My tank is a truvu 55gal with two compartments and two tubes conecting the two compartments. My Ph is about 8.4. I had 4 Giant danios, 2 bristle nose plecostamus, 2 young angel fish, 3 glofish and 2 corydoras. 350 magnum filter & under gravel filter with 2 power heads. White coral substate and a few fake plants and some fake logs and a few real rocks. I have a 4' shop light with 2 T8 bulbs heater set at 76. Not sure what else you need to know! The fish are dying off pretty fast; all that are left are the Danios, Angels and 1 Corydora... I seem to have a lot of a brown algee. is this due to a high nitrogen content or high Ph? I have lowered the amount of air I was putting in, by turning down the power heads. thinking this well help slow down or stop the brown algee.. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thank you dowheart
To Much Nitrogen or to high Ph?
- Thread starter dowheart
- Start date
Well certainly if there is any ammonia in the tank at pH 8.4 then a significant amount of it will be toxic, but the pH alone shouldn't be an issue. Have you tested your water for anything other than pH? Can you describe how the fish are dying? Do they look or act differently before they die? There's no need to reduce the amount of oxygen in the tank.
Your post begs for more information.
Where is your tank in the cycle process?
Have you made any changes lately?
Are you buffering your water to your PH level?
Ammonia,nitrite, nitrate levels?
Did the brown gunk start when you got the shoplight?
Where is your tank in the cycle process?
Have you made any changes lately?
Are you buffering your water to your PH level?
Ammonia,nitrite, nitrate levels?
Did the brown gunk start when you got the shoplight?
Your post begs for more information. OK I do my best Tank started 5/28/2011.
Where is your tank in the cycle process? We cycled for 30 days and changed 1/3 of the water with just the 4 giant Danios and the 2 plecos. A week after the water change we added the other fish. and with in afew days they started dieing.
Have you made any changes lately? Before the water change I only had the micro filter in, after the change i put in a carbon canister and added acouple of large rocks.
Are you buffering your water to your PH level? I don't know what you mean so NO!
Ammonia,nitrite, nitrate levels? Have no way of testing for any thing other than Ph and Chlorine.
Did the brown gunk start when you got the shoplight? Well It started when the light got there but very little time with no light.
Where is your tank in the cycle process? We cycled for 30 days and changed 1/3 of the water with just the 4 giant Danios and the 2 plecos. A week after the water change we added the other fish. and with in afew days they started dieing.
Have you made any changes lately? Before the water change I only had the micro filter in, after the change i put in a carbon canister and added acouple of large rocks.
Are you buffering your water to your PH level? I don't know what you mean so NO!
Ammonia,nitrite, nitrate levels? Have no way of testing for any thing other than Ph and Chlorine.
Did the brown gunk start when you got the shoplight? Well It started when the light got there but very little time with no light.
Different title then you other thread but people are still asking the same questions. Looks like you need to get a test kit and do a little research on the nitrogen cycle as it pertains to fish tanks. Once you do that, please come back and check in, with the proper info and a better understanding on your part, we should be able to quickly solve you tank issues.
OK, I got it.
You pretty much got a tank, threw in some fish and hoped for the best.
Not that big a deal. People all over the world do just that.
Good for you, and your fish, that you took the trouble to find/join the MFK.
Now you need to get up to speed on how your aquarium works.
As said, do some reading on the nitrogen cycle.
Get thee a test kit.
Go forth and water change your way to sucessful fish keeping.
On the brown grunge.
If you do a little looking around, you`ll find there are a number of things that can cause it.
In my case, a change in lighting turned my brown grunge green.
Went from the bulbs that came with the shoplight to a pair of 6500K, daylight bulbs.
Not saying it would work for you though.
Good luck.
You pretty much got a tank, threw in some fish and hoped for the best.
Not that big a deal. People all over the world do just that.
Good for you, and your fish, that you took the trouble to find/join the MFK.
Now you need to get up to speed on how your aquarium works.
As said, do some reading on the nitrogen cycle.
Get thee a test kit.
Go forth and water change your way to sucessful fish keeping.
On the brown grunge.
If you do a little looking around, you`ll find there are a number of things that can cause it.
In my case, a change in lighting turned my brown grunge green.
Went from the bulbs that came with the shoplight to a pair of 6500K, daylight bulbs.
Not saying it would work for you though.
Good luck.
The high pH is being caused by the crushed coral substrate. With that substrate the KH is going to be so high that rocks won't change the pH much.
Rule #1: when in doubt, do a water change. Seriously, anytime anything looks awry...go change 50% of your water.
I am not sure that I have ever heard of anyone using crushed coral on a fresh water tank unless it was for African cichlids. I would guess the pH would ricochet down with the water changes and then back up a few hours later. Those pH swings will cause major troubles if they are happening.
Water test kits are not optional. They are mandatory. There are 2 basic kinds, ones that use a dip stick and ones that use dropper bottles and test tubes. Get the later of those, the former are cheaper and grossly inaccurate. I like the API master test kit. It can be bought on line for about $20-$25, in a shop its going to run you closer to $40.
As has been said, you need to learn and know the basics of the nitrogen cycle. I am going to also say that with that much calcium carbonate (crushed coral) in your tank you also should have a better than basic understanding of the relationships between KH, GH and pH. Read this article to get that understanding. I am its author, please ask any questions you have.
Without a test kit and accurate readings for ammonia and nitrite, its impossible to know for sure what is wrong in your tank. Its either high ammonia and nitrite (go change some water immediately just in case) or its pH swings caused by the substrates solubility of CaCO3. Its far more likely to be cycling issues though.
What made you choose crushed coral as a substrate?
Rule #1: when in doubt, do a water change. Seriously, anytime anything looks awry...go change 50% of your water.
I am not sure that I have ever heard of anyone using crushed coral on a fresh water tank unless it was for African cichlids. I would guess the pH would ricochet down with the water changes and then back up a few hours later. Those pH swings will cause major troubles if they are happening.
Water test kits are not optional. They are mandatory. There are 2 basic kinds, ones that use a dip stick and ones that use dropper bottles and test tubes. Get the later of those, the former are cheaper and grossly inaccurate. I like the API master test kit. It can be bought on line for about $20-$25, in a shop its going to run you closer to $40.
As has been said, you need to learn and know the basics of the nitrogen cycle. I am going to also say that with that much calcium carbonate (crushed coral) in your tank you also should have a better than basic understanding of the relationships between KH, GH and pH. Read this article to get that understanding. I am its author, please ask any questions you have.
Without a test kit and accurate readings for ammonia and nitrite, its impossible to know for sure what is wrong in your tank. Its either high ammonia and nitrite (go change some water immediately just in case) or its pH swings caused by the substrates solubility of CaCO3. Its far more likely to be cycling issues though.
What made you choose crushed coral as a substrate?
Thank You
"Karen Cryan" Your article helped me more than any other post I have read. And thank you for not being hard on a nube! I have a API master test kit now and doing test weekly. I have changed out the substrate, the crushed coral came with the tank which was used when I got it. I had the tank for ten years when a freind came to stay a weekend and set it up while I was out. Not knowing much about fish or keeping a tank I have been forced to learn the hard way by killing some unfortunate fish! I have bought a couple of books, have read a lot online and your article helped me to understand the nitrogen cycle better than any other. I have a lot to learn but I have not killed any more fish knock on wood! Once again THANK YOU!!!
"Karen Cryan" Your article helped me more than any other post I have read. And thank you for not being hard on a nube! I have a API master test kit now and doing test weekly. I have changed out the substrate, the crushed coral came with the tank which was used when I got it. I had the tank for ten years when a freind came to stay a weekend and set it up while I was out. Not knowing much about fish or keeping a tank I have been forced to learn the hard way by killing some unfortunate fish! I have bought a couple of books, have read a lot online and your article helped me to understand the nitrogen cycle better than any other. I have a lot to learn but I have not killed any more fish knock on wood! Once again THANK YOU!!!