General questions about planted tank (from a noob)

[musicmarn1]

My goodness i just ordered one from aquabid ! i have the perfect set up for a beta but had not thought to get one again in a while until i read your thread - was *fishing* for more info on planted tanks and then your dreams of a stunning betta set me on a research frenzy since i had not seen the steel copper etc beta fish, and i found the DREAM fish for me there and i thought i would try it. I did email the colorado contact in transport, will let you know how it goes - would not have done it if i had a LFS that stocked anything exciting at all but they do not. So thanks for getting me going

My only question i feeding, should i be doing a mixture of microworms and larvae etc what are you planning to feed? ill show you pictures of my fish when he gets here. It was all the posts on this forum that led me to try aquabid i would never have thought to buy abroad in a million years if i thought he wouldnt get here safe. Thanks guys !

 

[Rcguerra]

Good to know I left some positive influences.

Bettas are officially carnivore fish. I am in florida, so I have a vast list of options for insects. No joke here.

Basically, I will feed my betta with the rotating mixture food (it is made of 3 different diets, and you rotate, giving one kind a day. I can get more details if you need), but I will be getting some insects (larvae) just to keep things interesting.

 

[Rcguerra]

So my tank is officially 10 days old, and now I need your expertise:

Should I do a water change or start cycling with one of those kits for fishless cycle?

 

[FishingMouse]

Keep dosing about 2 ppm worth of ammo (or a little more or little less) and when trites are zero then big wc

 

[Hholly]

Have you done the high PH test? It's hard to tell exactly what yours is since its so blue. If your pH drops a water change is in order.

 

[Rcguerra]

I have not done the high PH test. I can do it tonight (after 6:00pm EST). For the kind of plants that I have (and a future Betta Fish) what is the ideal PH?

 

[Hholly]

Any pH from the high 6s to 8s is fine as long as it's stable. But when cycling your tank you need to watch for it to drop. As nitrates increase the beneficial bacteria use up the buffers(calcium and other minerals) and pH tends to fall. When it gets below 6.5 the BB quit working.

 

[Malawi Freak]

It's actually below 6.0 that BB slow down to levels that can't control ammonia.

 

[Hholly]

It's actually below 6.0 that BB slow down to levels that can't control ammonia.

I thought it was at 6 they died.

 

[EricV]

I've run discus tanks at 6.2 - 6.4 without having issues with ammonia control.

 

[Hholly]

Well, regardless, when cycling a tank and pH drops, it's a sign that buffers are being used up and a water change is in order.

This explains it pretty well:
"Autotrophic Nitrifying Bacteria and pH

pH has a significant effect on autotrophic nitrifying bacteria. At a pH below 6.5, they become inhibited and cease being efficient in oxidizing ammonia and nitrite. Maximum rates of nitrification occur at pH values above 7.2, with optimal nitrification occurring around 8.3. At a pH of 8.3, nitrifying bacteria operate at near 100% effectiveness. At a pH of 7.0, their efficiency drops to less than 50%. At a pH of 6.5, it drops to 30%, and at a pH of 6.0, it drops to 10% optimal efficiency.



At pH values below 6.0, autotrophic nitrifying bacteria don’t die, they just stop functioning and reproducing. We are fortunate that at these low pH values, most ammonia (NH3) is ionized into its non-toxic form, ammonium (NH4).

What does this mean in a practical sense? For starters, if cycling a tank (fishless cycling, of course) it would be of benefit to artificially inflate the pH of the water to between 8.0 and 8.3. Baking Soda is an inexpensive and effective method of accomplishing this. At this higher pH, nitrifying bacteria are more efficient and are able to reproduce faster than at a lower pH, which should decrease the cycling time. This is not a recommendation for an established tank, only when performing a fishless cycle."

From this article: http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/water/71-autotrophic-bacteria-manifesto.html

 

[aqua_chem]

Even if bacteria can only nitrify at 30% at low pH, there will be 3x as many to make up for it. They're limited by availability of ammonia under most circumstances, not kinetics. This assumes they're not dealing with some sort of chemical crisis (pH<6).