Do fish get High?

[Andy Sager]

I change the coral monthly in my HOB's because they start to look like this. And even with multiple filter cleanings they continue to look like this. Doesn't help when trying to combat trAtes with today's overstocked Cichlid tanks. I already change water every 3 days and a sand vac every day in between/on wc's. some say I'm obsessed, I blame it on my OCD

I understand.... but you are using crushed coral for it's chemical makeup and not appearance. You could just take the bag and wash it under some water to get rid of the crud. The crud is not really effecting the usefulness unless it is stopping the water from going through the bag. It's like going back to science class in school. You put an acid with a base and the acid becomes more alkaline. (I hope I said that right. It's been a LOOOOOOOOONg time since I was in school ) Same principle tho.
As for combating the nitrates, crushed coral has no effect on nitrates to my knowledge. It's only real effect is on PH and hardness. If someone told you different, I'd be suspect as it doesn't make sense. If your tank is overcrowded and you can't keep the levels in the 'normal" range, I'd seriously consider either a change in your water changing routine, a reduction in fish load or the ultimate answer.... a bigger tank You might also want to consider putting a layer of crushed coral under your decorative gravel (or switch your gravel to a coral based gravel) if you are not seeing any consistancy in your ph without changing water so often. (It would mean that there isn't enough CC in your filters to keep the water stable.) This is a different situation to your nitrates.

I see a common theme with most of today's fish keepers and that's overcrowding. You guys are working WAYYYY to hard by keeping your tanks overcrowded. I spent less time working on mine and more time enjoying watching my fish. (And I was up to over 20 tanks, fresh and salt, in my house which did not include my hatcheries.) Just something to think about.

 

[Jess1ca]

I understand.... but you are using crushed coral for it's chemical makeup and not appearance. You could just take the bag and wash it under some water to get rid of the crud. The crud is not really effecting the usefulness unless it is stopping the water from going through the bag. It's like going back to science class in school. You put an acid with a base and the acid becomes more alkaline. (I hope I said that right. It's been a LOOOOOOOOONg time since I was in school ) Same principle tho.
As for combating the nitrates, crushed coral has no effect on nitrates to my knowledge. It's only real effect is on PH and hardness. If someone told you different, I'd be suspect as it doesn't make sense. If your tank is overcrowded and you can't keep the levels in the 'normal" range, I'd seriously consider either a change in your water changing routine, a reduction in fish load or the ultimate answer.... a bigger tank You might also want to consider putting a layer of crushed coral under your decorative gravel (or switch your gravel to a coral based gravel) if you are not seeing any consistancy in your ph without changing water so often. (It would mean that there isn't enough CC in your filters to keep the water stable.) This is a different situation to your nitrates.

I see a common theme with most of today's fish keepers and that's overcrowding. You guys are working WAYYYY to hard by keeping your tanks overcrowded. I spent less time working on mine and more time enjoying watching my fish. (And I was up to over 20 tanks, fresh and salt, in my house which did not include my hatcheries.) Just something to think about.

I see you might be getting me a little mixed up I clean my filter media weekly, I use cc to buffer my ph, this isnt exactly my first rodeo. I pretty much know why I use it and am well aware that cc does nothing to trAtes. Maybe you don't mind the dingy bag look but I do. The thought of excess in trates it may help produce as it collects debris isnt too attractive to me either. Too each their own I'm also not seeking advice on my trAtes. I know where they're coming from and got it under control I enjoy my tank AND the work I put into maintaining them, and that's why I have so many although in in the midst of 2 150g builds I wouldn't change my current tank or stock, it all works for me I'm the kinda girl who likes labor intensive hobbies and such. I am proud of my fish and absolutely love the oohs and ahhhs and especially the "oh my god! They are so clean!" Yea... Pretty much makes my day.

EDIT: my ph is super stable and I don't like the look of cc as a substrate.... Ill keep my sand the way it is thanks tho!

 

[Andy Sager]

I see you might be getting me a little mixed up I clean my filter media weekly, I use cc to buffer my ph, this isnt exactly my first rodeo. I pretty much know why I use it and am well aware that cc does nothing to trAtes. Maybe you don't mind the dingy bag look but I do. The excess in trates it may help produce as it collects debris isnt to attractive to me either. Too each their own I'm also not seeking advice in my trAtes. I know where they're coming from and got it under control I enjoy my tank AND the work I put into maintaining them, and that's why I have so many although in in the midst of 2 150g builds I wouldn't change my current tank or stock, it all works for me I'm the kinda girl who likes labor intensive hobbies and such. I am proud of my fish and absolutely love the oohs and ahhhs and especially the "oh my god! They are so clean!" Yea... Pretty much makes my day.

Please understand, I was not critisizing just responding to what you said . In the case of changing the coral monthly, it doesn't make sense to me because of what it's made of. For those who want to change it that often, it's your money I'm just saying that by using the method I described, you would know when or if it needed to be done.
I may have gotten confused with your use of the coral because of this :I change the coral monthly in my HOB's because they start to look like this. And even with multiple filter cleanings they continue to look like this. Doesn't help when trying to combat trAtes with today's overstocked Cichlid tanks." This sounded to me like you were using it for nitrate control as well. Sorry
As for the crud creating Nitrates, I may have to disagree. Nitrates are the byproduct of ammonia so the only way the crud is creating nitrates is if it is ammonia based to start with. It's most likely just dirt and excess debris but once again, if that's what floats your boat, who am I to disagree?

As for rodeos, I have a little experience myself. I have had multiple fish hatcheries as well as saltwater systems as big as 2,500 gals of water so I did need to know a few things about the nitogen cycle to keep that many fish alive.

But the bottom line is this: If you enjoy what you are doing with your fish
tank(s) and you still have time to enjoy your fish, that's all that matters. I was just making an observation from your comment on overcrowding as this was not a recommended way of keeping fish when I was keeping all the different types of fish available at the time. As you said, to each his/ her own. No offense was intended

 

[JimmyG]

when I setup my new tank, for substrate I added crush coral spread over the eggcrate filling/leveling the squares, then added a good amount of aragonite layered over the crush coral, and topped with tahitian sand.. also some texas holey rock and I do have 4 pieces of malaysian driftwood.

I'm also using aquarium salt and african mineral salt. all parameters are stable and all my fish are thriving.

 

[Andy Sager]

when I setup my new tank, for substrate I added crush coral spread over the eggcrate filling/leveling the squares, then added a good amount of aragonite layered over the crush coral, and topped with tahitian sand.. also some texas holey rock and I do have 4 pieces of malaysian driftwood.

I'm also using aquarium salt and african mineral salt. all parameters are stable and all my fish are thriving.

It sounds like you have a good balance so that the driftwood is not effecting the ph but in the case of the OP, he mentioned that his PH had dropped to 6.0. This means that something within the tank was acidifying the water. It could have been excess fish waste, decorations, excessive nitrates, etc. So in his respect, it was something he needs to address.

As for the use of driftwood in general, it is a known acidifyer so for anyone trying to keep their tanks at a higher PH, the use of driftwood only complicates and necessitates the use of a counteracting agent to the acidification. Not that is "against the rules" or "forbidden" but you can think of it like driving a car while pressing both the gas and brake pedals at the same time. You will still move forward if you are pressing harder on the gas or will be standing still if you are pressing harder on the brakes. But in reality, it's counter productive and costs more money in the end. That was my only point. I happen to really like the look of driftwood in a tank but in my S. American/ Australian tanks not africans. But that's just me

 

[JimmyG]

It sounds like you have a good balance so that the driftwood is not effecting the ph but in the case of the OP, he mentioned that his PH had dropped to 6.0. This means that something within the tank was acidifying the water. It could have been excess fish waste, decorations, excessive nitrates, etc. So in his respect, it was something he needs to address.

As for the use of driftwood in general, it is a known acidifyer so for anyone trying to keep their tanks at a higher PH, the use of driftwood only complicates and necessitates the use of a counteracting agent to the acidification. Not that is "against the rules" or "forbidden" but you can think of it like driving a car while pressing both the gas and brake pedals at the same time. You will still move forward if you are pressing harder on the gas or will be standing still if you are pressing harder on the brakes. But in reality, it's counter productive and costs more money in the end. That was my only point. I happen to really like the look of driftwood in a tank but in my S. American/ Australian tanks not africans. But that's just me

Most of the fish in my new tank are juveniles this is why I added a few pieces of driftwood and silk plants for extra hiding spots. But I agree the driftwood lowers the pH. I had them laying around in our community tank with angels, etc..

 

[jetajockey]

Driftwood doesn't always lower the pH. It's the tannic acid in the driftwood that does it, which gets expended over time. If its not turning your water yellow/brown then it's probably not affecting the pH much, if at all. Pieces of real driftwood that has actually been submerged in water in the wild will be less likely to have much of an effect.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Driftwood doesn't always lower the pH. It's the tannic acid in the driftwood that does it, which gets expended over time. If its not turning your water yellow/brown then it's probably not affecting the pH much, if at all. Pieces of real driftwood that has actually been submerged in water in the wild will be less likely to have much of an effect.

If natural wood has been into a peat bed it will change ph as it would of soaked it up imo

 

[jetajockey]

Yes that's true, I didn't even think about those places.

I've always collected in flowing streams so tannins are minimal. I don't know about you but I'm not too keen on sloshing through muck and mire for that perfect piece of DW lol.

 

[MikeWidd]

I see you guys have been busy, while I was hung over...lol I'm going to check my Ph again now and then add a media bag of crushed coral to my filter. I just picked up a Krib too. Pretty little thing.