water test

[shrek_vn2002]

I finally tested my water lastnight after receiving the master test kit (about 3 weeks ago... hehe ... busy with my final exam ... yack !!)

Here is the result:
ph low range: 6.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
I have 29GL tank with CO2 system, 65W runs 9 hours a day. ah I just have an XP2 filter.

What do those water parameter mean? The water is not very clear. It does look better than before i installed the xp2 filter but still not crytal clear.

Is everything ok or i need to do something? I have Flourish Excel and Seachem Flourish (this is dirty liquid and smell bad too) that i sometimes put in the tank (when i remember)... I'm not quite sure how to dose nutrients for the plants .. please advise..
Thanks...

 

[elwaine]

What do those water parameter mean? The water is not very clear. It does look better than before i installed the xp2 filter but still not crytal clear.

Is everything ok or i need to do something? I have Flourish Excel and Seachem Flourish (this is dirty liquid and smell bad too) that i sometimes put in the tank (when i remember)... I'm not quite sure how to dose nutrients for the plants

OK... the tests are fine (if the pH was tested while the CO2 was running), but your plants may be nitrogen starved because of the zero nitrates. As for dosing... follow the instructions on the labels.

I don't have enough information to help with getting your water clear. Are you refering to that beautiful tank in your "hide the spray bar" post? How long has the tank been set up? What substrate are you using? Are you using driftwood? What's in your filter? Some details and a picture or two would be great.

In the meantime, I have two suggestions to help clear your water:
1) partial water changes - 25 to 50% a week
2) use fiber batting (synthetic fiber, not cotton fiber) in your filter and not the sponge-like things that have become so popular in modern filters. The sponge things pass an awful lot of garbage back into the aquarium. Fiber batting does a much nicer job of polishing the water - and it's cheap, too. You can find it any fabric store. Just be careful how much you use. Check your filter flow output and make sure it's good. If not, reduce the volume of batting material.

Also, if you want your plants to do well, don't use activated carbon in the filter. It's better to rely on water changes than on activated carbon to clear the water as the carbon will remove some of the micro-nutrients needed by your plants.

 

[shrek_vn2002]

OK... the tests are fine (if the pH was tested while the CO2 was running), but your plants may be nitrogen starved because of the zero nitrates. As for dosing... follow the instructions on the labels.

I don't have enough information to help with getting your water clear. Are you refering to that beautiful tank in your "hide the spray bar" post? How long has the tank been set up? What substrate are you using? Are you using driftwood? What's in your filter? Some details and a picture or two would be great.

In the meantime, I have two suggestions to help clear your water:
1) partial water changes - 25 to 50% a week
2) use fiber batting (synthetic fiber, not cotton fiber) in your filter and not the sponge-like things that have become so popular in modern filters. The sponge things pass an awful lot of garbage back into the aquarium. Fiber batting does a much nicer job of polishing the water - and it's cheap, too. You can find it any fabric store. Just be careful how much you use. Check your filter flow output and make sure it's good. If not, reduce the volume of batting material.

Also, if you want your plants to do well, don't use activated carbon in the filter. It's better to rely on water changes than on activated carbon to clear the water as the carbon will remove some of the micro-nutrients needed by your plants.

Thanks,
I just removed the carbon bag and put some fiber batting i bought from local fish store... hope the water getting clear
I dont know if Florish good for my red cherry shrimps as it has copper. So i'm looking for making my own fert. I remember Joy posted a link the buy a packet of dry fert but i will research about this after my final exam...
I have a small driffwood. I'm using xp2 filter . I do change 5GL water every week. I just took a pic of the tank...

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4758/p1iu5.jpg

 

[elwaine]

I dont know if Florish good for my red cherry shrimps as it has copper.

I read some negative stuff about the copper in Flourish but it is so difficult to base a course of action based on one or two reports that may or may not have validity. RCS die for a number of reasons and to blame it on the small amount in Flourish is difficult to evaluate, IMHO. For example, did the folks who experienced RCS loss with Flourish overdose? Did they do significant, routine water changes?

Anyway, I decided to stop using Flourish because I just wasn't sure. So I called the ADA distributor in the US and asked if their product Green Brighty contains copper. He said he didn't know for sure but that all Amano's Aquariums use it and they all have shrimp. That doesn't answer the Flourish question - but I orderd Green Brightly #2 anyway. Shows you what I know and why used car salesmen love me.

Here is their URL in case you are interested:

ADA Liquid Fertilization System

 

[shrek_vn2002]

Thanks..
The water getting clear today. I just went to petmart and buy another bag of fiber.
The top basket of the filter has 2 layers. I put the fiber in the bottom and the leave the top layer empty. Is ceramic bio ball any good? or what should put in this basket?
The ADA liquid is good but kind of pricie.

 

[elwaine]

Hey, that's excellent. Glad to learn that your water is clearing.

As for what to place in the top compartment of your filter, I'd suggest Eheim's Substrat Pro. It's excellent for biologic filtration. They're made of sintered glass and will last a life time (just rinse them out in clean tank water when you clean the filter).

As for fertilizing: I was just doing a lot of reading about the ADA ferts. I think I wasted my money (again) by buying first and researching later. If I stick to moderate lighting and get my CO2 dosing correct, and I add Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus every other day - and do a weekly partial water change of 40 - 50%, my plants should be very happy... and my algae controllable.

The key here is CO2 concentration. I've been estimating my CO2 levels based on the pH and dKH in my tank water, and now I learn that is not a reliable method. :-(

I have a drop checker - which is a much more accurate way to estimate CO2 if you use distilled water in the checker and adjust the dKH of the distilled water to 4. I am definitely going to use a drop checker in my 18 gallon tank, but I've not done so in the 3 gallon because the drop checker looks huge in there. However, regardless of how it looks, I'm going to start using it. I really want my CO2 to be around 40 ppm.

 

[shrek_vn2002]

I bought the redsea indicator on ebay and works fine. It has color chart yellow, green, blue. It is easy to use I just need to refill the drop test when i change water everyweek...