I have been having slight issues with my tank for a while now. I have steadily lost fish since i started the tank part way through this year. Firstly, my old fish from my old tank were ok, and slowly most of them have died (such as a large angel fish, a blind cave tetra, tiger barbs etc), with only a few of the bigger ones still survivng such as a bleeding heart tetra and a 15cm BGK. many of my newer fish have also died, including some blue rams, my whiptail catfish and my bristlenose. ATM, the fish that are surviving are the bleeding heart tetra, a congo tetra, a small angelfish, an elephant nose, a BGK, a handful of rogue danios, a large male bristle nose, and some little khuli loaches.
the tank was set up using mostly SERA products (which i have always used and never had a problem with). to begin with i also used some aquarium salts to increase the hardness of the water (which my tests told me was extremely soft). I tested the pH and it was fine albeit a little high. i put a plant in there and left it for a week, stuck some danios in there and left it for another week-week and a half before introducing some of my older fish.
I might add as a side note that the water was cloudy until after i added some fish (even with a fluval 305 running off it). i use natural black gravel (which i washed out until the water coming out was clear) and a river sand substrate.
The tank went well for a while. Then a few fish died, so we went to have the water properly tested at a store. We were told the nitrate and ammonia levels were at emergency levels so we did some major water changes, used Prime and added an ammonia warning tag. However after a while i started to become concerned for the water in the tank, as the pH tests was suggesting that (despite me adding SERA pH Down and adding both neutral and acidic water during water changes) the pH had crept up to a staggering 7.6-8.0!
i tested the Kh and Gh with a new test, and found that to my surprise, the Gh was sitting well well above >12 dKH (214.8ppm) and that the Kh was sitting at or below 1dKH (17.9). now i am anything but an expert, but i am pretty sure this isnt good. and possibly what is causing the steady die-off in my tank?
i had for a while been blindly trying to lower the hardness in the tank (having been told that softer water, while being more suseptable to pH spikes etc generally tends to be slightly acidic) as the fish i keep and wish to continue keeping mostly come from soft/acidic water regions. I have been doing this both by using drift wood in the tank and peat in the filter. Neither have affected the pH, but I suspect perhaps they are what have caused my Kh to become so low?
As for the Gh levels, in my limited experiance i have no way fo explaining them. there are no shells in my tank, i use river sand, free from shell grit, and to my knowledge, the black gravel is just plain river gravel.
With all of this in mind, i was wondering if anyone out there could not only try to help explain these diasterous levels, but also try to help me correct them... i dont know how many gallons my tank is (being an Australian) but i do know it is about 144 Litres.
My levels in my tank i wish to acheive are a Gh of 3-6 dKH (50-100), a Kh of the same and a pH of 6.6-7.0.
if anyone at all can help me/tell me if my problems (such as loosing so many fish) relate back to the hardness i would be forever appreciative,
thankyou all so much,
Rommy
the tank was set up using mostly SERA products (which i have always used and never had a problem with). to begin with i also used some aquarium salts to increase the hardness of the water (which my tests told me was extremely soft). I tested the pH and it was fine albeit a little high. i put a plant in there and left it for a week, stuck some danios in there and left it for another week-week and a half before introducing some of my older fish.
I might add as a side note that the water was cloudy until after i added some fish (even with a fluval 305 running off it). i use natural black gravel (which i washed out until the water coming out was clear) and a river sand substrate.
The tank went well for a while. Then a few fish died, so we went to have the water properly tested at a store. We were told the nitrate and ammonia levels were at emergency levels so we did some major water changes, used Prime and added an ammonia warning tag. However after a while i started to become concerned for the water in the tank, as the pH tests was suggesting that (despite me adding SERA pH Down and adding both neutral and acidic water during water changes) the pH had crept up to a staggering 7.6-8.0!
i tested the Kh and Gh with a new test, and found that to my surprise, the Gh was sitting well well above >12 dKH (214.8ppm) and that the Kh was sitting at or below 1dKH (17.9). now i am anything but an expert, but i am pretty sure this isnt good. and possibly what is causing the steady die-off in my tank?
i had for a while been blindly trying to lower the hardness in the tank (having been told that softer water, while being more suseptable to pH spikes etc generally tends to be slightly acidic) as the fish i keep and wish to continue keeping mostly come from soft/acidic water regions. I have been doing this both by using drift wood in the tank and peat in the filter. Neither have affected the pH, but I suspect perhaps they are what have caused my Kh to become so low?
As for the Gh levels, in my limited experiance i have no way fo explaining them. there are no shells in my tank, i use river sand, free from shell grit, and to my knowledge, the black gravel is just plain river gravel.
With all of this in mind, i was wondering if anyone out there could not only try to help explain these diasterous levels, but also try to help me correct them... i dont know how many gallons my tank is (being an Australian) but i do know it is about 144 Litres.
My levels in my tank i wish to acheive are a Gh of 3-6 dKH (50-100), a Kh of the same and a pH of 6.6-7.0.
if anyone at all can help me/tell me if my problems (such as loosing so many fish) relate back to the hardness i would be forever appreciative,
thankyou all so much,
Rommy
