transfer to 75 gallon

[Hyrules]

Day 1:

Getting the aquarium at the LFS ( Big Al's ) and installing it properly went well. Added water and started the filter in order to clear the water... good thing there is no leak. Added Cycle and Aquaplus to the water. Darn fitting... the tube of my filter is too small for the water heater ETH 300 so i gotta go get fittings at the hardware store tommorow.

Day 2:

Got the fitting and installed the water heater. Heated the water to the proper temperature. transfered the old filter to the new aquarium and transfered the fish slowly adapting the to the new water gradually in a bucket after 30 minutes of adding water to the bucket i added the fish to the main 75 gallon tank.

My new setup :

- 75 Gallon aquarium ( 48 x 18 x 21 )
-- Ballast ( 2 neon )
- Eheim Ecco complete filter 2236
- ETH 300 inline water heater
- Python ( oh god !! how could i live without that tool )
- Misc decoration
- Tetra whisper air pump + 2 air pad
- Bottom : Sand and Argonite mixed

 

[rich311k]

Looks great. Congrats and nice job.

 

[Hyrules]

thanks ! I will keep you posted in case I bump into problems.

 

[Hyrules]

Day 3: I think i`ve added too much aragonite in my tank when mixed with the sand the ph will rise too high i will mostlikely have to monitor the ph and waterchange when ph rise to high until the aragonite is completly dissolved from the tank. So far everything seem's to be ok the fish are starting to explore the tank a little more. I`ve done a 66% PWC and everything seem's to be ok my PH still seem to be at 7.6.

 

[BrianNY]

Great looking tank and a great looking room. What kind of fish are you keeping?

 

[Hyrules]

thanks ! Gouramis : 2 x Kissing and 2 x Cobalt ( Dwarf Blue ) and 1 clown loach

 

[RoK]

Tank looks nice, the pink plant really stands out. Just curious as to why you used aragonite though? Why did you want to pH to rise?

 

[Hyrules]

My KH at home is really low like 20 mg/L so my PH has a bad tendancy to get very low (near 6 or less ) I`ve done a 66% water change. My PH seem to be at 7.6 Max of the low PH chart and brown like color in the High PH range which is weird and doesn't match any color so since bluer is higher i figure the ph is in acceptable range. the guy a the LFS said to mix the aragonite with my sand but i just drop the whole bag in with my 2 other sand bag. So now i added more drift wood which has a tendancy to lower ph. I should get a balance somewhere and eventually get rid of the aragonite while forcing it to always transform since it is not at the stable PH. Here what it look's like at night

 

[RoK]

If it's brown on the high pH test, the pH is actually in the 7.8-8.2 range (depending on the shade of brown). You should have a different chart for the high pH test kit than the regular one.
I think you may have used too much aragonite.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

On my card, light brown is 7.8-8.0 and 8.2 starts turning dark brown. Also, when you test the low range, if it's at the max low range, you don't want to use that test anymore. You need to use the high ph test and card. Ignore what the low ph test is, as you are well above it. And I agree, should not have used aragonite. A little bit of crushed coral would have worked much better in your filter, which would only need to be replaced every few months.

But anyways, great looking tank. PWC's might keep the ph down some, but if not, might think about taking half of the gravel out, and replace with new gravel, to reduce the amound of aragonite in the system. Just a thought, if it gets out of control.

 

[Hyrules]

Right now it seem stable the fish seem to be ok with it. I was thinking of PWC every week till the aragonite wears off. Anyway aragonite cannot rise about 8.2 which is his stable chimical point under that it start to dissolve into calcium and other elements. Otherwise the water is crystal clear and the fishs seem to be happy. As i know it is better to have a stable ph than a twindling one.

 

[Hyrules]

But is there a way to remove the sand without emptying the tank and removing the fish ?