Help Planning And Cycling My New Tank...roma 125

[kaivalagi]

Having such a low natural pH would be cool though....so long as you can get through the cycling...
Tomorrow you'll have the answer anyway

 

[KAISER]

So the tap water results are...

ph 6.6
ammonia 0.25 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm

The tank results (Day 13)....

ph 6.4
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm

Knowing the tap water ph is still at 6.6 has eased my mind a little, plus my tank hasn't dropped any further. I carried out a 40% water change on mine to try and bring the ph back up a bit.

Over the last week I have noticed brown algae growth which I believe to be common in new tanks. So tonight I never added any ferts with the water change (I usually do). Is this the right thing to do?

Also, I noticed a thin oily film on top of the water. Last week I set my fluval U3 to "B" for gentle water circulation for plants. I have now changed to setting "A" for surface agitation which seems to have helped. But I'm sure I read this is bad for plants? It removes the co2 which the plants need?

A quick update on my daughters tank...after yesterdays 90% water change, the ph was still at 6.0, but the ammonia is now at 0 ppm! The cycle must be causing the crash?? I changed 50% of the water.

 

[PDSimon]

You might want to post the plant questions in the plant forum, although I'm sure someone can answer here

 

[kaivalagi]

A good algae info page: http/www.theplante...co.uk/algae.htm

Brown algae / diatoms are common in new tanks, just clean it away as best you can

I wouldn't change your routine as this could lead to other algae issues...fluctuating nutrients, fluctuating co2, ammonia/over feeding as well as too much light are triggers for various algaes...have a look at the page I linked for details.

I would run your lights for at most 6 hrs at the moment, 4 hrs min for the plants to gain from it....if you go too long with lights on you are making it too easy for algae to take over.

You can get rid of the oily film by putting kitchen towel into a net and going across the water surface with it...something I picked up from truck on here. This sort of thing normally appears when feeding with high protein and oily foods a lot...

A film on the surface hinders any gaseous exchange on the waters surface, so co2 and o2 would go out of whack, one way would be risky for plants, the other for fish. Right now though I wouldn't be overly concerned as your stocking is low and you are doing very regular water changes.

I am by no means an expert on all of this, it is just what I've picked up from reading lots. I am not talking from experience on all of this so it might still be a good idea to post this sort of thing in the planted tanks section as PDSimon suggests.

 

[KAISER]

Day 14

ph 6.4 ?
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm

Although the ph is closest to 6.4 on the card, I think it might be below that. I think the ph started dropping on both tanks when I changed dechlorinator to API Stresscoat plus. Is it possible its responsible for the ph drops? (I'm clutching at straws here).

 

[kaivalagi]

Going through a cycle can cause a pH drop, if the pH goes too low the cycle will stall...dechlorinators wont affect pH...

You don't want it dropping much lower than it is...but at 6.4 ish it should be fine

 

[KAISER]

Ok thanks, is there any kind of time frame the ph drop lasts for?

 

[PDSimon]

You may want to add something like crushed coral if it doesn't sort itself out. I'm not sure what pH your fish require though. Personally i'd prefer a pH of 6.4....

 

[waterdrop]

I remember your tap water has some ammonia in it but I don't remember what the other tap water parameters were. Are you able to raise your pH much via the tap water being a higher value? pH of 6.4 is going to be pretty slow bacterial growth but if you have to work within a small window between 6.4 and whatever the tap water is, then so be it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[KAISER]

You may want to add something like crushed coral if it doesn't sort itself out. I'm not sure what pH your fish require though. Personally i'd prefer a pH of 6.4....

I hope not Simon, I dont fancy having to mess about with the ph for the lifetime of the tank

I remember your tap water has some ammonia in it but I don't remember what the other tap water parameters were. Are you able to raise your pH much via the tap water being a higher value? pH of 6.4 is going to be pretty slow bacterial growth but if you have to work within a small window between 6.4 and whatever the tap water is, then so be it.

~~waterdrop~~

I tested the tap water again a night or two ago Waterdrop, with the results:

ph 6.6
ammonia 0.25 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm

So as you can see, only .2 of a difference. Do tanks usually settle with a ph lower than what comes out the tap?

 

[PDSimon]

raising the pH is easier than lowering it... I think crushed coral is quite easy to use but all I'm saying is, if you need to raise pH, crushed coral is a good and fairly simple way I believe.

All depends on what fish you want

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, that is some difficult tap water to work with! Yes, most of the forces (cycling, wood etc.) tend to drive the pH downward somewhat (assuming not enough KH to sustain it) even after cycling, but more so during cycling. Are you going for low hardness/pH fish?

 

[KAISER]

All depends on what fish you want

Well, I'm not entirely sure what the final stocking will be, but I will be adding three more platies, about a dozen rummynose tetra OR harlequin rasbora, a small plec of some sort, corys and a dwarf gourami.
What are you going to stock Simon?

EDIT: Waterdrop, how important is it I target low ph fish? I seem to remember reading they are good at adapting to different ph ranges, as long as its kept stable?

 

[PDSimon]

A pH of 6.6 is good for south american fish such as tetras. Rummynose tetra are amazing fish, which I intend on getting. They are very sensitive fish and the tank should be matured before adding them. The usual time recommended is 6 months but I would probably try after a couple of months if I felt happy with it.

Don't platies prefer alkaline water though? WD is right, your pH is better off staying the same and not fluctuating. Fish like rummy nose will be effected by changes like this, quite dramatically.

I'm stocking my tank with

2 Bolivian rams - hardly dwarf cichlid

8 kuhli loaches

8 rummy noses - no pic required I think!

amano shrimp and blue pearl too

 

[KAISER]

Yes platies do prefer a higher ph, something I didn't know when I first got them to cycle my daughters tank. But now I have them and my male to female ratio is out of whack which is why I intend to add more females. I was going to get dalmation mollies too, until I found out they are brackish!
Dont worry, the fish will be slowly added over months as the tank stabilises, with the tetra not going in for about another five months yet
I only seen rummynoses for the first time last week in my LFS. They were in a group of six and shoaled together amazingly, I'm pretty sure they will be my final choice for a shoal.
What other south american fish would you recommend? Any good ideas for me to check out?