Actually, I don't think I read it anywhere about the hands in the water. It was just that I had my arms in the aquarium for a while when I added the decorations and a few other times when I rearranged everything and I thought I'd mention it just in case!

As far as the ph, my tap water has almost no buffering capability, and I've read that the nitrification process can lower the ph. Since there aren't any fish in the tank right now, I can raise the ph with drops or temporarily increase the buffering ability with Neutral Regulator. I've heard that if the ph gets too low, say under 6.0, the cycling process can slow or even stop. That's why I'm watching the ph so closely. The problem is, once I get fish in there, I know I shouldn't try to use chemicals to change the ph because the changes can be too much for the fish. I'm hoping the cycling process is causing the drop in ph and that once the ammonia/nitrites are down that the ph will become more stable. I cycled a 2g tank with Biospira bacteria and so far, the ph hasn't fluctuated as much.
I'm going to buy some more Tetra Safe Start bacteria for the 14g and not add Prime or change the water. I'll keep you posted, and thanks for all your patience with me!

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