Yet another cycle question..

I still can't figure out why your pH is that high. Very strange unless they changed your water supply. My wife's aunt used to live in Glenmire and the water they had the same parameters than mine in Ballincollig.

Try boiling a handful of alder cones in 2 litres of water and slowley and I do mean slowley adding the broth to your tank water. It sould take you abizt 2 hours to add all of it and check your ph after you added some of the stuff. That should bring the pH down which in turn will make nitrite less poisonous.

I live in a hard water area, and would not dream of keeping bread and butter community fish, the only advantage soft water fish have is they are availble in a local country side pet shop, but apart from having the stigma of been very beginerish they are not as nice looking as African cichlids, who would love your water and get ironically are just has easy to keep, its a pity there is no more shops offering adult ones as you have the ugly stage when the are juvenile (6 months old), except some of yellow species which ahve colour form day one.

I am of course generalising as you have specialise fish that live in soft water that are nice such as discus, carnial tetras, clown loach that are nice, but if you weigh up the pros and cons Africans may be for you, check out this photo.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/forum/viewtopic...=1751&highlight=

I was actually thinking that Cichlids may be more suitable to the water but havent really done the research on them yet! Definitely an option I think but I'd guess I'd have to re-home my faithful little Rosy Barbs who've put up with a lot over the last few weeks

If I was to use Alder cones to lower the pH - where do I get them ????

Declan

A good point Sean. the trouble is enthusiastic as some new commers may be to the hobby, not enough thought goes into the general water requirements for different species. it's something every one learns at some time, and can be costly mistakes. I think the African species is generaly a good example. they will take some hard knocks and adapt well. but then some combine different species of what is known as Malatangs!!. those that come from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika.these are endemic to those lakes only, and sometimes mixing the two can cause friction in the tank, for those wanting a general Community tank a lot of thought has to go into Compatability size and quantity, Trying to keep hard water fish in a soft water area, and vica versa is putting you on the back foot to start of with.There are certain rules that should be obseved before purchasing any stock. In M.H.O I think the first thimg that should be understood before setting up any tank is to understand water. Time and time again you hear the same old question about water problems. i.e Ph./ Cycling /filtration. these are simple requirements that anyone keeping fish should have a basic knowledge of. it's what keeps fish alive and in good health.and unless you have a reasonable understanding then stick with Hardy fish that will take anything you care to throw at them.Perhaps I am going off the subject, but what gets me is the fact that so many people go to great length's, to answer posts, and offer advice ,only for them to be repeated later. some times even contradicted.
This isn't meant to be a sermon but for those starting out please get advice before purchasing, they are a lot different to Goldfish and even they have certain req't's.

@Declan,

you will find Alder trees on the riverbank of any river in the county. Don't use the ones that have fallen to the ground but the ones that are still on the tree.
If you want to go African cichlids you will have to completely redo your tank. Out comes the gravel in goes the sand, ocean rock. Never mind Fr. Jack, the only two colours he can see are blue and yellow . You might want to get into contact with ChrisM on the forum. And you will have to add more filtartion because mbuna tanks have to be overstocked to solve aggression issues.

Declan

Dare I say it, I could did out some articles from my PFK's on beginners African cichlid tanks. I'll bring them with me to the next meeting for you.

Or of course there's rainbowfish. Hardwater doesn't always mean you HAVE to have cichlids.

Good call Richard, rainbowfish tend to be quite hardy as well. There are some stunning fish available at the moment. If I had the space for another 200l tank, they would go into it

Personally I wouldn't consider keeping Mbuna in a tank that size, you could keep smaller Tanganyikans though.

On the rainbow side of things, because you wouldn't have to change the filter or gravel, stay away from the lovely Threadfin's that you saw at Glens the other day, they're a rainbow that prefers a neutral to acid pH.

Size wise I would recommend Melanotaenia lacustris, Melanotaenia praecox, Celebes Rainbow & Pseudomugil's (also known as blue eyed's).

They look really drab in the shops & not worth their money, but if you know what your looking for (ie, you've checked out species pictures first) you'll see what they get to look like once they've settled in your tank & grown on. They turn in to amazingly striking fish that even few photographs actually do justice.

Thanks Richard, Holger.

Rainbowfish sound like they could be a good option.

I'll get the water right first but will start a bit of research on the web...

Declan

No worries Declan.

A site with a decent enough amount of info on Rainbows is this one www.australianrainbowfish.com/index.htm

Also this one is the best

members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Contents.htm

Regards

Richard

@Declan,

. Never mind Fr. Jack, the only two colours he can see are blue and yellow . You might want to get into contact with ChrisM on the forum. And you will have to add more filtartion because mbuna tanks have to be overstocked to solve aggression issues.

I only have one eye, probally from watching too many yellow and blue movies. 8)

Did you now if you mix the primary colours together regardless if its water colours or oils but get the muddy colour brown discus, its a new colour from dulux.

I.M.O ChrisM is the african expert on the forum you wont go far wrong if you take his advise.

Did you now if you mix the primary colours together regardless if its water colours or oils but get the muddy colour brown discus, its a new colour from dulux

Interesting concept that yellow and blue make brown.... :shock:

Did you now if you mix the primary colours together regardless if its water colours or oils but get the muddy colour brown discus, its a new colour from dulux

Interesting concept that yellow and blue make brown.... :shock:

Yellow and blue make green.

There are vast colours in Lake Malawi. Just look at the different coloured Peacocks.

on a more serious note. Out of sheer boredom I checked my tapwater last night and surprisingly it comes out the tap with a pH of 7.5. The council must be screwing around with it. All the more reason to use an RO unit. After my RO water has settled for a day it has a pH of 5.8. Much better for any softwater species.

Did you now if you mix the primary colours together regardless if its water colours or oils but get the muddy colour brown discus, its a new colour from dulux

Interesting concept that yellow and blue make brown.... :shock:

The primary colours are actually red green and blue, mix them and you get the colour "discus brown" I beleive dulux now calls this new range pastel brown discus code 0073809

green a primary colour? Another interesting concept :shock:

And what other fish can claim to have a colour named after it?

Labidochromis yellow ????

Finally, Finally, Finally!!!!!

I have ZERO Ammonia and ZERO Nitrite for the first time !!!!

Now time to actually start keeping fish as opposed to keeping water

Thanks to everyone for the advice and help, its been a loooooonnnng 10 weeks!!!!

Time to close this thread now I think... I'm sure I'll have lots more questions when it comes to actual fish.

Thanks again,

Declan.

Before ya rush out just make sure that the levels remain at zero. Add in ammonia in the morning and check it 5 hours later and if its zero (obviously the time depends on how much ammonia you add) then your fully cycled. If you test it only after 24 hours then you may not be fully cycled yet...but only a day or two away.

Best of luck with it...and congrats!!

Brilliant news Declan as I know it's been a stressful & steep learning curve for you over the past 10 weeks.

You can now look on the bright side finally, when I give you the articles on Fri, you won't have to drool at the fish thinking that you have to wait longer.