Well, I added the coral rock and the tank finished cycling almost overnight!!! I was so excited. So now the ammonia is going to zero within 12 hours and I have no measurable nitrites. I added epsom salt to raise the hardness and a little baking soda to raise the pH. Now I have a new problem. My ph shot up to 8.3 this morning. I'm sure it's because of all the stuff I added. Also, I got GH and KH water hardness tests because my tap water KH is so low that my pH was crashing as a result. My GH of my tap water was normal. Now my tank has the following readings. GH: 400ppm , KH: 100ppm. The GH is sky high and the KH is within normal limits. So I took out a lot of the coral rock and tested again. The ph is down to 8.0 and the GH/KH readings are the same. I think when I do my major water change before adding fish, those numbers will go down. The ph of my tap water is very high, about 8.6. I know you're not supposed to mess with the ph, but this seems too high for tropical fish. Should I adjust it down to 7.0 before adding the fish and keep an eye on it? I know if it goes up/down slowly it won't bother the fish. Or should I just acclimate the fish to a higher ph and let it drop naturally over time? I wish I could just not worry about these parameters, but if I do nothing, my water will get too acidic and the cycling process will halt. Is this not the most complicated cycle you've ever heard of????

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