vipvenom said:
I had my fish in a
qt for a week to a week and a half. I just kept them in a ten
gal and a bucket and just made sure that they were all looking healthy. I probably could I have done a better job of this but it is hard finding out all the things you need to do until they have already happened. I have also been mislead by
lfs before I found this forum so that doesn't help either (ex. 30gal for a tang was enough as long as I had
LR).
We learn by doing, corny as it sounds the first step is saying "I don't know". The next step is trying to correct that. Unfortunately the
LFS has steered you in a direction many face and are quite honestly led astray with the best intentions. It actually dismays me that these things happen but they are part and parcel of being new to the hobby. Still more unfortunate is that people expect you to know things no one can honestly expect you to until your pointed in the right direction. I'm glad you made that first step by seeking the help of others in the hobby. You will find alot of hersay, opinions and actual fact. No matter who you hear it from or why, always research on your own accord the validity of the infromation conveyed. Weigh the decisions you make based on the fact you find along with the experiences you encounter. Above all a common sense approach is your best ally. Fortunately as for chemistry and many of the diseases encountered they have been studied at great length by Universities and the like. Most being quite cut and dry some still open to speculation. The information is readily available, you just have to know where to look. Hopefully we can teach you that as well.
I did post about the turbos. My other snails are all doing fine its just the turbos. Could the hermits be eating them. Or maybe temp, the tank is around 78-79. My Ph is a little low at about 8.
Your pH is not really as bad as you think. It's more relavent to the time of day tested. pH will naturally be lower in the AM due to
CO2 being released by algaes. In the day when the lights are on,
O2 is produced counteracting the acidity/
CO2 thereby raising the pH. It's much like the workings of a common house plant. If your testing the pH before midway of the photoperiod, 8 is not all that bad. Try testing the pH later in the day and see where your at. One note when reporting pH values is try to convey the time of day it was tested as it will bring much more relavence to your post and help pinpoint if it indeed a problem or not.
I have used buffers ect but the tank always goes back to 8. I do not overfeed and I do regular water changes. Do you think the pH is the problem and how can I fix that?
As I said above, the pH is relavent to the time of day, so please post that. As for the buffers, more commonly they will be of no use unless alkalinity is low as well. You can get that tested by the
LFS if you need to. A good idea to have a test kit of your own though, Salifert is exteremely accurate and inexspensive.
From what I can see of your tank above,
CO2 could be your problem via insufficient water flow. I can only see one item moving water which is the return from your sump. Often this can fall short of what is required. For a 30 gallon tank, you should be at minimum 300
GPH total but preferabley higher. If your return pump is less than that, you should consider an additional powerhead of the opposite side of the return.
An easy way of testing for a
CO2 problem is remove a short/squat glass or bowl of water and let it sit outside uncovered, preferabley with an airstone. After and hour or so, test the pH of the water and then immediately test a sample from the tank. Compare the results. If the water areated for the hour is much better, then it's reasonable to start looking for causes of the
CO2.
Cheers
Steve
