raharlow
New Member
Bunch of questions related to water chemistry. Below is the tank as of today, day 24ish. Ammonia and Nitrites nil (from a high of 5mg/l+) (Sera test kit).
Water source is well, with a 7.6 pH and a KH and GH of about 3 (most recent lab test)
Injecting co2 via reactor. Good flow in tank. Getting about a 1.4 drop. Starting CO2, 2hrs before lights on, lights on 11 hours, CO2 off 2 hours before lights off, 4inch round air stone on in sump at lights out till CO2 on in morning.
Have RO/DI system, all new filters. pH of rodi is about 7.8 in the bucket. Using Apera pH tester.
KH of tank is about 4 (sera test kit)
Lastly, added 6 Otos and 3 Amano's yesterday. They all did well and did a great job cleaning up a bunch of diatom algae. Can actually see my drop checker now!!
Dosing daily, to achieve weekly ppm 9.27 NO3, 3.14 PO4, 12.34 K, 1.23 Mg, .68 Ca, 2.12 CO3, 6.78 Cl, 4.87 SO4 (home brew) and micros, FE dtpa .125. Fe Gluc .125, Mn .05, Zn .035, B .053, Cu .003, Mo .0018
Biggest question is pH. What is keeping my pH high. I read that pH of RODI is inaccurate, and when I have done water changes, I'm doing about 1/3 RODI and 2/3 Tap/Well water. I thought the RODI would help bring down Tap water but I'm still above Well source at 7.6. Rocks in tank are local and mostly granite, schist and quartz. No bubbles on acid test. Does a pH swing from 8.1 to 6.7 (CO2 injection) hurt the fish. Was hoping this tank would be acidic for South America but maybe I need to rethink that. I may add a bunch of Catappa leaves. My KH and GH are both in the 3-4 range. Plant growth has been good with exception of Buce melt. Eichhornia diversifolia, Hygro sunset, AR Mini, Mayaca fluviatilis all growing fast.
Anything else you can see based on my information. Thank you for your thoughts!!
Water source is well, with a 7.6 pH and a KH and GH of about 3 (most recent lab test)
Injecting co2 via reactor. Good flow in tank. Getting about a 1.4 drop. Starting CO2, 2hrs before lights on, lights on 11 hours, CO2 off 2 hours before lights off, 4inch round air stone on in sump at lights out till CO2 on in morning.
Have RO/DI system, all new filters. pH of rodi is about 7.8 in the bucket. Using Apera pH tester.
KH of tank is about 4 (sera test kit)
Lastly, added 6 Otos and 3 Amano's yesterday. They all did well and did a great job cleaning up a bunch of diatom algae. Can actually see my drop checker now!!
Dosing daily, to achieve weekly ppm 9.27 NO3, 3.14 PO4, 12.34 K, 1.23 Mg, .68 Ca, 2.12 CO3, 6.78 Cl, 4.87 SO4 (home brew) and micros, FE dtpa .125. Fe Gluc .125, Mn .05, Zn .035, B .053, Cu .003, Mo .0018
Biggest question is pH. What is keeping my pH high. I read that pH of RODI is inaccurate, and when I have done water changes, I'm doing about 1/3 RODI and 2/3 Tap/Well water. I thought the RODI would help bring down Tap water but I'm still above Well source at 7.6. Rocks in tank are local and mostly granite, schist and quartz. No bubbles on acid test. Does a pH swing from 8.1 to 6.7 (CO2 injection) hurt the fish. Was hoping this tank would be acidic for South America but maybe I need to rethink that. I may add a bunch of Catappa leaves. My KH and GH are both in the 3-4 range. Plant growth has been good with exception of Buce melt. Eichhornia diversifolia, Hygro sunset, AR Mini, Mayaca fluviatilis all growing fast.
Anything else you can see based on my information. Thank you for your thoughts!!