water? What's the softening agent?
> 
> Also, it depends on the type of rock whether it will raise the pH or not...can we get a close-up of it?


Is this what your asking for? if so thats what we use.


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## waldron (Jan 15, 2007)

nice tank


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Thanks waldron! I was thinking about getting some all black of the stuff you tape on the back of the tank but everyone paints it..i cant its already set up haha.

Hmm before work im going to look and see if the water softener is full..maybe thats it because that should lower the PH should it not?..well ill be back to check up at 9:30ish when i get home.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Ok that rock must be doing it cuz my PH is 10 now and outa my sink its 7.5 so can i use brick to weigh the wood down? hope some1 will reply fast so i can get this over with!


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Bump


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Tison said:


> Ok that rock must be doing it cuz my PH is 10 now and outa my sink its 7.5 so can i use brick to weigh the wood down? hope some1 will reply fast so i can get this over with!


Ok lastnight i took out the rocks and did a small waterchange because my PH was at 10! So i just now tested it and its at 8 so its back to where it was or has not went down all the way? because its 7.5 outa my sink.

PH: 8
NO2: <.03
NH3 NH4: 0


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Do you let it settle when you take the pH out of the sink, or do you take the pH straight away?

Also, are you sure the pH test kit is accurate? That's a helluva swing!


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

ChilDawg said:


> Do you let it settle when you take the pH out of the sink, or do you take the pH straight away?
> 
> Also, are you sure the pH test kit is accurate? That's a helluva swing!


well before work yesterday it was 8 or 8.5 then when i got home i tested again and the water was purple so thats 10 so i did a waterchange lastnight and took them rocks out then tested today and got 8 so it had a while to go back down to 8

Heres my test kit..if its bad ill take it back and say i never used it..what kit is a good one?
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...laboretttestkit


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

Try to get your hands on a couple quartz / silicate rocks. They are the rounded ones that you used to throw at cars as a kid. They should be inert in the aquarium and not have an impact on the water chemistry. Wait until the nitrites are down to zero before stocking the tank.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

shanker said:


> Try to get your hands on a couple quartz / silicate rocks. They are the rounded ones that you used to throw at cars as a kid. They should be inert in the aquarium and not have an impact on the water chemistry. Wait until the nitrites are down to zero before stocking the tank.


haha i have them in my grams driveway but there small there not going to hold down the wood...is there anyrock i can put in to lower the PH?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

I don't believe so. If you really want to naturally lower the pH, you can use peat in the filter (make sure it's okay for aquarium usage...)


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

8's not good for RBP's is it?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Not the best, but I think some of our members have done well with that.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

ChilDawg said:


> Not the best, but I think some of our members have done well with that.


hmm what do you think give it a try just do more water changes? and what do you think about the test kit?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Try running the test kit on some distilled water and see what the pH is.

As for the pH, it will be a PITA for you to continually change it, so I'd keep it as is unless there's major problems with keeping ps in such a high pH.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

How many p's do you think i can keep in a 75g..3 but i read 3 was a bad number?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

I'd read 2 was a bad number, but I'm not 100% sure that 3 is such a bad idea. That's about the max for a 75, though, AFAIC.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

so order 4 or 5 incase 1 or 2 die or get killed?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

That might work, but be ready to rehome if things go well.


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## tison 30 (Feb 29, 2008)

Yea i have a 35 sitting on my floor id just have to get like 1 bag of rocks and maybe another filter


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## WorldBelow07 (Dec 16, 2004)

Tison said:


> 8's not good for RBP's is it?


8 is fine for p's, my water was always around 8 and I never had issues with them, just don't let it fluctuate.


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