zozo
Member
Hi, i got something intresting going on in my low tech tank i'm rather curious about and wonder if their as more scientific data to be found about the process.
My water parameters are moderately soft kH is a stable +/- 6 from the tap.
The gH changes from time to time and fluctuates from 6 to 12, not drasticaly but year ago i had gH 6 and last fe months i measure a stable gH 11..
My tap waters pH is relatively high end range of 7 from the tap, if the water is depleted after a few days it rests slightly around pH 8.
In the tank with plants and live stock in both low tech tanks it stabilizes at pH 8.5 tops and drops at night to pH 8.2 to gradualy rises to 8.5 during the day. All in all at the high side and very low on co2. I'm not in the danger zone, all fish take it very well and are very healthy, plants just grow slow.. I do not want to add any chemicals to lower the ph nor do i want to use peat, actualy just do not like to force Ph it just needs time to lower naturaly, so i wait patiently for the tank to mature propperly and go down on it's own.
The thing is i wonder about is this calcium deposit on plants with a rather high metabolism.. Caused by a high ph that i know so far.. I my case the only high metabolism plant life in the tank is Algae.. Now i have algae growing in the rocks and a little bit on the wood, which actualy only contributes to the looks, makes a tank looks more aged and can look nice. But now i see calcium deposit form on this algae, the algae gets encrusted with a yellowish, white crust.. On the wood i can remove it with a rasor blade.. But some rocks, not all, it probably must be a certain kind of algae growing there susceptible to it more than others. Dunno but it's the same rock all over. Anyway this deposit is rather resilient, it doesn't come off with brushing and with scratching you see it powder up like calcium deposit does on everyting.
Had some old anubias leaves covered with this stuff because they where covered with algae. New growth is not affected and got the algae growth on plants relatively gone. The rest of the plants grow slow enough not to be affected by this process..
Here is an example pic.. A pile of the same rocks all have algae on them and only one, the left lighter colered has this deposit.
Not that it bothers me so much, i can get used to it, the color aint that bad and guess the encrusted algae is dead and killed in the process.. Funny process actualy, algae growing itself to death in higher pH. Snails might use it to get building blocks for their shell.
Now i was wondering does this calcium layer disolves again if in time the water acidity lowers again. Might need another 8 months patience for that.. Are there peopel having experienced simular processes in their tank and how did that turn out on the long run??
My water parameters are moderately soft kH is a stable +/- 6 from the tap.
The gH changes from time to time and fluctuates from 6 to 12, not drasticaly but year ago i had gH 6 and last fe months i measure a stable gH 11..
My tap waters pH is relatively high end range of 7 from the tap, if the water is depleted after a few days it rests slightly around pH 8.
In the tank with plants and live stock in both low tech tanks it stabilizes at pH 8.5 tops and drops at night to pH 8.2 to gradualy rises to 8.5 during the day. All in all at the high side and very low on co2. I'm not in the danger zone, all fish take it very well and are very healthy, plants just grow slow.. I do not want to add any chemicals to lower the ph nor do i want to use peat, actualy just do not like to force Ph it just needs time to lower naturaly, so i wait patiently for the tank to mature propperly and go down on it's own.
The thing is i wonder about is this calcium deposit on plants with a rather high metabolism.. Caused by a high ph that i know so far.. I my case the only high metabolism plant life in the tank is Algae.. Now i have algae growing in the rocks and a little bit on the wood, which actualy only contributes to the looks, makes a tank looks more aged and can look nice. But now i see calcium deposit form on this algae, the algae gets encrusted with a yellowish, white crust.. On the wood i can remove it with a rasor blade.. But some rocks, not all, it probably must be a certain kind of algae growing there susceptible to it more than others. Dunno but it's the same rock all over. Anyway this deposit is rather resilient, it doesn't come off with brushing and with scratching you see it powder up like calcium deposit does on everyting.
Had some old anubias leaves covered with this stuff because they where covered with algae. New growth is not affected and got the algae growth on plants relatively gone. The rest of the plants grow slow enough not to be affected by this process..
Here is an example pic.. A pile of the same rocks all have algae on them and only one, the left lighter colered has this deposit.
Not that it bothers me so much, i can get used to it, the color aint that bad and guess the encrusted algae is dead and killed in the process.. Funny process actualy, algae growing itself to death in higher pH. Snails might use it to get building blocks for their shell.
Now i was wondering does this calcium layer disolves again if in time the water acidity lowers again. Might need another 8 months patience for that.. Are there peopel having experienced simular processes in their tank and how did that turn out on the long run??