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Gourami Gloaming #4

Chocs are fine at ph7 Lindy, i kept them in London tap water for a couple of years no problems at all. One of the biggest killers of Chocs seems to be bacteria introduced via poor quality live food.
 
They were being fed the same food as all my other fish? Live bbs, frozen bloodworm and micro/grindle worm. I did catch them eating some dried food I'd put in for the corys and they also ate some of the algae wafer i put in for the ottos. I was surprised at what they would eat. The remaining 2 choccos seem to be doing fine in one of the big paro tanks and are starting to relax a bit.
 
In my experience chocolate gouramis tend to come in with bacterial/parasitic infection re transit & dealer (transhipper/wholesaler/retailer) process ... if they were in your tank past a couple weeks without any symptoms of "crossed fins" (external parasites) or flared fins/then lifting of the individual scales (internal bacterial indicator) and good activity levels, it's likely they were fine.
I mostly feed frozen foods (Hikari as they irradiate & vitamin load, being careful to buy from knowledgeable shops) but find the chocolates (once settled) are quite enthusiastic about most foods.

I do hope you get in the Valliant Gouramis - I've long wanted them but have only ever seen S. osphromenoides locally.

I'm hoping your pH settles, tank is awesome!
 
A real shame about the sand and the deaths, I really hope you can persevere and get the blackwater tank you dream of. Try putting some sand in a glass of tank water for a while to see if a pH change occurs. This way you can tell if/which sand is the problem.
 
I'm hoping your pH settles, tank is awesome!
Thanks!

Try putting some sand in a glass of tank water for a while to see if a pH change occurs. This way you can tell if/which sand is the problem.
Yes, I'll give that a go.

Up here they add stuff to the tapwater to make it less acidic and I'm wondering if this continues long out of the tap? Although this does not seem to happen in the fish room tanks. I get the ph right in the holding tank and then wc all the tanks from that.
 
Hi all,
Up here they add stuff to the tapwater to make it less acidic and I'm wondering if this continues long out of the tap?
No, it won't raise the pH for long, the reason is to do with buffering.

The water companies use NaOH to raise pH (bases are "H+ ion acceptors", and pH is the ratio of H+:OH-). Because sodium hydroxide is a <"strong base">, all the O-H ions are in solution, and there isn't any reserve of <"alkaline buffering">. Because of this, pH can swing from alkaline to acid really rapidly.

This is different from the alkalinity added by a weak base like bi-carbonate (HCO3-) where the equilibrium with H2CO3 (via CO2), still stabilises pH as acids accumulate (acids are "H+ ion donors").

cheers Darrel
 
Tested the sand on its own in a jug with water the same temp as tank water. Within less than an hr it has gone from ph6.4 to 6.9. It is Unipac silver sand. Could washing before use make any difference as I didn't wash it? I needed it dry so I could pour it around the plants rooted into the floss.
 
Hi all,
Tested the sand on its own in a jug with water the same temp as tank water. Within less than an hr it has gone from ph6.4 to 6.9. It is Unipac silver sand.
Leave it and see what happens, if it is carbonates in the sand the pH should carry on rising to pH7.8.

Because it is a quick change it maybe that the water wasn't fully oxygenated, so it could be an increase in dissolved oxygen causing the pH rise.

cheers Darrel
 
Ph seems stable but will keep watching...
Felt there was too much open water so raided some of my other tanks for more wood.
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One problem that keeps bugging me is trying to figure out how to keep flow, have some surface movement AND have floating plants? I have a full length spraybar about 2" from the water surface. I've tried having it at the surface but that is floater carnage. I could point it down more but won't get any surface movement. Is surface movement really important in low tech? Have been thinking of taking the spraybar off and just having water come straight out of the outlet pipe. ????
 
Aww man that looks great. Just like some of the 'topes shown in those nice long vids I've seen (and can't remember the name of:banghead:)

I'd be chuffed to live in there if I were a fishy :hungry:

I've used both spraybar and just the shepherds crook(?) in low tech tanks. Couldn't really tell the difference so went with the crook because I wanted floating plants
 
Wow James O, thank you very much! I'm trying to get this right before fish go back in. I've been thinking about getting some channa bleheri for this tank but I think I'd rather see gourami gliding and bettas sneeaking.
 
I think density makes a difference with floating plants. Once they've built up enough to form a big mat then the ones directly under the spray bar suffer but the rest do fine. Does cut down on surface movement though.
 
Hi all,
Once they've built up enough to form a big mat then the ones directly under the spray bar suffer but the rest do fine.
I've found this works quite well, but you tend to end up with just Pistia if you start with a mix. I can keep tanks with Limnobium, Pistia and Salvinia, with a bit of judicious thinning, but Phyllanthus always ended up out-competed and "sunk".
Is surface movement really important in low tech? Have been thinking of taking the spraybar off and just having water come straight out of the outlet pipe. ????
I think your fine with the spray bar below the surface, you are still getting the water turned over, and it is the movement of water that aids the gas exchange.

You could always run an Eheim venturi on the outlet if you were worried about oxygenation. I've had tanks with spray-bars, shepherd's crook and venturi and I'm not sure any of them make any real difference.

cheers Darrel
 
lindy, do love this tank, its got depth and complexity to it. think the tank dimensions help but the woof placement is really good
Thanks for your kind coments Nduli, I love your woof too ;)
 
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