Ph

[Michaelsf90]

My fish are danios and peppered coreys and I have nerite snails and a rabbit snail. Are these all soft waters byron. I have only ever selected fish going off temperature of my tank. I knew ph was important. I think it threw me that my old tank was 7.2 and this is now 6.6

 

[Michaelsf90]

Your so full of information byron. Thank you. The ammonia is my biggest issue and I'm guessing regular water changes is creating more carbon dioxide and maybe thats lowering the ph?

 

[Byron]

My fish are danios and peppered coreys and I have nerite snails and a rabbit snail. Are these all soft waters byron. I have only ever selected fish going off temperature of my tank. I knew ph was important. I think it threw me that my old tank was 7.2 and this is now 6.6

The fish are soft water. The snails I will leave to others; some snails need hardish water for the calcium, some do well in soft water. But even at that, the GH and pH here is no where near problematic.

 

[Byron]

Your so full of information byron. Thank you. The ammonia is my biggest issue and I'm guessing regular water changes is creating more carbon dioxide and maybe thats lowering the ph?

You're welcome. That is another factor. As I said, all of this is very complex and best left alone to settle where it ends up. That will be stable.

 

[Michaelsf90]

So do you think from what I've explained the tank hasnt even cycled seeing as my nitrates are still absolute zero. There is some brown gung on the filter sponges and the biomax has turned a slight brown colour

I'm going go feed the snails zucchini once a week which is suppose to have calcium in. I know it takes time and patience. I just hope it settles soon

 

[Byron]

So do you think from what I've explained the tank hasnt even cycled seeing as my nitrates are still absolute zero. There is some brown gung on the filter sponges and the biomax has turned a slight brown colour

I'm going go feed the snails zucchini once a week which is suppose to have calcium in. I know it takes time and patience. I just hope it settles soon

I have not been following the cycling aspect here, just pH. Looking back in this thread, plants are mentioned...can you post a photo so I can see which and how many? Or describe them. And I take it there are fish too...which and how many?

 

[Michaelsf90]

I have a small java fern on a log. A large java fern on a rock bought from pets at home. That's a big plant. A small red leaf one. Two like tall growing ones with small round leaves and another bushy one with thin long leaves.

The fish is 12 various danios, 4 peppered corey, 2 zebra nerites and a rabbit snail

 

[Byron]

I have a small java fern on a log. A large java fern on a rock bought from pets at home. That's a big plant. A small red leaf one. Two like tall growing ones with small round leaves and another bushy one with thin long leaves.

The fish is 12 various danios, 4 peppered corey, 2 zebra nerites and a rabbit snail

You are not going to see any "cycling" in numbers (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) for a couple reasons. Primarily, the plants are taking up more of the ammonia than bacteria, and with plants there is no nitrite and thus no nitrate resulting. What does go through the nitrifying bacteria will be minimal and should not show up in tests for this reason.

Second thing that helps here is the size of tank and the relatively minimal fish load. Also, it has been two months, and all of this "cycling" stuff is old news now.

You wold benefit from some floating plants, both to shade the fish and because these are "ammonia sinks" so incredible water quality factors.

As for the ammonia, I am not sure. this has come up in several threads where ammonia is detected at very low levels like 0.25 or 0.5 but there has never been an absolute explanation. It can occur if chloramine is added to your water (not just chlorine). But at a level this low I would not bother. Floating plants would really seal this.

Eventually when the aquarium is established (a few months) you might see nitrate but it will be very low. My tanks all run in the 0 to 5 ppm nitrate range and have for over a decade now. I have a fairly heavy stocking in most of them, though it might be closer to the 0 than the 5.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Thanks byron. What floating plant would you recommend. Also how long should I soak driftwood for. The water its soaking in is a bad yellow colour now

I honestly think the ammonia is overfeeding so the bacteria in the tank can't cope. I need more glowlights as I only have 2 so my plan is to get the ammonia to 0. Get the ph steady. Wait a week. Then add 6 more glowlights

What I find strange is my small 25L. I had 4 danios and fed them say 2 flakes and that tank never had ammonia spikes. Are Corey's a heavy bioload?

 

[Byron]

Thanks byron. What floating plant would you recommend. Also how long should I soak driftwood for. The water its soaking in is a bad yellow colour now

I honestly think the ammonia is overfeeding so the bacteria in the tank can't cope. I need more glowlights as I only have 2 so my plan is to get the ammonia to 0. Get the ph steady. Wait a week. Then add 6 more glowlights

What I find strange is my small 25L. I had 4 danios and fed them say 2 flakes and that tank never had ammonia spikes. Are Corey's a heavy bioload?

No on the cory question. All fish contribute to the bioload, and the more you feed them the more they contribute. Think of something like this...if fish are fed twice a day instead of once, or twice as much food once a day, there is twice as much waste.

I personally would not fuss over the ammonia. And with a pH below 7, "ammonia" is largely ammonium which is harmless. Plants and nitrifying bacteria take up ammonia/ammonium the same. And floating plants will ensure this is not an issue even more.

Floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris sp.), Water Lettuce or Frogbit are more "substantial" and thus more effective at water quality and shade. Once settled, these will rapidly reproduce. Some stem plants make food floating cover, plants like Pennywort. The much smaller floating plants like Salvinia or the smallest Duckweed are better than nothing but they lack the substance of the larger floaters.

 

[Byron]

Also how long should I soak driftwood for. The water its soaking in is a bad yellow colour now

Missed this question previously, so here you are. Some wood has more tannins leeching out, or for a longer period, than other. Tannins are not harmful to fish, in fact quite the opposite for soft water fish. And this may lower the pH a tad depending upon the other aspects as I have previously explained. The main thing is getting the wood so it will stay where you want it and not float to the surface. If it will remain where you put it, or if you can somehow weight it down even temporarily, use it.

 

[Michaelsf90]

I'm soaking the wood in my other tank. I might leave it in there for a month and just change the water once every few days

I know what you mean about the ammonia but its hard not to worry and the nitrates being 0 is worrying me more it isn't cycled

It's all a waiting game now. I want to be able to get more fish to make each species happy but I cant until the tank is stable. If I leave zucchini in for say 12-14 hours it wont create a lot of waste will it

Will the floating ones stop my plants at the bottom from getting enough light?

 

[Byron]

It is not uncommon for nitrates to be zero in planted tanks, especially with so few fish.

Will the floating ones stop my plants at the bottom from getting enough light?

Obviously floating plants will reduce the light getting through, which is why fish appreciate them so much. But depending upon the plants, this may or may not matter. Low light requiring plants like mosses, Java Fern, Anubias appreciate the shade.

 

[Michaelsf90]

I think I shall try a floating plant. I have some fertiliser but I dont think I can use it with the rabbit snail. Il get there byron. I appreciate all the help

 

[Byron]

I think I shall try a floating plant. I have some fertiliser but I dont think I can use it with the rabbit snail. Il get there byron. I appreciate all the help

Provided they are not overdosed, the reputable/reliable plant supplements will not harm invertebrates any more than fish.