Newbie Questions + Ph Issues

[mark4785]

Your water has a pH of 7.8 then... what happens is it has a lower pH when it comes right out of the tap because it holds more c02. Bit of a pickle... It might be that the water pH is varying and sometimes its 8 etc

Ahh right I see.

Well, I've put the Mopani wood into the tank as can be seen below.

It's been submerged in a bucket for about 15 hours; changed the water in the bucket 3 times until the dark brown colouration subsided. It has only been in the tank for about 1 hour and 30 minutes and so far there is no orange tinge to the water; is that normal?

I'm going to keep a thorough record of any PH changes. Should my nitrates go high or my PH level go below 6.5, I'll do a water change to increase the PH slightly and of course remove nitrate.

The anubias is now tied to the bog wood, as can be seen below:

I'm going to buy some liquid carbon and bottled nitrate/phosphate as the tank has a deficiency of carbon and these sorts of nutrients (hence the ugly colour of the leaves).

I am currently using Tetra products to add micro-nutrients. Will these be compatible alongside 'Easy Life' branded macro-nutrient and liquid C02 products?

Mark.

 

[RadaR]

Yes it will

 

[mark4785]

Ok RadaR, great.

Good news is that the bog wood is lowering the PH; the PH level is almost 7.2. I have no doubt it will go down further and I just hope by the end of the week it has reached it's intended PH as I go away to the Isle of Jersey in August and my Auntie will not know what to do if something goes wrong.

 

[PDSimon]

How're the GBRs?

 

[mark4785]

How're the GBRs?

They are doing great now thanks. The female is no longer lerthargic on the base of the aquarium and they appear to have lost that pale look.

The only issue that is still continuing is that they tend to scratch themselves on objects as though something is still irritating their skin. I haven't exactly filled the tank with bleach so I can only put the skin irritation down to the PH changing.

 

[PDSimon]

Good to hear, are they both feeding properly?

 

[mark4785]

Good to hear, are they both feeding properly?

They are both eating blood worm but they will spit out flakes and pellets which is a bit concerning. I've created a topic here to try to establish how I entice them onto nutritionally balanced food.

Mark.

 

[PDSimon]

I think scratching is a symptom for a few different things, i'm not very good on the subject but one example may be internal parasites? What I would do is just get them enough healthy food as possible and everything should work out fine

 

[mark4785]

i can answer queston 1

Airstones do drive out the c02 which won't be helping the plants! Actual airstones don't provide that much oxygen compared to surface agitation which does. Depending on your filter but the best thing you can do for plants and fish is to get it to agitate the surface, causing ripples but not so much that its splashing.

vaguely to get things going...

anubias can certianly grow on the substrate but if the rhizome goes under the substrate it rots and the plant dies. I suppose you just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get covered up ifyou really want it in the substrate.

liquid carbon isn't essential but the crypts would appreciate it. If i were you i'd get some amazon swords(echinodorus bleheri). good looking plants and really easy to grow. Faster growing plants like this will hopefully out compete the algae.

Also I noticed changing around with my filter so that there is more circulation within the tank helps against the algae

Well a female Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish was found dead upside on the substrate this morning. My Dad and I noticed she and others of that species were at the surface possibly seeking oxygen. This would make sense as I turned the airstone off and the change in oxygen availability must have shocked one of them a bit too much. I've consequently turned it back on and the LFS who sold me the plants said that leaving the airstone on 24/7 wouldn't be an issue as together with the water surface rippling both C02 and oxygen will be drawn into the water faster.

I can't prove the oxygen concentration did kill the fish as I've been advised that such smaller fish do often die seemingly without reason.

I talked about the diatoms on the slow-growing plants. The LFS owner stated that newly cycled tanks often do get algae issues which disappear eventually. He said that I wouldn't need to dose c02; contradicting what a lot of people say on here!

As usual, I'm a tad confused now lol.

 

[PDSimon]

Sorry about the fish. I don't think it is an oxygen problem unless your surface agitation as insufficient. It should create ripples but not splashing.

Your plants were struggling, no they don't 'need' liquid carbon but it certainly would help them. He is right that new tanks often do get algae problems such as the one you have got though.