New tank with green water

[dwayne.aycock]

Luckily water changes for me are easy. I have a power head with a 4 foot long 1/2 inch circumference hose. I simply put the power head into the tank, get a 5 gallon bucket and flip on the switch. I get 5 gallons in about 30-45 seconds. To return water to the tank, I put the power head into the 5 gallon bucket (already filled with R/O) water, put the hose into the tank and flip the switch. Again this takes about 30-45 seconds. Complete 10 gallon water change takes about 5 minutes.
D

 

[Rivercats]

Sounds like you do what I do, RO water and 10g changes a day.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

new tank green water

After last nights 10 gallon water change, here are the numbers from todays water tests:
PH 8.0
NH3 / NH4 4.0 ppm
NO2 5.0 ppm
NO3 80 ppm

so looks like I now have :
high ammonia at 4.0 / goal is less than 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 / goal is less than 0 ppm
Nitrate is 80 ppm / not sure what the goal should be, but I am thinking the higher the better.

Thoughts anyone?
Thanks for all your help!
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

I keep my nitrates no higher than 20ppm and phosphates at .5-1ppm. Honestly were it me it sounds like you need one or two big water changes. I do the 10 gallon a day WC but have been doing 50% WC at least 1x month now. I did an organic dirt tank so now all the peat in the organic soil is allowing me to do the big WC's without sending all my ph/kh/gh way high. We have Aqueon water changer to make it easier but have to do all tap water when doing the big one. My tank is kh-4, gh-4, ph-7.0. Doing one or two big WC's is the only way I know how to lower those numbers.

 

[aqua_chem]

Why are you using RODI water again? Are you properly reconstituting it?


A 10g water change isn't very much at all on a 75g with an ammonia problem. At 4 ppm, that will only bring you down .5 ppm. You should consider immediately doing some large water changes (50%+) to bring that down. I usually do 50%+ water changes on all of my tanks once a week, regardless of stocking levels or dosing regimens (so not just my EI tank). You're really not going to hurt anything with large water changes, especially if you only have on fish in the tank.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

will these large water changes retard the overall chemistry of the tank, even though it does not have fish? I am not sure where I am now in the nitrogen cycle. Do I have the right bacteria, or has the tank stalled? the plants are doing well (new growth of leaves and roots). If you guys think I wont upset the apple cary, I will do a 35 gallon change tomorrow. I know the PH is not going to change no matter what I do. I just got a R/O unit a few days ago, which is still in the box. Will 35 gallons of R/O water change anything? What should my expectations be?

Thanks again guys...I am so glad to have good folks to bounce my ideas with.
Dwayne

 

[aqua_chem]

I usually use tap water. As far as retarding bacterial growth, it might have the opposite effect. I've read before that high levels of ammonia in excess of 4 ppm can have a negative effect on some of the bacteria that's actually supposed to be feeding on it. I would shoot for less than 1 ppm at this point, less if you feel up to it.

 

[Rivercats]

I have to use a mix of RO and tap due to plants I have that require softer water. Plus most of the fish I have prefer softer water also. I think I would half tap and half RO and see what your readings are. I prefer to soften the water gradually, but that's just me. Also since I use a combination of tap and RO I don't reconstitute the RO. Doing it this way allows me to keep my KH at 4, my GH at 4, and my PH around 7.0

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I will do a 50% change today and a 50% change again on Wednesday. I will nake sure to use super start and prime with these water changes. These items are hard to find in my area so I had to order them from ebay. Should be here Tuesday or Wednesday. Any suggestions agout using R/O water? Might R/O water help the PH problem without harming my plants. I have a liquid fert that I am adding to my water changes.
Thanks, Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Yes, RO will lower the PH/GH/KH. In the beginning when my tank readings were GH 13, KH 11, and PH over 8 I did 10gal water changes each day, I removed 10 of tank water and put in plain unreconstituted RO water. My tank water slowly went down to the parameters I listed above over a few weeks. Very slow, not affecting the fish or plants. Now I know when I do the 10gal daily WC's I need 6 gallons of RO and 4 gallons of tap. That keeps my numbers right where I want them. I have recently started then doing a 50% WC monthly along with my little daily WC's. It works well for me. Many prefer doing 50% WC's weekly but for me its really hard doing that big of change since I need RO to keep my water soft. With a 220g that is alot of RO for a 50% change. The RO won't hurt your plants at all. Are you eventually going to put any fish in or is it just going to be a plant tank?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I am planning an Amazon tank with Angels, neons, hatchets, silver dollars, tetras, danios and coreys. I am using live plants and will eventually get to blackwater once everything levels out. I hate this part of the set up, but understand that it is the most important. I will follow your advise and get the water out.
Thanks. Dwayne

 

[aqua_chem]

I think the silver dollars will enjoy eating your plants.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Will they tear them apart or just nibble on them? If they will destroy plants, I will not get any. I will make sure the fish I get all have the same water and food preferences. I am glad that the fish are not expensive, and that they can be found pretty easily. I think the Amazon tanks are very beautiful, relaxing and natural.
D.

 

[Fdsh5]

I can tell you from experience silver dollars and rosy barbs are like lawn more with plants. The only thing they havent eaten on me is wisteria. And even that they nibble on once in a while.

 

[Rivercats]

Yes, you really don't want silver dollars. Most of my fish are amazon, with the exception of having 3 yo-yo loaches and a school of Threadfin Rainbowfish.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

you are the Man!!! It has not been easy so far. I will be asking you tons more questions as I am trying to get to where you are. I never thought wrestling with water chemistry this long would be the problem. changed out 40 gallons today and only used Aquasafe for the water and florapride for the plants. I was starting to see some decline in my plants, but after upgrading the lighting and using a fert, I am starting to see a big and quick difference. I will take your advice and NOT add the silver dollars. So I will have about 5 angels, 11 neons, 5 hatchets, 5 tiger barbs, 7 danios and 5 corys. Not all at once mind you, but over time as the tank matures. What do you think of this load in a heavily planted tank? I have lots of filtration and UV sterilization. 9W in the cannister pump and another 36W attached to a power head that draws from the sump, after passing through 2 fifty micron scrubbers. I will check my levels again tonight and post the results. On Wednesday, I will do another 40 gallon water change and start adding R/O water after that with 70 / 30 R/O to tap after that for water changes or 2 gallons of tap to 3 gallons of R/O per water change.
Your thoughts.
I did predict about 1 month before adding my initial fish, and the hypothesis is holding up thus far. Once my neighbor gets home, I will get some filter media / bacteria in order to change the tide in my favor.
Thanks again!
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

I'm the woman...lol. Its good except not tiget barbs, they most likely will nip your angels to death, even if you double up your school it's asking for trouble. Also you need to change out your neons for cardinals. Neons are food for angels and cardinals are actually better colored IMO and larger. Rummy nose tetra's are also good for a schooling fish with angels. Oh, add your angels last so they don't get a "this tank is mine" attitude. Instead of the barbs you could do a larger tetra like diamond or lemon tetras, both ususally work well with angels. To give you an idea here's what I have in my 220.

10 Veil and Super Veil Angelfish
21 Rummy nose tetras
12 Diamond tetras
5 German Blue Rams
4 Electric Blue Rams
2 Gold Rams
3 YoYo loaches
4 Corydoras sterbai
4 Corydoras panda
1 Corydoras agassizi
12 Threadfin Rainbow Fish
18 Otocinclus Catfish
3 Whiptail Cats (Farlowella gracilis)
1 Longfin Albino Bristlenose Pleco

 

[Rivercats]

Oh another thing do 6 angels for some reason 6 and above seem to do better. Since they are cichlids they tend to fuss amoungst themselves and with 6 there are usually too many for one single angel to get picked on. In 30+ years I've always kept 1, 2, or over 6 in tanks and found these numbers work the best (at least for me).

I'd also add one or two more hatchets and one or two more cory's.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Wow, sorry for mistaking woman for man! So you are the woman....much respect! Wow you have a lot of fish, I would love to see your tank. After the 40 gallon water change, I was cutting the grass when I had a conversation with my neighbor. He believes I am seeing crazy levels because I have no fish. The best time to add new fish is during a major water change. So I got 3 sterbay corydoras and 2 longfin tetras. My neighbor gave me his filter medis and 2 cups of gravel from his tank. I have another large water change on Wednesday, and will start R/O injections at that time. 3 R/O gallons to 2 tap gallons or 26 of 40 gallons will be R/O and the rest will be tap.
Your guidance Obiwon Kenobe' ?
Thanks
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Hey I thought the "man" thing was funny cause at first I thought you were talking to someone else! I don't know if my mix will work for your tank but you can try. It took me some time to get it right. But since you have fish you need to take the RO transition slower so you don't PH shock the fish. I'd maybe just do half RO to half tap to start and then see what your PH/KH/GH readings are at. I actually kept a journal so I could monitor how much my levels dropped. It gets easier once you get the right system down. I also use Indian Almond Leaves in my tank, they help soften water, they also have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, they are good for South American tanks. The only thing that some don't like about them is they release tannins in the water which will give the water a yellowish look. Now mind you the more leaves you use the darker the water will be but adding just one or two to a 75g shouldn't make the water overly colored.

You know I hate to tell you this but I already had a kid when the 1st star wars movie came out.... so that makes me more of a Yoda