Is there something wrong with my water?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. So the message is I need to raise my kH to stop any pH swings.

To do this, I can get a big filter bag to hold all the crushed oyster shell I have (a decent handfull) in the filter, will this be sufficient to raise kH? Will it raise it slowly or quickly? What kH should I aim for? I guess I can always add more to raise it further.

How do I handle water changes? My tap water has a higher pH and no kH to it which is different to the tank water I'm aiming for, so is it a case of little and often? What is 'little', how many litres should I aim for given the size of my tank?

I have a couple of good sized pleco slate caves in the tank, is there any difference between these and the tubes as far as the fish are concerned?

What leaf litter should I get? Indian almond leaves? I've just been reading these can lower pH which I think I need to avoid. Leaf litter is new to me!

Yes, a filter bag is fine for the shell grit. It will depend on how much water you change as to how much your dKH varies, I change about 10% of the tank water a day on smaller tanks, on larger tanks (over 100 litres) you can change a smaller proportion of water.

You can ignore the pH of the tap water, it all comes from NaOH, and doesn't add any buffering (all the OH- ions are in solution). The leaf litter won't have much effect on pH, Oak or beech leaves are good, you don't need Terminalia leaves.

Whiptails won't make use of pleco caves they are too big, they really like open ended tubes (like Bamboo).

cheers Darrel

 

[drooke]

Thanks for the further replies. I've ordered some bits which have arrived. I haven't got any leaf litter in yet but will keep an eye out for some.

I have lost another cory and a cardinal since my last post, hopefully no more to come.

I've just put a big bag of washed and boiled oyster crushed shell into my filter during maintenance. Hopefully this will increase the dKH, I plan to test the water again in about a week and see if there's any difference.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[drooke]

Since my last update I've tested the dKH twice, once every week. The API test kit I have is a little difficult to test with, with the first drop of solution added to the water sample the water should turn blue and then with repeated drops it should eventually turn yellow. For these last two tests I've done, it seems that there may now be some low reading of dKH due to the water turning very pale yellow on the first drop and not the stronger yellow it turns with the second. So I don't believe I'm at 0 dKH anymore but don't know exactly what the reading is.

Anecdotally, my fish seem much more active - in particular the corys which would previously gather in groups and remain stationary for long periods. This can only be a good thing.

In the last couple of days I have noticed the tank water turning a pale brown colour. I haven't made any other changes except for the filter maintenance and additional of oyster shell a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if this is related or a good/bad thing.

Dan

 

[sciencefiction]

This is good news. As long as you have any kind of reading, then the stats will stabilize. KH is essential in a fish tank(not in nature because it's not an enclosed environment and other factors come into play) The most useful bacs in a fish tank depend on KH, so any readable measure is good enough as long as it stays like that.

And you are right that your fish should start getting better. What happens to them in a tank with no Kh is shocking experience. Once you have the tank stable for a few weeks maybe you can try getting the fish you want but I still recommend drip acclimation.