New tropical fish tank

[tivva]

Hi all. We’ve had a new 70l tropical tank for two weeks now. Six small harlequins in it. Fake plants.

Water testing today showed high levels of carbon dioxide and hardness of water a bit over the limit.

I’ve ordered an air pump which will arrive tomorrow and will add easy balance to tackle the hardness.

There is something really odd happening though. I’ve attached photos. There is something brown building up different places in the tank. Never seen anything like it before. I’m worried it’s a bad sign. Can anyone help? Thanks.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Its diatoms. Normal in a new tank and should clear up on its own given time as the tank establishes and things balance out. You can manually remove it quite easily in the meantime.

Its extremely unlikely that CO2 is at a level that will be harmful to fish. Some people inject CO2 into their tanks for their plants to way, way higher levels than you will be seeing naturally in your tank water with no issues to their fish. The airstone will generally be of use to you to aerate the tank though.

Also if your hardness is just a little bit elevated over what you might think is the limit i wouldn't worry about it. Trying to chemically alter water chemistry almost always causes more issues than it solves, and i doubt you have an issue that needs solving. What is your water hardness? Are you measuring general hardness (GH) or carbonate hardness (KH)? Honestly, throw the easy balance straight in the trash as soon as it arrives. Keep up with your water changes and you wont have a problem.

 

[tivva]

Thank you much for this.

Its diatoms. Normal in a new tank and should clear up on its own given time as the tank establishes and things balance out. You can manually remove it quite easily in the meantime.

Its extremely unlikely that CO2 is at a level that will be harmful to fish. Some people inject CO2 into their tanks for their plants to way, way higher levels than you will be seeing naturally in your tank water with no issues to their fish. The airstone will generally be of use to you to aerate the tank though.

Also if your hardness is just a little bit elevated over what you might think is the limit i wouldn't worry about it. Trying to chemically alter water chemistry almost always causes more issues than it solves, and i doubt you have an issue that needs solving. What is your water hardness? Are you measuring general hardness (GH) or carbonate hardness (KH)? Honestly, throw the easy balance straight in the trash as soon as it arrives. Keep up with your water changes and you wont have a problem.