xspainx69;1500763; said:
Yep, you could use it. IMO it won't replace the need for water changes though, in which case it will probably work out expensive.
SOS Fish tank Parameter problems
- Thread starter xspainx69
- Start date
Yep, you could use it. IMO it won't replace the need for water changes though, in which case it will probably work out expensive.
Nick660;1501634; said:
JUst curious, if I correct the water problem would it be a wise idea to put in some live plants in the tank??? Will it help keep out CO2, and bring in my oxygen in order to maintain high pH?
Or wil this have an opposite effect?
xspainx69;1503700; said:
Basically, live plants use up CO2 and produce O2 during the daylight hours (photosynthesis), but then they do the opposite at night (respiration).
Plants will also consume nitrates which is obviously a good thing, but you'd need a lot to have a significant effect with a heavy bioload.
IMO, adding live plants will complicate things rather than help in your situation. You'd be better off using a big air pump and airstones to blow off the CO2 and provide aeration and good water movement. The effect on pH by adding strong aeration to a heavily stocked tank can be quite significant.
You'll still need to maintain an adequate KH to keep the pH stable though.
Nick660;1504500; said:
Well heres the update so far, I did a 50 % water change this morning and the pH has remained stable .....I'd say in the range of 6.8. This is way better than 6.0 IMO
Ammonia and Nitrite and Nitrate have remained at 0 PPM's.
I went to Petland Discounts and of all the useless garbage that they have , they dont even have a GH/KH tester.
So now I must go on a hunt to other Aquaria stores to purchase this tester.
Instead of dropping in 50 Goldfish feeders to keep the Largemouth Bass and Channel Cat , I decided that I will just cut it in half and get them 25 feeders a week and if they eat them up in 3 days ...Well its too bad, they'll have to wait till next week.
Wow, that's a lot of feeders 
......certainly explains your water problems!
IMO your fish would be fine going without food for a week or more if necessary.
API (http://aquariumpharm.com/en_us/index.asp) do a good KH test kit......relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
You could get by in the meantime by playing with this calculator http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/CalKH.asp? and trying to get your pH up by about 0.2/day with bicarbonate of soda. With a 75 gal tank I reckon you'll be safe adding a half teaspoon bicarb at a time until you get the desired effect. Wait 30 mins then test pH, then add more bicarb, and so on. Dissolve the bicarb in a small cup of water first rather than adding it directly to your tank.
You might find that the next day your pH has gone down again but this time you'll have a good idea how much bicarb to add straight off.
My 225 gal tank actually uses up almost 1 KH per 24hrs (heavy bioload
) which works out at 4 tsp bicarb per day! 1 KH for your tank would be about 1.4 tsp. Just keep in mind that the lower the initial KH, the greater the rise in pH for each 1 KH increase, so go carefully to begin with until you have a KH test kit.
I make it sound complicated
but in practice it's not so bad!
It is easier with a KH test kit though.
Good luck
......certainly explains your water problems!IMO your fish would be fine going without food for a week or more if necessary.
API (http://aquariumpharm.com/en_us/index.asp) do a good KH test kit......relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
You could get by in the meantime by playing with this calculator http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/CalKH.asp? and trying to get your pH up by about 0.2/day with bicarbonate of soda. With a 75 gal tank I reckon you'll be safe adding a half teaspoon bicarb at a time until you get the desired effect. Wait 30 mins then test pH, then add more bicarb, and so on. Dissolve the bicarb in a small cup of water first rather than adding it directly to your tank.
You might find that the next day your pH has gone down again but this time you'll have a good idea how much bicarb to add straight off.
My 225 gal tank actually uses up almost 1 KH per 24hrs (heavy bioload
) which works out at 4 tsp bicarb per day! 1 KH for your tank would be about 1.4 tsp. Just keep in mind that the lower the initial KH, the greater the rise in pH for each 1 KH increase, so go carefully to begin with until you have a KH test kit.I make it sound complicated
but in practice it's not so bad!It is easier with a KH test kit though.
Good luck
Forgot to add, ideally your eventual aim is to match the pH of your tap water, and to keep it stable there. Unless there is a specific pH you want to provide for your fish that is.
