# Water levels



## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

What do the nitrate, nitrite, hardness, alkalinity, and ph levels need to be at for a redbelly


----------



## Timmy44221 (Oct 11, 2005)

I cant remember the diff on nitrate/nitrite, but one of em should be 0 and the other less than 40ppm. (standard for most fish). They prefer softish water with a ph at 6.8-7.0. Alkalinity will affect the stability of your ph.

I may be compleatly wrong.... I usualy referance the species profile on this site, and all my test tells me what the norms are, but they are not infront of me.

Someone will be along to correct me im sure. I actualy dont know why i bothered posed (I started writing and blank on the requirements).


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

The mpst important thing is to have an established filter with nitrifying bacteria to convert the wate into nitrAtes. You want zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and you want to maintain your nitrAtes between 20 and 40 ppm via water changes of 25-30% weekly. As far as pH goes in an aquarium if your tap water is between 7.0 and 8.4 they will acclimate fine, however lower the number the better imo.. There are 2 kinds of hardness, General and Carbonate hardness. Ideally it would be to have tap water that contains about 100 ppm for both. But will acclimate well in other conditions. As far as alkalinity goes, piranha come from acidic waters but again acclimate well in most water conditions. As long as you acclimate the fish properly you will have no issues.


----------



## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

thanks guys


----------



## lexi_lee (May 22, 2006)

Timmy44221 said:


> I cant remember the diff on nitrate/nitrite, but one of em should be 0 and the other less than 40ppm. (standard for most fish). They prefer softish water with a ph at 6.8-7.0. Alkalinity will affect the stability of your ph.
> 
> I may be compleatly wrong.... I usualy referance the species profile on this site, and all my test tells me what the norms are, but they are not infront of me.
> 
> Someone will be along to correct me im sure. I actualy dont know why i bothered posed (I started writing and blank on the requirements).


pretty close... how low can your ph be to be considered safe?


----------



## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

my p's are slightly discolored, is this because of the ph?


----------



## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

kirch24 said:


> my p's are slightly discolored, is this because of the ph?


It could be a number of things. What are your water parameters?


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Lexi Lee said:


> pretty close... how low can your ph be to be considered safe?


pH is only safe if it does not fluctuate too much. At 5.5 and below in an aquarium the nitrifying bacteria begins to die off. As far as your fish being discolored kirch24 if we are talking about reds than i wouldn't sweat it unless there is a problem with your water and as long as they are not stressing from being overstocked. As stated you need to post your water params to be sure and your feeding habits and schedule, tank size, filtration, temperature, stocklist etc.....


----------



## ICEMAN330824 (May 30, 2006)

jerry_plakyda said:


> pretty close... how low can your ph be to be considered safe?


pH is only safe if it does not fluctuate too much. At 5.5 and below in an aquarium the nitrifying bacteria begins to die off. As far as your fish being discolored kirch24 if we are talking about reds than i wouldn't sweat it unless there is a problem with your water and as long as they are not stressing from being overstocked. As stated you need to post your water params to be sure and your feeding habits and schedule, tank size, filtration, temperature, stocklist etc.....
[/quote]

DITTO ON WHAT HE SAID!

ICEMAN!


----------

