Upgraded community tank

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Brucej

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
21
Location
Perth, Australi
Hi, we recently upgraded our 85L tank to a 292L and getting used to the scale of things. I used to only test ammonia but New tank came with full test kit. Transferred all fish, gravel and toys and cycling seemed to stabilise with ING 1 week so presumably bacteria survived the transfer.
Have now added 6 clown loach, 1 leopard pleco. I plan to add some cardinal tetra and 1 discus once settled.
The ph seems to be all over the place. For 3 weeks was too high at 7.8
I added pH decreased , enough to reduce ph by 0.5, which did nothing after a few days so I repeated. A week later ph is now 6.8 so bit too low.
The clowns were all hiding but now have come out but only 5. Could a rotting carcass hidden somewhere cause the ph to drop. But have not seen any ammonia, nitrate or nitrite, all sitting at zero
Was planning to add some driftwood to bring ph down, but not certain that is a good idea now!
Thought I’d do a water change (not used to how long that takes for such a big tank)
AIMG_1514082582.191476.jpg
 
Bruce
Not a good idea to alter you PH with chemicals. It usually will not stablize and rebound back up. Its likely that your initial high PH reflects your tap. If you are worried about high PH in relation to your planned Discus project, don't. I successfully kept Discus for years in water with 8.0 to 8.2 PH. With Discus, pristine, relatively hot water, is far more important than PH.
If you are set on the lower PH, like you noted, add driftwood. Another way to lower PH is to run
Peat moss in your power filter. Either way the tannins will stain your water.
 
Hi! Like it has been suggested, no need to adjust the pH for discus unless you are breeding them. It can do more harm then good. Also, I would seriously reconsider adding discus to this set-up because of the amount you are adding and the fish you are putting with them. Discus need to be with their own kind, they are a social fish and , at the very lest, should be in a group of 5. With one in your tank it will slowly decline in health as the stress it will undergo ( by itself) will eventually cause it to succumb to illness. Discus are not hard, per say, but, they do have some very particular needs for care that if they are not followed will make it difficult to be successful with them. The other issue is putting clown loaches with them. the movements of clown loaches are too fast and this will certainly stress out the slow movements of the discus. Also, clown loaches have been known to be drawn to the thick mucus that covers the discus' body. They will harrass them. especially when lights are out.
 
Thanks for the advice, will stop worrying about it. Will probably hold off on the discuss since it looks like the clowns and pleco will get pretty big, and I might need te reduce number of clowns. The fish shop suggested we’d be fine with a Discus but looks very much like they just wanted to sell some more fish... willl probably get some cardinal tetras maybe some hippies instead
 
Thanks for the advice, will stop worrying about it. Will probably hold off on the discuss since it looks like the clowns and pleco will get pretty big, and I might need te reduce number of clowns. The fish shop suggested we’d be fine with a Discus but looks very much like they just wanted to sell some more fish... willl probably get some cardinal tetras maybe some hippies instead
Yeah, the LFS has a tendency to do that-- the goal is to make a profit on their part- not education. Im sure that there are exceptions, but, I haven't seen any.. It is wise to do research on fish you would like to keep prior to going to the fish-store or look at what they have and go home and look the fish up to see if they will work in your set-up. Clown loaches get very large and do best in groups- they are a gregarious fish. In a 75 gallon, I wouldn't do any more than 3 ( and definitely not less) if you want other fish as well.
 
Welcome to AA. I agree it’s not a good idea to alter your ph with chemicals
 
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