So then, here I am again. I was on here before saying that I was doing water changes with r/o water to soften the water for my rams. Someone told me I should get a tds meter if I am messing with r/o or my tank might crash. I didn't get a tds meter yet but is it the same as total hardness or total alkalinity? My test kit measures those. But now for my questions. My apons were doing really well for a while but now they seem to be dieing. They are just turning clear and starting to disintegrate. Could this be the beginning of my tank "crashing"? Also my rams have bred like clockwork every week and a half to two weeks for 3 times and this time the female had all of the signs of being ready to lay eggs again and her ovipositer was way out and then today I get home from work and no eggs and the ovipositer is retracting again but still a little bit out. Could this be due to low tds as well? Otherwise the fish seem to be acting normal. Or do you think maybe the ovipositer will come back out again soon? I'm so lost here, please help me.
tank crashing?
- Thread starter schoch79
- Start date
TDS isn't exactly the same as GH and KH, it includes other things also. Those nitrates are a little high for breeding rams, IMO. I know you were having trouble with your test kits, and I suspect your GH and KH have dropped extremely low. You should keep an eye on the pH, as that is what is most likely to crash (drop very low, very fast).
The plants are likely reacting to the change in parameters, as well as being deficient in calcium/magnesium from the RO use. Make sure you remove rotting leaves.
There's a really nice site here with info on GH, KH and pH that should help you understand what's going on with your water: Aquarium Chemistry, pH, gH, and kH relationship
The plants are likely reacting to the change in parameters, as well as being deficient in calcium/magnesium from the RO use. Make sure you remove rotting leaves.
There's a really nice site here with info on GH, KH and pH that should help you understand what's going on with your water: Aquarium Chemistry, pH, gH, and kH relationship
Ok I appreciate your advice but in response to the hardness and alkalinity they are reading gh=75ish ppm and kh=80ish ppm. If you are suggesting that maybe it is actually lower than this and my kit is wrong, maybe so. But I tested it against the r/o and the r/o reads at all 0's for everything(at least at the lowest the test reads). I will be sure to keep an eye on the ph and remove the dead leaves. Should I start introducing some tap water with the next several water changes? At least to kinda try to get some minerals or whatever back in there? Thanks
Jungle lab quick dip 5 in 1 test kit. And funny thing, I just tested my tap water and r/o water and they read almost the same!? It has been raining tons over here. Could that have lowered the tap parameters? When I tested the tap before the rains it was reading GH up around the 300+ range. Is it even safe now to do a water change with such low parameters in the tap?
The test strips are OK for letting you know if the water is soft, medium or hard, but not really accurate enough if you want to control your GH and KH as much as you're trying to.
That's not to say the drop test kits are lab-grade test kits, but they do give you results that will be better for your purposes.
That's not to say the drop test kits are lab-grade test kits, but they do give you results that will be better for your purposes.
Yeah I can see what you mean by that. I was really having a hard time figuring out if it was one or the other with the colors they had. I just got the new tests today and will try them out tonight if I can get around to it. But a question though. About my rams breeding. I was saying earlier about the female laying eggs on a regular basis and that I recognize the signs of her about to lay eggs again. Well, the other day, on schedule, she looked ready for eggs, but then the next day I looked again and no eggs and she was looking like she does after laying a batch. Is it possible that something happened and she just decided not to lay eggs or whatever or did I probably just not see the eggs?
Ok so I just tested my water with the new test kits. Wow, it surprised me. Ok so the ammonia and nitrite were at 0 like I said. but the nitrates are at 10ppm, the KH is at 4 degrees/54ppm, GH=6 deg/90ppm, and the PH is what surprised me at 7.6ish. I only have the ph kit that goes to 7.6 so that was the best I could do with the ph but wow it's so high. I was always led to believe that soft water is usually associated with lower ph. I know the 90 ppm GH is border line soft/high but is the ph ok there. I'm understanding the rams like lower ph to breed as well am I wrong. I am trying to avoid putting any chemicals or things like that in my tank. If you recommend lowering ph can it be done by wc's with r/o water or should I not do r/o with the low KH? Well, I think that expresses my concerns for now. Thank you lots.
Ok, I'm not sure if they are the same thing but the rock I have is the red lava rock, you said tufa. And for decorations I have natural gravel, one small peice of gray slate, and about 15 apon plants. That is it. I am getting a new tank this weekend and I have plans to set it up without the lava rock and with similar gravel just a smaller grain though. I guess after about 2 weeks of that being set up I will be able to tell if it is the gravel or just my water. I don't think it has anything to do with tap water though because I never use tap in my water changes anymore. Also with the plants that I have in there is it possible that they are using up all the CO2 (natural/no CO2 injector) and that is causing a high ph? I heard that CO2 injectors lower the ph so maybe my tank is CO2 deficient?
It's most likely the rock. Take it out, put it in a bucket of RO water, test pH hardness before you put it in, then after a day or two, and you'll have your answer.
In a tank with no supplemental CO2, there shouldn't be any measurable pH changes. By your readings, you have about 3ppm CO2, which is the general "ambient" quantity in water.
In a tank with no supplemental CO2, there shouldn't be any measurable pH changes. By your readings, you have about 3ppm CO2, which is the general "ambient" quantity in water.