Help Reading This Ph And Loss Of Fish After Water Changes

[thrujenseyes]

4 days after water change and adding wood:

PH: 6.8-7.2 (API says 7.8)
KH: up a little to 80
chlorine: still 0
GH: up a little to 150
nitrites: still 0
nitrates: almost no color in test, almost zero (less color than there use to be).

I thought with the addition of the wood (whether it be spider wood or red moor wood..still unsure..I thought the PH would lower a little (not that I wanted it to).

My hardness and alkalinity have gone up...is this normal?

I'd hate to do a water change this close to the last one ...I don't want to remove any good bacteria as I probably took some out by removing the old piece of wood and the little rock cave I had (to make room for new wood).

 

[Mark Z.]

I think you can do as many water changes as you want and not worry. I think the bacteria isn't in the water column; it only coats everything in the tank and the filter. I could be wrong.

 

[thrujenseyes]

I think you can do as many water changes as you want and not worry. I think the bacteria isn't in the water column; it only coats everything in the tank and the filter. I could be wrong.

i think you're right.

 

[thrujenseyes]

Ok, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get scolded but I'm going to tell you what I did yesterday when I went to lfs (aquarium center).

I went because their Instagram story showed they'd gotten in "Orange Sunkist shrimp" which is read can't hatch in freshwater like my amano. So I thought, great I'll add a little color and a new shrimp to nibble at the icky stuff on the wood.

When I got there I saw how super teeny they are and had to buy mesh to go around my filter intake (that would definitely suck him right up).

The first few he caught were holding and I didn't want that. We finally found one that wasn't and pretty sure it's a male. Mine!

So a girl that's been there forever talked me into Otto cats as she has them in a teeny nano and they're happy and healthy.

I knew I shouldn't have them if not in a school so I got three. Don't kill me!

Oh and I forgot to mention I already had picked out and caught three BEAUTIFUL endlers. Omg please don't kill me. I can feel you all getting ready to throw tomatoes at me.

So now I have 5 endlers, 1 endler-guppy, 3 ottos, 1 Amano, 1 Sunkist, and one nerite snail.

My tank is bustling with life and everyone is busy and friendly and seeming having a great time.
The ottos are sooo active and hungry and eating from plants to glass to rock to wood to filter to heater....etc.

All of the endlers are nipping from the bacteria on the wood and seem very happy. The only one I can't speak for is that damn lazy snail.

My water has cleared back up to perfection after the addition of the wood.
Barely any tannins leaching but w/c takes care of that so I never bought the purigen.

I now know about my water and feel more confident about water changes with the appropriate mixture depending on what numbers are hi or low.

I will continue testing all the time and water changing often at least 50%.

I hope everything remains steady but I'm more prepared now than before if it doesn't.

Oh and one last note...when I got home and checked my receipt I noticed that shrimp that is no bigger than a pencil eraser was 8 dollars!!!! What the!??!!

 

[StevenF]

Oh and one last note...when I got home and checked my receipt I noticed that shrimp that is no bigger than a pencil eraser was 8 dollars!!!! What the!??!!

Welcome to the world shrimp! Wild caught are cheep but if they are not wild caught they can be expensive.

as to the ottos it is questionable if they will get enough food form your small tanks biofilm. I would supplement there diet wtih some algae wafers or dried sea weed.sheets. Your stocking level is about as high as I would push it right now Enjoy the new tank!

 

[thrujenseyes]

Welcome to the world srimp! Wild caught are cheep but if they are not wild caught they can be expensive.

I thought it must have been a mistake?!? Goodness! I sure hope he doesn't get eaten!

as to the ottos it is questionable if they will get enough food form your small tanks biofilm. I would supplement there diet wtih some algae wafers or dried sea weed.sheets. Your stocking level is about as high as I would push it right now Enjoy the new tank!

I will be sure to keep a close eye on them. I adore them! Is there something they like more than anything else, so I can make sure they're happy and satisfied.
Right now they have a lot to chose from as I seem to have gotten a little more algae after the addition to the wood but things are looking good.

I tested my water today in fear it might be a little out of whack due to introducing a mob to my tank yesterday but everything was spot on. I was pretty stoked about it!

Oh and trust me I will not be adding anything else! I'm hoping and praying I can keep all these guys alive because I have never been so in love with a tank before.
It looks amazing and I can watch it all darn day!

(oh and thanks for not yelling at me....I'm sure someone will eventually).

 

[Mark Z.]

Your tank seems really cool! I like your fish choices. I really like ottos, but I have not had much luck with them. I bet it is very fun to watch!

Funny how the smallest guy in your tank is the most expensive! Sometimes it goes that way.

Mark

 

[thrujenseyes]

Your tank seems really cool! I like your fish choices. I really like ottos, but I have not had much luck with them. I bet it is very fun to watch!

Funny how the smallest guy in your tank is the most expensive! Sometimes it goes that way.

Mark

I will take a video when the wood clears up...the white patches are too gross to film! Ha.

And yes, silly little shrimp! I still can't believe i didn't look at the price while I was there! I got a bunch of stuff so I hadn't noticed when they rung me up.

He better live!!!

 

[Mark Z.]

I do the same thing sometimes!

 

[thrujenseyes]

I put some clips from my aquarium together so you can see the new inhabitants and see that the spiderwood is coming along.
Still a little fuzz but the fish are really helping it along.

The glass is still a bit icky with algae but I don't want to clean it too well just yet as I want the ottos to have enough to eat.

Ignore (if you can) the media bag over the filter. Until I get the correct sponge this will have to do.

Hopefully the link works:

 

[Mark Z.]

It looks really, really good! Perfect, actually!

May I ask what kind of plants you have? I know the anubia and the sword plant, but what is the one on the back left and the short ones in the front? Do they need any special care?

Your tank has great character!
Mark

 

[thrujenseyes]

It looks really, really good! Perfect, actually!

May I ask what kind of plants you have? I know the anubia and the sword plant, but what is the one on the back left and the short ones in the front? Do they need any special care?

Your tank has great character!
Mark

Oh thanks so much for the compliment!!!

As for the other two plants I'm not entirely sure what they are.

The smaller ones up front had the name Cardinal in them but when I look online they look like moneywort?! But I'm not sure.

These little plants have suffered since the addition of he wood. They got a fine algae cover on them like the glass but the ottos are loving them and helping them out quite a bit.

The other (ones all over the back of tank) appear to be Rotala indica (from looking at pics) but I don't remember but they grow like weeds!

I prune them every week and a half!!! I replant the clippings just by shoving them into the substrate.

 

[Mark Z.]

Thanks! I will look for them. Do you fertilize them with anything?

I have pretty low tech plants. Just anubias, moss balls and water lotuses. And they really aren't growing all that well, probably because I don't take care of them like I should. I would like to get some kind of plant that would contrast with the anubias. I tried pennywort, which I really like, but it didn't do so well, but if I can find it again I will try again.

 

[thrujenseyes]

Thanks! I will look for them. Do you fertilize them with anything?

Well....I was using seachem excell before realizing my whole water catastrophe. Since then I have not touched the stuff. My tank has been bare minimum on dosing anything as per Byron and Steve. I think in the last three to four months I've dosed a very teeny .2ml of flourish comprehensive just because I feel bad not giving the plants anything.

I expected all of my plants to shrivel and die but oddly they haven't but like I said the front low ones are not looking all that hot.

The other good thing about the excel was it killed any and all algae...even the black beard kind but there are way too many questions and negatives to this and I will no longer use. Somewhere back in this thread we discuss excel.

 

[Mark Z.]

Thanks!

I'm going to keep my eye out for those plants.