OK once again i need help. i hope everyone reads this and gets answers as well.

I am going to throw up everything from my other post onto this one and throw some more info out there and lets see what comes back. hopefully as well as helping me, some others with similar problems will get some use out of this as well.

This tank is a nightmare. I am sure that i can get through this and get back to a nice tank but i am so close to throwing in the towel.

I am having trouble stabilizing a constant ph closer to 7 for the fish that i have in my planted tank. and now green water again. so....This is the info that i threw up previously:

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My Tap Water:

ph 7.6 + maybe even 8
GH = 1 dkh
KH = 3 dkh

ammonia = .75 ppm
nitrites and nitrates = 0 ppm no fish in the pipes

water changes are 15% twice a week and at the moment i add "seachem nuetral regulator" to make the tap ph 7 and do dechlorinize and get rid of ammonia.

then the Tank Water makes everything look like this:

PH = 6.4 / 6.3
GH = 1 dkh
KH = 5.5 dkh
ammonia = 0ppm
nitrite = 0 ppm
nitrates = 40 - 50 ppm
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Info recieved: ( thank you guys so much by the way! i am glad that people are reading these rants and trying to help its awesome thank you everyone at MFK)

"ditch the neutral regulator.... it uses phosphates that can lead to algae outbreaks, and you really don't need it. your ph is already being adjusted by the injected CO2."

"FYI, even Seachem would tell you to not use Neutral Regulator in a planted tank; for planted tanks, they recommend you use Acid Buffer (lower ph) and Alkaline Buffer (raise ph) . . .

these work well IME, and you can use them in conjunction to hit a targeted ph . . . you can also use Seachem Equilibrium to raise your GH, which should help stabilize your ph levels"

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So is it recommended that i raise the gh and kh of my water in order to achieve a more stable ph?

i would rather not start adding more chems to my water in order to deal with this. if my water is fine to cut out the neutral regulator and live wit the ph than i think i would rather do that. The only problem with that is i am pretty sure that my cuda and payara are not going to be too happy if the ph drops to lets say 6.

Furthermore! This green water thing is starting to come back again as well and it is really starting to irritate me to the point of getting rid of all of the plants and going back to an empty box with a HOB filter. Its way easier than throwing money at this thing all the time at this point.

Right now i am using dry ferts using the EI method. It seams to have my plants going like crazy but i am starting to have green water again. It cant mean that i need less light. I am down to 7 hours per day which is nothing really. i do water changes twice a week and there is no sunlight in the room on any day.

I guess what i am trying to say is that i wish someone could tell me how to take my tap water, put it in my 75 gallon long tank once a week, use ferts every other day and have 2.2wpg of T5HO light for 8 hours per day and 30ppm CO2 and tons of plants with big fish. maybe that just isnt in the cards for me?

to add more info to the previous tank info i want to add this:

1. two emperor 400 HOB filters
a. they each start with activated carbon inserts factory that are changed once a month
b. then they go to a customizable chamber with fluval BIO-Max rings and fluval polishing pads
c. then that goes threw the bio wheels and sprayer head.
d. one customizable chamber has a phosphate removal sys called PhosGuard in it.

2. fluval 3 internal filter at 200 gph with foam filter media for more filter, bacteria, and current.

3. plants (the ones that have survived)
a. jungle vals 5 plants that are 6 inches tall
b. 3 amazon swords 6 inches tall
c. a bunch of tiny am swords that are 2 inches tall 4 total.
d. java moss all over drift wood and large pieces at that.

4. ferts
a. 3/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week
3/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
1/4 tsp K2SO4 3x a week
1/4 tsp (15ml) traces 3x a week

5. substrate is sand and is slowly but surely being converted to flourite by seachem. i am about half way there and i plan to do 3/4 flourite under plants and 1/4 sand in front. but its might take more than another month to change it all and i am leaving some sand underneath.

thats all i have to say for now.....

I hope that you are right.... AGAIN. last time we hooked up you were right on the money and i am going to do exactly what you have said and add more plants and then i will post all of this info and see what happens.

my only worry is that we are understating what these other guys are saying. i really think that they are right; however, i am hoping that we can overcome the other imbalances with a strong plant growth regime that will soak up nutrients and balance the aquarium in a sense. i know that will do nothing for the kh and gh levels very much, however, the ph may be fin going from 8 to 6.6 or 7 over a week period of time. i really do but i was worried to alter my methods do to the fact that my fish that i love are still alive. i know the tank is not overstocked either. the high nitrate levels are because of the new flourite added. (less bacteria in the substrate)

as far as the ammonia is concerned, i tried dosing the water with AMQUEL nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and chlorine solution. it takes out 1 ppm of ammonia! and it worked! however i have to add my macro nutrients the next day? i think that it will just cut out what I add for ferts however i dont think that nitrate additions are going to help anyone in this house right now with 40ppm.

anyway i was on your same tip yesterday and i started doing exactly what you are suggesting. i really dont want to rule out what the others are saying about kh ang Gh though. your water may be totally different then mine. however, what you are saying does make the most sense for me both time wise and economically right now. i have the money to spend on the tank but i am tired of spending it. that is why i am doing all this research and forum posting.

anyway, lets revisit this and see what happens. using the jcardona1 method.

what I will do though is add more plants! i love this idea! i think this might help and i will do this. however, if i get the jungle vals to grow like i have before they died from these problems, they reproduce and grow like crazy and fill in the entire back of the tank. (this is what i want and why i bought them). when they first started to reproduce in the tank i started with 10 skinny plants and they turned into 20 in one month! now they are all dead. any way here is a pic of the tank now and lets see how this progresses.



just imagine it with a green tint.

the plants that are in here now, are very healthy and starting to grow very quickly. 1 inch every two days on the jungle vals.

i really think that if i post progress each day with all of my tank readings that not only will i learn a lot from this and be able to help others with the knowledge, but others will be able to read this post along with the stickies and be able to deal with these issues as well in my area. we all have the same water resevoir in the bay area, and theres a lot of us. also others from other areas who may be experiencing the same issues.

Thanks again guys! i will keep this posted with info.

by the way, pitbulls are the best pets. fish are way harder. they cant even go to my job sites, they just sit at home and cost me money.

yes! i did get a drop checker after i read your post before. it takes about 4 hours to read but it has a solid green tint to it each day.

should it turn blue at night, then after four hours turn green again each day?

i turned up the CO2 a little each day until i felt in my soul that it would turn yellow if i turned up anymore. then i turned it down just a hair. then my ph was at 6.3 and everyday it reads green until night time which it turns blue. i said absolutely no more CO2.

heres how i did the solution:

1. i took a tall glass of distilled water from safeway and tested the kh with API test kit. got no readable result.

then i wet my finger dipped it in arm and hammer style bicaronate of soda,and dipped it in the glass of water.

2. tested the kh and it was at like 9 dkh.

3. then i dumped out half of the glass and added more distilled water.

4. tested the kh and it was at like 5

5 once again diluted the solution until i got a kh of 4dkh

tested the ph and it turned immediately dark blue off the chart, so i added the blue solution to my ebay drop checker.

i used the ph solution from the API test kit because i didnt trust the bottle of solution that came with my drop checker or their instructions of using tank water!

is this the right way to use one? i just leave it in the tank and re-read it everyday. i stop by home from work just to read it and its always green by noon.