Total rehash

[Lynnzer]

County Durham - middway between Tyneside and Teesside. Aycliffe is good for me. In fact you just don't know how good. I can probably enlist/inveigle my wife into going there as we have a family member who is in a senior position in a Kitchen company that we will visit for ideas on our renewal
I mean 22 ph. This is a very hard water locality. 22 drops to get the colour change in the NTLabs test kit. Damn it, you can nearly chew the tap water

 

[Wills]

Ah so when you add lots of drops it is kh not ph 22ph would be lethal to just about anything haha I think battery acid is like 12?

It is high but it’s in the range for your rummy nose rasboras and pearl gourami. Some rainbow fish would work too.

definitely check out horizon such an awesome shop! Very jealous you live so close...

 

[Essjay]

We determined in another thread that it's the GH that's 22 dH. Northumbrian Water is one of the three companies which don't give numbers, but Lynnzer's postcode gives 'very hard' which means somewhere above 300 ppm (16.8 dH)

Chili Rasbora care

I have 8 of these little beauties coming today. I had planned on adding them to my tank of similar size fish, ie Galaxy Rasboras, Ember Tetras, Rummynose, Emerald Dwarf Rasbora and Neon Tetra. I'm having doubts now based on the water parameters. All the indicators show nil on nitrates, nitrites...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Lynnzer]

Ah so when you add lots of drops it is kh not ph 22ph would be lethal to just about anything haha I think battery acid is like 12?

It is high but it’s in the range for your rummy nose rasboras and pearl gourami. Some rainbow fish would work too.

definitely check out horizon such an awesome shop! Very jealous you live so close...

Just looked at the NTLabs box. I might have got it wrong. The tube that is used that needs 22 drops is for GH.
The others are as follows.
Ammonia is nil or as near as you can get.
Nitrite is Nil
Nitrate is Nil
Acidity checks OK at 8 on the picture, ir it has a tick next to it.
The Alkanity is at 2 - 3 drops which I believe comes at between 35 - 51 mg/L

I can't see any PH test so I was under the impression that the GH was the same. Anyway, Durham County shows the water as being very hard.

 

[Essjay]

Is this the box you have

Aquarium Test Kit - Aquarium Lab Multi-Test from NT Labs

The main factor in successful fish keeping and health lies in the maintenance of good water quality. Ammonia, nitrite and pH levels in the aquarium should be checked regularly. The Aquarium Lab Multi-Test Kit comprises up to 200 tests combined of the 6 key parameters to test in your aquarium...

www.ntlabs.co.uk

This one contains
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
pH
GH
KH


Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH are tested by adding a certain number of drops and comparing the colour to a chart.
GH and KH are tested by adding drops one at a time till the colour in the tube changes.

If 'acidity' is done by adding a certain number of drops then comparing the colour, that's pH.
If 'alkalinity' is done by adding drops one at a time till the colour changes, that's KH. Water companies use the term alkalinity for KH.


Interestingly, Horizon Aquatics at Newton Aycliffe has 'moderately soft' water; that is 2.8 to 5.6 dH and 50 to 100 ppm. It's just your part of County Durham which has hard water for some reason.

 

[Lynnzer]

Is this the box you have

Aquarium Test Kit - Aquarium Lab Multi-Test from NT Labs

The main factor in successful fish keeping and health lies in the maintenance of good water quality. Ammonia, nitrite and pH levels in the aquarium should be checked regularly. The Aquarium Lab Multi-Test Kit comprises up to 200 tests combined of the 6 key parameters to test in your aquarium...

www.ntlabs.co.uk

This one contains
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
pH
GH
KH


Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH are tested by adding a certain number of drops and comparing the colour to a chart.
GH and KH are tested by adding drops one at a time till the colour in the tube changes.

If 'acidity' is done by adding a certain number of drops then comparing the colour, that's pH.
If 'alkalinity' is done by adding drops one at a time till the colour changes, that's KH. Water companies use the term alkalinity for KH.


Interestingly, Horizon Aquatics at Newton Aycliffe has 'moderately soft' water; that is 2.8 to 5.6 dH and 50 to 100 ppm. It's just your part of County Durham which has hard water for some reason.

This what I have

A lot of the east coast of Durham takes water from under the limestone underwater pools that are part of the geographical make-up. Other parts take it from softer water areas and even have a good deal of it pumped in from Kielder Dam.

 

[Essjay]

The box does say "acidity (pH)" and "alkalinity (KH)" so acidity is pH and alkalinity is KH.

I know Hartlepool is different as they are supplied by a different water company. But I didn't know that other parts of the coastal area were not supplied from Kielder. You learn something new every day

 

[Lynnzer]

The box does say "acidity (pH)" and "alkalinity (KH)" so acidity is pH and alkalinity is KH.

I know Hartlepool is different as they are supplied by a different water company. But I didn't know that other parts of the coastal area were not supplied from Kielder. You learn something new every day

Got it. At last it has sunk in. So the Acidity is possibly just below 7 then. That didn't make sense when compared to other results, especially the Alkalinity so I checked that again. 1st thing is that I was suing the wrong amount of water and doing it properly with 5ml it now comes in at 13 drips to change colour, ie high alkalinity which would make sense with a limestone based water supply.

The tapwater is what most people would call normal then for ph at least.
So given the new readings, how does that impact the stock? It seems that ph isn't really much of a problem. Perhaps the problem is something else. Maybe the hardness? I could add peat or leaves if needed but I don't think will help.

 

[Essjay]

Hardness is the most important parameter for fish; pH can be slightly outside the quoted range for any species as long as GH is within it. KH is only important for stabilising pH. With high KH, it stops the pH changing. For example, when those pH lowering products are used, they change the pH initially then the KH pulls it back to what it was.

The only way to reduce hardness is by mixing tap water with pure water - rainwater (unless it gets contaminated with pollution) or RO water. I think we discussed using Asda bottled water in another thread.

 

[Lynnzer]

Hardness is the most important parameter for fish; pH can be slightly outside the quoted range for any species as long as GH is within it. KH is only important for stabilising pH. With high KH, it stops the pH changing. For example, when those pH lowering products are used, they change the pH initially then the KH pulls it back to what it was.

The only way to reduce hardness is by mixing tap water with pure water - rainwater (unless it gets contaminated with pollution) or RO water. I think we discussed using Asda bottled water in another thread.

Yeah, hardness then as I suspected. RO system asap but at least a mix of bottled, cheapest I can get, which seems to be Asda's at 17p per 2 litres. Could run out costing a good bit in the mid-term anyway with a 120 ltr tank and at least a weekly 50% change.

Edit.
Just checked the Glowlight Tetra. Way out in water hardness so that's a definite no-no

 

[Lynnzer]

Can anyone suggest another fish to make an active community. The Asian Rummynose and Purple Emperor Tetras are doing fine, and when I have taken out the larger fish mentioned in previous posts I believe I could introduce something extra of around the same size or slightly larger - up to around 50mm. Lemon Tetras perhaps? Up to 8 in number.Any others spring to mind?

By the way - I notice that there is no apparent algae growth in the tank since it was bleached out. All of the dead white algae still on plants is being picked off by the fish as food but as there's no new bloom on the glass and bogwood it might be confusing the plecs a bit but hey.... I'm so happy. For the 1st time I'm also seeing new plant growth.

 

[Lynnzer]

How about these gorgeous little fish then. Red Neon Blue-eye Rainbowfish. I think they will complete my stock. I have 20 coming BUT as eggs. I have a spare 12 litre tank to use to hatch them in and get them to a large enough size before moving them in with the other fish. I'll be splitting them into 2 groups if they all hatch, one for my tank in this topic and another for my nano fish tank to go with the CPD's etc.
Now the thing is, this is a new venture that I need guidance on. Eggs don't need a 12 litre tank so I'm going to hang a breeding net inside to keep them in one spot. Even then I'm wondering if that's going to be too much. Then after hatching they'll need infusoria but it seems stupid to add it to the whole tank or even into the breeding net as it'll just seep through.
Likewise in the nest step up in size I have both baby brine shrimp and vinegar eels on the go to feed them but again dropping them into the tank would seem wasteful as the fry would be unlikely to find them all. So what I need now are suggestions on how to do this.
I do intend to breed these when they become of age but getting that far is my immediate priority so if someone has experience of a similar project it would be great to hear about it

 

[Essjay]

There's some info on raising fry in here

Pseudomugil sp. ‘red neon’ (Pseudomugil iriani, Pseudomugil cf. paskai) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[ClownLurch]

The box does say "acidity (pH)" and "alkalinity (KH)" so acidity is pH and alkalinity is KH.

I know Hartlepool is different as they are supplied by a different water company. But I didn't know that other parts of the coastal area were not supplied from Kielder. You learn something new every day

If I’m ever allowed to visit my parents again I’m taking my API kit. As I’m intrigued by this Durham Coast hard water. Maybe if they moved to Barnard Castle I’d get away with it plus Aycliffes just down the road for Wills aquascaping shop. Sorted.

 

[Lynnzer]

If I’m ever allowed to visit my parents again I’m taking my API kit. As I’m intrigued by this Durham Coast hard water. Maybe if they moved to Barnard Castle I’d get away with it plus Aycliffes just down the road for Wills aquascaping shop. Sorted.

There are so many differences in this area. I used to work for a company called Wacker selling the rammers that compacted the earth back into trenches dug by the water boards. While not overly concerned with water quality I got to meet all the water board hierarchy. There was Northumbrian Water for large swathes of the area, then Sunderland and South Shields Water Board and Hartlepool Water Company in the immediate east coast areas. I went to school in Barnard Castle as it's mentioned but for the life of me I can't say anything about water from there although the River Tees flows through it and it's fed from the moors above it across to the Penrith area and including Cow Green Reservoir where I spent many a day fly fishing. High Force waterfall is a tourist attraction that I visited many times and I do remember that the water was pretty heavily stained so I guess the water locally would have been acidic.
I do know that the water for the Peterlee and immediate area is taken from underground lakes. Castle Eden Burn that flows between Peterlee and Castle Eden underneath the A19 and down into the sea at Horden is scarcely populated in plants. The burn actually has a footpath running alongside it for much of it's length and at the top end I know of one point where a "hole" exists in the limestone bed and water runs down into it to an underground cavern. At least I suppose there's a cavern but it is a fact that there are underground natural reservoirs. I sent a message years ago to a caving club to see if they would visit and perhaps open up the hole and take a shufti. Didn't get a response though.
Sunderland and South Shields Water Board took water from the Wear and Tyne and also some from Northumbria Water in the same area as Peterlee. No idea where the water from Hartlepool originated but I suspect it was drawn from similar underground reservoirs and perhaps the Tees.
I live alongside an offshoot from Castle Eden Burn down from the Apollo Pavilion and that burn is stuffed full of sticklebacks which is why I'm where I'm at now having had to catch some for my 4 year old grandson (now coming on 7). The water taken from there is high PH and with a very high PPM on my TDS meter. No good for me to use in my own tanks.
Oh, the pond at Apollo Pavilion is absolutely disgusting. It's changed drastically over the the years. All the bairns used to be able to play in it once over. I actually walked from one side to the other with my Rottweiler one extremely hot day just to cool us both off. It's only a little more than knee deep. The water was pretty clear, as is the burn that runs into and out of it, however when the Pavilion was under threat of being demolished the council did a makeover instead. The planted bullrushes at the point where the water enters the pond. It was supposed to be to control the algae build up in summer that overtook the pond and stunk to high heaven. I told them it was useless but they went a head anyway. The pond is no badly overgrown with bullrushes even creeping out onto the grassed areas running alongside and watercress is now spreading like wildfire right through the pond. I walked past the other day and saw a dead rat along with a shopping trolley, loads of floating bottles and beer cans, footballs, traffic cones etc and it's still full of algae. The sticklebacks are still there in thousands though as are many big black leaches.
So there you go with a potted history of my own area's water problems.
I'll just have to keep on with bottled water for now.