Recent content by DougA

Hi, I have an outbreak of brown algae. The water color is brown, and i have discoloration of rocks, artificial plants, and a little bit on the glass. That cover can be easily washed/bleached off decor, but the algae comes back. I assume these are diatoms. This is in a 20g tank. The tank is...

Dropping pH How long after your water change is your pH crash? Answer: Within hours. How long does it take the pH to get back up? Possibly just dissolved CO2 in your tap water that acidies the water, and as it offgasses the pH returns. I really doubt such small water changes could cause...

Update and question: i finally have a cycle started after about a month of adding cuttlebone, and trying to carefully monitoring pH. That is the good news. However, I notice that whenever I do a water replacement of more than 10% my pH crashes (7.8 to 6). Can that be caused because my tap...

Cuttle bone I added some cuttle bone but it did not help the kH and gH. So, today I added more of it to the filter. I am doing the cycle fish-in. I have two Rasboras. They are active and seem to be doing well, but must be under stress due to the pH swings. Thanks

Lab values The lab told me ppm, without my first using that measurement term. Those values would seem to correlate with the tests I took with the API GH and KH test kit. KH is supposed to change from blue to yellow, as drops of the solution are added. Mine starts at almost clear on drop 1...

I finally obtained the following values from the lab that manages my county water: pH 8.5-9 kH 9 ppm gH 15 ppm I added cuttlebone to my filter but I still had another pH crash, so I've put a second piece in there to see if that makes a difference.

Thanks After my last post I realized that I should not use the ammonia with fish-in. I have read up on the fish-in cycle so I think I'm good with the process.

No nitrite I will change to a fish-in cycle. I do think my local water is low in kH, so I will buy a Cuttlefish bone and put it in the tank. I'll get the water reconditioned, use specific ammonia and the Tims or Safestart, and use just one or two starter fish. I cannot control the temp with...

Ammonia source was flakes.

I am using city water

No nitrite Is there a reason you are doing a fishless cycle? We get a lot of traffic on this forum and by far i see more issues with people not being able to complete fishless cycles as opposed to fish in cycles. Answer: I read that a fish in cycle can be stressful and can kill the fish. On...

I am starting a 20 gallon tank fishless. I have been trying to get it cycled for 4 months, but still cannot get any nitrite reading. My readings are: pH 7.6 Ammonia 4-6 Nitrite 0 I have performed water replacement several times, and each time I condition the water. I've also added a starter...

Hi, I have a new 20G freshwater tank with 7 Cherry Barbs. The fish have been in the tank for 16 days, and I have not yet noticed any pooping or evidence of poop. Is this a problem that I should be concerned with? Some facts: 1. pH ~ 7.2. It was slightly higher at one point and I brought it...