Water stabilization and bettas

Question
Hi there!

I just asked a question of Karen (well, a couple actually! LOL) but in looking at the experts' profiles I saw that you keep bettas exclusively now. Cool! since all I want is one little betta and I want to give him the best care possible.

I am going to cut and paste my same questions here and would also appreciate any off the top of your head advice regarding my (future) betta that you can give.

thanks!
Norma

Hi there!

I am new to aquarium owning (except when I was around 6 and had a goldfish - Goldie :-) - that I loved until he went to the big toilet bowl in the sky LOL!)

I have been researching like MAD in preparation for bringing home a betta. I want to do everything right so I don't lose the poor guy unnecessarily.

I have an Eclipse 6 system. I modified the output flow to slow it down and keep surface turbulence to a minimum with an aquarium sponge and plastic ties. Works great!

I also decided I wanted live plants and got Eco-complete and 5 different low light plants from aquariumplants.com - great plants and great service!

I got a master test kit for low/high ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a gh/kh test kit.

The tank has been set up since friday and is running without a fish. I wanted to wait a good week before bringing home baby. :-)

The natural ph of my tap water (I have well water btw, as I live on Long Island) is around 8.0 or higher and I was able to get it to 7.0/7.2 by mixing 1 part tap water to 1 1/2 parts spring water. The water that the fish store uses in all it's tanks is 7.2, so I didn't want to shock the guy by sticking him in 8.0 water.

I also let the water sit for a couple of days and used Amquel Plus for chlorine/chloramine etc.

However, I just got the gh/kh kit and it seems that while the gh of my water is ok (80), the kh is not (50). It appears that there is not enough natural buffering in it to keep the ph stable. Sure enough, I tested the ph of the water again and it's back up to 8.0.

I know that using ph up and down stuff really isn't a good idea and playing mad scientist with my water can be harmful as it can lead to ph spikes and all, but I think I should be using some kind of stabilizer/buffering agent to keep it from spiking. I really don't want the ph at 8.0 or higher for my betta. My water may actually be 8.2, as I'm having a hard time judging by the color card.

Any suggestions as to what I should do?

Also, I checked the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and it seems that while the ammonia and nitrates are perfect (0), the nitrites are .25. Is this normal? And what should I do? Should I do a partial water change or just leave it for now? Should I use a bit of Amquel?

thanks for any and all advice and suggestions!

:-)
Norma

Answer
Hi Norma,
Thank you for your letter. My system is a little different than others' so I'm glad you checked with me. I promote holistic aquarium care, which revolves around strict diet to avoid over feeding and use of the product "Cycle," which is just friendly bacteria.
You can find my easy care instructions here:
http://steamboats.com/aquarium.html
Feel free to print them out for future reference.
Here's what I would do. Start out with bottled water. Just ignore all the "levels" and treat the water with Cycle. You do not need chemical treatments if you start out with pure water and add friendly bacteria. All the levels will take care of themselves.
Your betta should do just fine if you do not over feed. Start with one flake or pellet per day and gradually increase as the fish grows. Do not go over four pellets or flakes per day.
Write back if you want to discuss further.
Nori