Bettas & water hardness
- Thread starter chrissw22
- Start date
Parameters
My parameters are as follows:
Tank 1.5 Gallon Hex
pH 7.4
KH 120<x<180 ppm
GH 300+ ppm
NO2- 0 ppm
NO3+ 160 ppm
I know the Nitrates are extremely high. I finished my cycling like a month ago and never put fish in. Are the bacteria still alive?? Also, why did the Nitrates sky rocket like that?
I plan on doing several water changes over a few weeks to get the nitrates down and then get the betta.
My parameters are as follows:
Tank 1.5 Gallon Hex
pH 7.4
KH 120<x<180 ppm
GH 300+ ppm
NO2- 0 ppm
NO3+ 160 ppm
I know the Nitrates are extremely high. I finished my cycling like a month ago and never put fish in. Are the bacteria still alive?? Also, why did the Nitrates sky rocket like that?
I plan on doing several water changes over a few weeks to get the nitrates down and then get the betta.
Last edited:
That's not a bad set of parameters (except for the nitrates). I have about the same water, and my betta is fine.
A lot of the test kits' literature make you feel like your pH, GH and KH need to be at certain levels, which really isn't true for most fish. Your LFS will be selling fish from basically the same water, and they don't usually alter their water.
As long as you have no fish in there, you can "test" your cycle by adding the same amount of ammonia you added to get it to 5ppm, wait 24 hours, and it should be 0 again if your cycle bacteria are still there. You can do a 99% water change to get your nitrates under control, or do daily water changes. The bacteria aren't generally in the water, but on the hard surfaces and in your filter media.
A lot of the test kits' literature make you feel like your pH, GH and KH need to be at certain levels, which really isn't true for most fish. Your LFS will be selling fish from basically the same water, and they don't usually alter their water.
As long as you have no fish in there, you can "test" your cycle by adding the same amount of ammonia you added to get it to 5ppm, wait 24 hours, and it should be 0 again if your cycle bacteria are still there. You can do a 99% water change to get your nitrates under control, or do daily water changes. The bacteria aren't generally in the water, but on the hard surfaces and in your filter media.