South American Biotope (Planning)

[themountain]

Awesome pics...the result is well deserved!

 

[Lusitanos67]

nice biotope

 

[Gwendal]

I love ypur tanks, nice pics too!

 

[DanielG]

First off, I just want to say your tank has turned out nicely!!

I had a question regarding peat filtering though. I'm in the process of starting up a 75 gallon that will match this tank pretty closely. What I'm having a difficult time with is my ph straight out of the tap...which is approx. 9-10. So I thought about converting my 20 gallon 'high' into a type of sump if you will. In there, I want to put a pillow case full of peat moss....any objections?

I contemplated switching out fish, to something that would enjoy the, not only hard water, but high ph too. I'm convinced that I won't be happy without Apistos .

What would be an ideal setup in my case? Mind you, I don't want any water drums sitting around my house or garage. I could also potentially buy RO water, but doing 20 gallon water changes every week may get expensive....any suggestions would help!

 

[Mike Wise]

If your tap water has a pH>9, then your water most likely is extremely hard. I don't think that even a 20 filled to the top with peat will help that much. You would be better off to lower the hardness first.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

What I'm having a difficult time with is my ph straight out of the tap...which is approx. 9-10

That is really high, you can't get much above pH8 from carbonates (dKH), is it soft water with NaOH added?

I'm not an expert on the Geography of the USA by any means, but I've seen those films of Seattle in the rain, is rain-water a possibility?

cheers Darrel

 

[Linus_Cello]

Or collect snow?

 

[DanielG]

Or collect snow?

It actually just snowed here, so i went out and collected 3 buckets worth of snow that has condensed into one 5 gallons worth of water...That isn't a permanent fix though.. 1/2 the year is all rain, maybe rain collecting would be a possibility.

Hi all,
That is really high, you can't get much above pH8 from carbonates (dKH), is it soft water with NaOH added?

I'm not an expert on the Geography of the USA by any means, but I've seen those films of Seattle in the rain, is rain-water a possibility?

cheers Darrel

The water out of the tap is 7° dkh, and about 5°-7° dgh. I have been adding small amounts of Calcium Sulfate just to help snails keep their shells on. Before adding the calcium i noticed that the snails had a hard time keeping their shells from just dissolving. I did notice that by adding the CaSo4 the water hardness went OFF the charts. And by that i mean 12° (214ppm+). So i've cut back quite a bit on that.

If your tap water has a pH>9, then your water most likely is extremely hard. I don't think that even a 20 filled to the top with peat will help that much. You would be better off to lower the hardness first.

Given the above information, my tap technically comes out 'Soft'. But i tested the ph at the same time as i did gh/kh which came out about twice the darkness of the highest ph on the scale (7.6). I would estimate it to be 8.5-9.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The water out of the tap is 7° dkh, and about 5°-7° dgh. I have been adding small amounts of Calcium Sulfate just to help snails keep their shells on. Before adding the calcium i noticed that the snails had a hard time keeping their shells from just dissolving. I did notice that by adding the CaSo4 the water hardness went OFF the charts. And by that i mean 12° (214ppm+). So i've cut back quite a bit on that.

That makes a bit more sense. General hardness is a measure of the multivalent ions, when you add Ca++ dGH rises. The shell erosion of your snails shows your water is soft (both dGH and dKH). Calcium sulphate doesn't change the pH, but the water may have NaOH added. I'd tend to ignore the pH because the water is soft, pH will go down fairly quickly. All the alkalinity is in the form of OH- ions in solution, there is no reserve of buffering and the pH will be unstable.

I'd use the water without adding anything, other than some Indian Almond or Oak leaves.

cheers Darrel

 

[Claire M.]

First off, I just want to say your tank has turned out nicely!!

I had a question regarding peat filtering though. I'm in the process of starting up a 75 gallon that will match this tank pretty closely. What I'm having a difficult time with is my ph straight out of the tap...which is approx. 9-10. So I thought about converting my 20 gallon 'high' into a type of sump if you will. In there, I want to put a pillow case full of peat moss....any objections?

I contemplated switching out fish, to something that would enjoy the, not only hard water, but high ph too. I'm convinced that I won't be happy without Apistos .

What would be an ideal setup in my case? Mind you, I don't want any water drums sitting around my house or garage. I could also potentially buy RO water, but doing 20 gallon water changes every week may get expensive....any suggestions would help!

Hi there Daniel,

I've only seen your questions now ...

But you have been advised by the persons that helped me most on this biotope experience ...
I've turned to ro water with some dissolved salts and works like a charm

Also I only use a small portion of peat in my filter and the pH drops to around 5

Have in mind that with those pH values, you wont have nitrification as bacteria won´t survive this conditions ...
Not a problem as at this levels NH4 NH3 isn't toxic to fish, but have to be really careful at water changes ...

If I can be of any extra help regarding , please ask forward ...

Regards, Claire M.

 

[locdog]

I do not know how much it will help, but I use a "peat cannon".
It's very simple.
You must cut off the bottom of the 2 litres bottle (you can use something bigger) and fill it with a peat.
Then pour water to it.

The parameters of this "tea" are:
pH - 4,5
GH - 0
KH - 0

 

[locdog]

I forgot to add that you must wrap neck of the bottle with mosquito net/stocking or something like that.

 

[lurch1000]

That looks good. Which peat do you use?

Thank you.

 

[Water Changer]

Locdog: how are you measuring the ph value with dark water?

I use the API test kits which change clear water to different colors - I don't think the liquid kits will work with tea colored water?

 

[Claire M.]

Locdog: how are you measuring the ph value with dark water?

I use the API test kits which change clear water to different colors - I don't think the liquid kits will work with tea colored water?

Hi there Water Changer,

You can use JBL line to test this kind of water or a pH meter/controller

Best Regards, Claire M.

 

[locdog]

That looks good. Which peat do you use?

Thank you.

I use ordinary garden peat with pH - 3,5 and no fertilizers.

Locdog: how are you measuring the ph value with dark water?

I use the API test kits which change clear water to different colors - I don't think the liquid kits will work with tea colored water?

Tropical pH test 4,5-9,5 and Zoolek GH/KH test.
It works fine with tea colored water.

 

[lurch1000]

Thank you sir.