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Aspen, thanks for the info. The chemical mix you mentioned may be the way for me to go. Another option may be a drip system. My local tap water does not contain chloramine. What if I drip, maybe 10% daily, tap water with nothing added. Will chlorine be a problem at that rate and do you think KH...
Ted, I cycled for "3" weeks with no change in ammonia level, then started water changes. Water change does not bring the PH all the way back to 6.8. Usually 6.4-6.6 or so and it may go much lower than 6.0. That's as low as my test kit will read.
Andrew, of the 5 things you mentioned, #
4 is...
Pack, it sounds like you and I need to swap out some water. See my thread, directly above yours. I think your situation is exactly opposite mine. Your KH is so high, you can't budge your PH. Mine is so low, I can't keep PH stable. The folks on this forum can help you. Good luck.
I have some 55 gal tanks ( 4' long ). I also have some 33 gal tanks ( 4' long )....80w divided by 55 gal = 1.45 watts per gal. ( too low, right?).............80w divided by 33 gal = 2.42watts per gal ( great ). In both cases the plants are all 2" from the light ( floating ), but from what I'm...
No blackwater extract or anything like that. I did try some crushed coral to raise KH. I'm not keeping the water lower than 6.8. It's doing that on it's on. I wish it would stay at 6.8.Ted, I started cycling about 7 weeks ago. Added 3ppm ammonia. 3 weeks later, no change, still 3ppm ammonia, no...
Jeremy, I think I am being misunderstood. Everyone keeps talking about low light levels. I'm trying to convince myself that what I am describing is not a low light situation. Remember all the plants are floating and will be 2-3" from the lights. Am I missing something? Or am I wrong? I want...
Hi again Andrew. No central filter. I have a central air supply, distributed by 1" PVC ( new from Home Depot ). New linear piston air pump from Jehmco. The air valves are from my old fish room. Air line tubing is new. All cycling tanks are using either sponge filters or box filters. Some of...
Ted, thanks for jumping in. I'm at a loss. To answer your questions. No chloramine in tap water. Low KH ~2. Aquar. Phar. test kits ( all new ). I'm pulling out my log book ( I've been testing and head scraching for several weeks now. ) I have let tap water stand overnight and then test for KH...
Planning to use one 4" "shoplight "over each 55 gal. tank. I know 2 watts/gal. is recommended for a planted tank and mine would be a little less that 1.5 w/ gal. sooooo, if I use only floating plants like cabomba, anacharus, hornwort, water sprite. Would they do well? I'm hoping the plants will...
Andrew, it's not just cycling tanks. I'm having trouble with tanks that have been running for months. Example: 55gal., 6 young severums 3-4". I changed 50% water yesterday. This morning PH <6.0, ammonia .25. How is that possible if bacteria is functioning properly? The only way I'm able to keep...
Andrew, I don't know how low the PH goes. The test kit I have only goes down to 6.0. I need to get another, but haven't yet. I'm convinced, however, that it goes low enough to stop, or seriously slow the cycle. If I didn't change water, I don't think it would ever cycle. I'm sure plants would...
Andrew, I think it is ammonia that is causing my crash. I'm sure I don't understand the science as well as you, but part of my problem is with tanks I'm trying to fishless cycle. The crash happens before nitrites or nitrates are produced. If I keep struggling ( water change after water change...
I drained one of my cycling 55 gal. tanks last night, refilled and added baking soda ( 8.5 tsp )to increase the KH. My target was 4. Someone told me that a KH of about at least 4 was sort of a threshold to keep PH from crashing. This morning the KH is 5, which sounds good but the PH is over 8...
So, it sounds like with a low KH, water changing and low bio-load is even more important than normal. Another question. Do you know specifically what causes the PH crash? Is it ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or all of the above. My problem right now is while cycling. When that completes I'll only...
Thanks Scott for your reply. I can't possibly change 20% every other day. ...I would be happy with my 6.8 PH if it's stable. After my tanks finish cycling, am I going to have this "PH crash" worry, or will things settle down? I'm hoping i can do my weekly 30% changes with fairly low bio-load and...
New poster, but I've been lurking. I'm a long time fish keeper in a new home with soft acid water. ( PH 6.8, GH and KH about 3 ). Seems great for west africa and SA, which I'm planning to get into. I have set up my fish room ( 22 aquariums ) and am into cycling the tanks. Problem. PH is...
I have an opportunity to purchase some of these. How do they compare with tank raised, as far as difficulty in keeping, feeding, spawning, etc. Thanks!
Thanks much
for your reply. I'm going to study it a little and when I feel more intelligent I'll run my thoughts by here again. Again, thanks for your length and well thought out reply.
ronv