Baos

I now have a planted tank, I'm under the impression phosphate based ph down is bad, some have warnings about planted tanks on them. For the most part with the current ph down I have never seen huge ph spikes even with the extremely low kh. I'll move my target ph to 6.8 on my next water change which should help the ph down in not eating so much kh. I don't currently age my water, If you could recommend a reliable container to hold 30g of water, which is what I change once a week, I'll go get one. I have ordered a co2 system, though not a tank and valve. The idea that the tank could accidentally empty out completely and I would have dead fish in the morning is scary. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...em=160275028563 has some newer ideas applied to it. I've seen some similar physics in which aluminum or stainless steel(can't remember) was used in a similar way to fracture water producing hydrogen and oxygen in mass quantities. The one I've ordered is rated for 100g tank according to the seller. I am planning to trial it at full power in a 10g while monitoring what it does to everything ph/kh/gh/co2(at least I can get a color change). As for my current co2 monitor, I'm utilizing the water previous to my tank water change, after the initial spike, it turned blue and has since stayed blue.

In the other thread I used basically baking soda to up alkalinity and got a ph spike which stressed the fish. After which I kept my recipe the same and instead of filling the 5g bucket lower than the 6l line, I dip a little above it. I now ph balance the 5g bucket inclusive of the ro water, I used to just ph balance 6L of water and then add 10L ro. Other than that I use ONE chemical. I did monitor a co2 spike after the water change, I did nothing different. my water has been this way for about a year now. I've also been told ph shock doesn't actually exist, I was told it was osmotic shock and I'm under the impression unless co2 reaches toxic levels, it shouldn't shock the fish. The main reason my tank is this way, it was recommended by the discus breeder at http://www.familypetcentre.com/ and one day when I'm absolutely 100% sure I can maintain this water, I'll be adding discus. I just don't think discus would be good in tap water, plus having to worry about amonia spikes.

Sorry to hear. it could be worse though. my entire stuck got eaten by a sailfin pleco blocking the only exit. burn walmart

I use an extremely tiny spoon. If I remember right 32 of them equals a teaspoon. 6 spoonfulls for one 5gallon bucket(6L of edm tap and 10L of ro). And edmonton tap water varries from needing 3 to 6 depending on the month. I check the first and second buckets with ph tester, then make the rest to suite.

my ph down contains no phosphates whatsoever. the msds says Sodium Bisulfate Anhydrous (NaHSO4). http://www.realclearproducts.com/LowerspH.pdf msds I did a google for "NaHSO4 planted aquarium" and got some decent results. specifically http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/archi...hp/t-11956.html . More specifically this: ____ You should not add any more NaHSO4. Na if accumulated in the tank will cause problems to your plants. Yes, NaHSO4 being acidic will cause more CO2 to be release from the carbonates. That is only temporary. The CO2 will fall to the equilibrium level after a while. Why do you have NaHSO4 around? It is quite acidic and corrosive. Be careful when handling it. ___ Which completely explains what happened to the alkalinity after I ph down( my emergency thread http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=19405 ) and also explains the co2 spike I saw yesterday after a 1/3 water change. The redsea tester( http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=20233 ) I have also seems to be working with aquarium water. it's blue out of the aquarium, and while in it moves between green/yellow though I havn't monitored it long enough with the same solution to know exactly when it's higher/lower. So, does the chart apply to my equilibrium? And any other input on this weird ph down being sold in fish stores? It's been stable for over a year except when I played with the mixture due to kh fears.

I'm very new to the planted tank. I've got discus water kh about 2 degrees (been run that way for a year). ph about 6.2-6.4. Very very soft water 10L of ro to 6L of tap. co2.. well.. the redsea tester with inaccurate water initially said too much but now has turned green. I know a lot of you add co2 to your tank, I've been getting told that charts between kh and ph are accurate by some, while others add co2 to their tanks. 300 bux as opposed to ph downing and getting the same results.. with my current tank stats it would put my co2 at 24-37. So, you can understand my confusion when some shop owners tell me I need a co2 system to see lush growth while others tell me those charts are accurate. (fyi I use a ph down ment for ponds, plants and the whole bit)

I thought this one was quite unique and very artistic. http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp317/z...sh-aquarium.jpg

Well, I watched them breed once, and now I'm watching them do it again. Only this time the male isn't guarding the eggs with the female as much. He's completely avoiding being seen in the area. I thought it was rather comical. He does take over the guarding when she goes looking for food.

The instructions state Green: Optimum level of CO2 Yellow: Too high level of CO2 Blue: Insufficient level of CO2

When I had this problem I used a 10g topfin filter. it sucks all the duckweed inside and after about 3 days you don't have much left. After 2 weeks remove the filter and be duckweed free. fyi I used this filter on a 30g aquarium

My attempt to make a 4dkh solution utilizing nutrafin's kh/gh checker failed. I dropped until 70ppm. With co2 bubbled under my indicator it only turns turquoise. I also don't have a scale to weigh baking soda so the first link isn't very helpful. The second link to purchase the item.. it only has an option to ship to united states even though it says postal code is 'ok'. So, anyone know where I can buy 4 degrees alkalinity locally? Or maybe I should be looking at a better test kit. And of course due to a rare ph down that I use, my kh tests as non-existent but the water is stable.

I really don't know how they operate down there, but they did forget some of my order. Half the plants that arrived were labeled, half were not. Of everything 10 plants were missing, value around $20. I e-mailed them again today.. but they are ignoring me. As for shipping, forget the styrofoam box. And expect it to cost around $100. Divide that by a few people and it isn't so much, but if you can get the same species locally, it might just be worth going to the LFS.

I put a plastic breeder inside a net breeder and it solved the problem. I've also had walmart plecos eat around $100 of fish so I don't keep them. 'sailfin'

I just bought my first co2 test kit from Big Als. It's labeled CO2 Indicator by Red Sea. it permanently stays in the aquarium (or at least 30 day intervals). So I take the 1ml of water, I drop 2 of the test solution in it. It says it should be one of the colors on the indicator blue, green, or yellow. Well, it starts out orange. after 10 min in the tank it is yellow. I'm pretty sure this isn't accurate since I'm not yet injecting any co2. The tank probably has a bit of decaying plant matter. It's also discus water, soft, acidic, and 80 degrees.

I have kept my tank on a battery backup. The kind you get at a computer store. now if it can run a 500watt computer for 4 hours... I wonder how long it could run an aquarium for(minus the light). There is a second type I've seen where you can hook car batteries up to. Just a thought but if you've got a few $1000 in fish, about $50-70 per backup to keep filters going isn't that much.

The order arrived today. Was shipped from Sioux Falls SD on monday night, and made it here by noon on thursday. They're all alive! =). I don't own any import certificate and it did make it here. Didn't pay any extra for a phyto. Not sure why they arn't using their winnipeg distribution centre.

They're still shipping this way. I have an order in transit right now that should have arrived today but got stuck in customs... and Winnipeg seems to have nothing to do with it. It's currently in Ontario. But I see that you got a nice refund so at least they are responsible.

The raised temperature simply speeds up the life cycle of ich, thought I'd mention that. Then things like salt will kill the tomites off. Raising the temperature can sometimes seem to be effective because your fish's immune system gets a boost from the new found heat. either medications or more salt every 12 hours will eventually kill them off, I found this site helpfull http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/IchPrevention.html So basically your problem gets worse before it gets better. And if your fish can tolerate it, add more salt. The ich is only vulnerable after it falls off your fish, sits at the bottom of the tank, reproduces to 300 more cells, and before it can find another fish.

Well, I've got a couple. They've made a nest at a part of the tank I can't quite see, and I almost never see the female. It's got a fair amount of java moss in that area. And one big oaf of a male shoeing all the other females away. My current plan is to not interfere and hope that they can feed their own fry, if there are any. I can't see the nest. which is a dip at the back of the tank with 2 pieces of driftwood.

ok, so I got a lil smarter and discovered youtube. The original video in which my sae's chase eachother around and loose their stripe(they do it all the time). and now, a video after their stripe has returned. their shades are kind of goldish on the top, followed by a white/silvery band, then their black band, and finally the bottom is silver/white. and if anyone wants a super decent picture, I'll drag out the 5mp video camera.

I taped this of my sae's circling and nibbling(?) eachother. it's a 3g2 file which is quick time and is what my phone records. Oh, and it's a rar not a zip, but the site would only let me upload a zip. I've never seen sae's act like this before. Also this site only supports 3 downloads per hour of that file. They went on like that doing it to eachother for about half an hour. http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/20...sh/saestuff.zip

I'm not sure exactly how the salt water ones work. I'm not producing bubbles anywhere near the level I've seen from protein skimmers in the store. I set this one just low enough that it produces bubbles and every 2 minutes or so it has one bubble that makes it to the top and bursts. In the collector is a yellowish liquid.

I have a stingray from bigal's for my 90gallon tank. It's not warped, but with the unique blend of wood and glue types I figured since they're selling it, they must have tested these types of mdf stands for integrity and they would withstand the pressures. To be honest I don't do much around my tank without completely dousing a large area with water. I also noticed two different mdf densities while installing it. http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...stand48x18black

just an idea for diy.. but.. water pumps.. hoses... metal clamps with possible cooling fans, and cycling inside one of those $100 fridges from walmart with parts of the insulator cut out for the hoses to run through with a closed door.

petsmart.. one store that does not know a thing about fish. Lets just say it, I love blue rams and know a ton about them. I walked into petsmart and asked how much for them. They told me the tiger barbs were $5, but 2 for 1 so $2.50 each. With special precautions as this particular fish isn't friendly. I bought 14 blue rams that day. I do find them to be the cheapest fish store around, just be sure to hospitalize anything you get for a couple weeks as they are usually already stressed and even if they don't have any diseases, the new fish may not be able to take the stress of your other friendly tank mates.