Quote:
Originally Posted by WinnieTheHam
Fish tanks need to be cycled without any fish in the tank for about 1 month before you get the fish. This is so you can test the water and make sure the levels of nitrate and nitrite are at 0 (I think, haven't been researching fish for a while) and that the PH suits the fish you want to buy
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Actually, the numbers you want to see are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and >10 nitrates. There are different ways to go about cycling a tank. Fishless is better because it's very stressful to the fish and some can't survive it. Do a Google search for "fish-in" vs. "fishless" cycling methods. You'll need to acquaint yourself with with the nitrogen cycle for this
pH is not quite so important except for sensitive wild-caught fish. A lot of the captive-bred fish are quite adaptable thankfully!