oranges311
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- May 19, 2013
- Messages
- 8
Hey I have had a freshwater aquarium for years and my tank is well established and cycled. its a 30 gal tall with an led hood so its nicely lit. Im just now trying my hand at live plants for the past cpl months so i have about 4 live plants as well. I currently have 2 odessa barbs and 3 albino tiger barbs as well as 1 african butterfly, an albino bristlenosed pleco, and a glass cat.
the water from my tap comes out nearly if not perfectly neutral ph. but somehow once its in my tank for a day it skyrockets to probly 8.3 (its not quite 8.4 but higher than 8.2 so im assuming .3 even tho it isnt technically on my chart) i used to try the chems to bring it down but those would work for a few hours and then jump back up and I was doing more harm to the fish with the swings so I stopped.
Also idk if its just me but when I look at my API MTK chart the nitrate colors for 40 and 80 are absolutely identical so idk if I have 40ppm (safe limit) or 80 ppm (dangerous) so im wondering if it is possibly a trate issue? Idk how to lower that either tho.
My reasons for wanting to do this is because when I do my PWC my fish seem happy and active until the next day when they get listless and just sit (float) there. A lot of times the even float vertically with their nose down and tail fins pointing straight up. this used to scare me but theyve been doing it for almost a year so its not death motions... I just want a happy active environment for them not just a space for them to exist...
I feel I should note that my ph IS STABLE. it doesnt swing back and forth so Im not extremely worried about it but it just doesnt make sense to me. there are a few fish Im interested in that dont like such high ph. Is there a way to bring it down and keep it down with out multiple daily water changes?
And I know this post is getting long but just for good measure heres my numbers.
ammo: 0
trites: 0
PH: 8.3
trates: 40 (80?)
Temp: 78
the water from my tap comes out nearly if not perfectly neutral ph. but somehow once its in my tank for a day it skyrockets to probly 8.3 (its not quite 8.4 but higher than 8.2 so im assuming .3 even tho it isnt technically on my chart) i used to try the chems to bring it down but those would work for a few hours and then jump back up and I was doing more harm to the fish with the swings so I stopped.
Also idk if its just me but when I look at my API MTK chart the nitrate colors for 40 and 80 are absolutely identical so idk if I have 40ppm (safe limit) or 80 ppm (dangerous) so im wondering if it is possibly a trate issue? Idk how to lower that either tho.
My reasons for wanting to do this is because when I do my PWC my fish seem happy and active until the next day when they get listless and just sit (float) there. A lot of times the even float vertically with their nose down and tail fins pointing straight up. this used to scare me but theyve been doing it for almost a year so its not death motions... I just want a happy active environment for them not just a space for them to exist...
I feel I should note that my ph IS STABLE. it doesnt swing back and forth so Im not extremely worried about it but it just doesnt make sense to me. there are a few fish Im interested in that dont like such high ph. Is there a way to bring it down and keep it down with out multiple daily water changes?
And I know this post is getting long but just for good measure heres my numbers.
ammo: 0
trites: 0
PH: 8.3
trates: 40 (80?)
Temp: 78