40g

[DragonFish71]

I just now noticed the slate lol. Where did you get it from?

My fiance got it from a guy on ebay. Something like 20lbs for $20.00. The only bad thing about slate is you need to soak it for a few days, it releases oils. They don't kill the fish, just leaves a film on the water surface.

 

[Aquarium1]

Ok then, Thats what I have, only mines a different color. I didn't know about the oils, but that explains the film on the water when I first set up my tank lol.

 

[DragonFish71]

*lol* Yeah. I learned about the "oil slick" the hard way. When we set up this tank it happened so when I re-did our 29g I knew to soak it first.

 

[melosu58]

Very nice looking tank. Very impressive.

 

[DragonFish71]

Thanks

 

[supradupafast]

I love your Tank. OMG!! JEALOUS..

 

[DragonFish71]

Wow thanks, after looking at your tanks, beautiful by the way, I take that as a major compliment

 

[DragonFish71]

One of the male and female kribs have paired off. Her belly looks like a cherry and her egg tube is starting to show.

The other male is in hiding but healthy, and we lost the other female. We expected a loss or two, they were stressed. They had only been at the LFS for maybe an hour after their flight. But, because the other two are starting the spawning dance, we can't add another female. (and I can't do some major plant care either , ughhh)

 

[DragonFish71]

As some of you might recall, we are having some problems with high ph in this tank. We have come to the conclusion that it is the black sand that we picked. Even with all the plants and DW, there is almost no buffering. A new project is being planned and the tank will be re-vamped. We're discussing going with the 3M color quartz like we have in the 80g mixed with Flourite black. After testing the water in the 80g last night before and after a 50% water change, the ph only raised from 6.6 to 7.0.

This action came about after I did a PWC of not even 10g and the ph spiked to 8.4, which in turn killed our soon to spawn kribs.

*Sigh* Hopefully this works.

 

[mfdrookie516]

wow.. whats up with your water? is your tap ph that high? sorry to hear about your fish

 

[DragonFish71]

We have high ph tap to begin with. All our other tanks seem to be naturally buffered with the plants and DW, except this one and our 10. Both have the black sand and higher ph values. So we both figured the sand is not inert and is keeping the DW and plants from buffering. I should have known better, it's not silica sand. *Grumbles*

But ont he bright side. After the re-vamp, we should be able to have our rams and kribs live healthy lives.

 

[Etunes]

What kind of black sand are you using?

 

[DragonFish71]

It's made by Dowell. It's supposed to be safe for aquariums. According to the MSDS specs, it should be stable but...

FishGravel.com Aquatic Sands

 

[Aquarium1]

That's sad I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Etunes]

ok, just wanted to make sure we are not usin the same brand. Loooks the same, but apparently iis not the same.