Britty
Aquarium Advice Activist
About 3 months ago I was inspired to have a go at fish keeping and the creativity both that goes along with it. Bear in mind I've never kept fish before of any kind and quickly had to come to grips and understand the nitrogen cycle, tank sizes and looked at various sites for ideas on simple but effective tank layouts that a beginner could achieve.
I wanted something visually appealing, on a beginners level so went to my lfs for some pointers. Other than the tank I also bought 75% Pisces black diamond quartz, 25% Pisces liquorice gravel. The effect to give a nice contrast between the two mixes while still being dark substrate to bring out the neon tetra colours.
Fast forward months later after completing fishless cycling which went really well, I had to go through a complete substrate change after the tank was cycled and fish in.
How I got to this point is laboured and long winded and many important lessons learned along the way.
While the black diamond quartz is quite inert (and very nice looking) the liquorice gravel was NOT inert.
Prior to purchasing fish I did a water test and my tank pH was right up there at around 8.3 pH. Something was lifting it and keeping it there. Up till now undergoing fishless cycle I figured the high pH was due to the constant addition of ammonia and the natural process of the cycling taking hold. But the cycle had finished and the final last big water change was done. I'm not someone who would be a pH chaser but not only is 8.3 not good for keeping Tetra it was having adverse effect on my plants where the tips would start to yellow within 24 - 48 hours of introduction into the tank. My java moss especially had a pretty hard time and developed extensive browning.
In my process to identify the problem I included multiple continual water changes and also testing my decorations, filter media and finally gravel sample with vinegar. While most of the samples sat in the vinegar undisturbed, the liquorice gravel grains fizzled like I had opened a new bottle of lemonade. The black diamond quartz was unaffected. I was pretty distraught. This stuff was well mixed in throughout my entire substrate.
I went back to the lfs and promptly told them while the black diamond quartz appeared ok, the liquorice gravel is not inert and now I'm faced with a possible substrate change in a cycled tank with fish in. Nothing on the packaging disclosed it was not inert, nothing on the website disclosed it's not inert and the staff at the lfs did not know it was not inert. In reality it can and will raise your pH to well over 8. I guess this is ok if you want to house cichlids - not so good if you want to house tetra like I did, which is possible with my local tap water quality.
However the lfs staff member told me, 'no big deal, no need to replace your substrate, use this! We use this all the time in store and I use this at home with no problems' (handed me a bottle of Seachem neutral regulator) and told me dose of this per water change would lower and maintain my pH to a comfortable level for tetra. Firstly, use acid buffer to get my tank pH to under 7 first before the regulator, which I did, very slowly over days so as to not shock all the fish. I was quite apprehensive but gave it a try mainly in comparison to having to relocate all the fish and do a complete tank strip, cleaning scrubbing and re-substrate.
Indeed it did lower my pH to around 7.2 over a few days. Great. Problem was I had to keep using it. Furthermore I found out later its buffer is based on phosphates which replace (?) the carbonates in the water column. However the water column carbonates were continually being added back into the water column buffered from the substrate. So there was an unwinnable battle between the chemical and my substrate. Predictably my phosphates went through the roof even after the first application, and I was expected to keep using it! Shortly thereafter (within that same week) my water was cloudy, because neutral regulator also precipitates calcium and magnesium (which exist in the water and contribute to GH) back into solid form and it just floats about everywhere and also gets into the filter. The stuff was everywhere like a fine dust swirling around in the water and a fine layer over all my substrate and decorations and plants. Vacuuming and mech filtering only provided temporary relief as soon it was all covered again. Combined with the high phosphates were contributing to this strange looking white hair like algae over all my plants.
Yes, I had fish in tank through this whole thing. Funnily all my plants made a recovery and began to look lot better which was odd as neutral regulator is not plant friendly apparently which I also found out later. Only the java moss didn't recover. It was too far gone to be resuscitated.
By this stage I really had had enough. Enough of chemicals, enough of quick fixes and enough bogus advice. More so I was annoyed with myself more than anything. Seems like for each problem down the daisy chain there is another magical chemical to resolve it, even down to water floc that would collect all the fine precipitate particles and settle them to the bottom so they can be vacuumed and the water clarified with something like Purigen. Pretty soon I ran the scenario in my head that I was being led down a road where I was going to be dosing water changes with acid then dosing regulator to balance, then continuous vacumming up dust balls which was collected with liquid floc and the water clarified with Purigen.
All this just to cover for incorrect substrate as the primary cause. All expensive and all without end. All adding to dissolved solids which ultimately cant be good for the fish. Already wasted weeks of time, wasted money and my tank water was still unstable and looked like a ecosystem inside a snow globe. I put a stop to this before going any further.
I was pretty pissed off. I've always relied on logic and my gut. Unsure how I got this far without killing all the fish to be honest. So I organised for a full substrate change full clean and scrub of pretty much everything. Set aside a whole day, just so I could go slow and easy.
So I went to the local dollar and cents cheapie store and got myself one of those plastic storage boxes for a few bucks, roughly the same size as my tank. Came with the lid. Siphoned all the tank water in stages and relocated all the fish along with all the plants and driftwood along with partial water change. Moved my filter over and it was all good. Poor fish were stressed to the max with the entire upheaval but to me the end was justified. Was hoping they wouldn't keel over in the meantime.
I had already bought 10kg of black diamond quartz substrate a few days before this and really gave it a thorough clean and going through and completely sifted. Yes I went the whole enchilada with this. Even visually to the best of my ability sifted through and physically picked out any gravel pieces which were not black diamond quartz, piece by piece. This took a long time but I ended up with a significant amount of impurities including some grains of liquorice gravel bits that somehow got in! I didn't want any impurities in the black diamond quartz that didn't belong there.
Completely emptied the tank of every last grain and washed and scrubbed the tank in hot water. Kept the old substrate as it would come in handy as decorative potting mix or something for the wife's plants but I wasn't keeping it to use any of it to reseed the new substrate. I already had a strong bio filter that I'd be putting to the test.
In the day while I was cleaning and relaying out the tank I stopped and took ammonia and nitrite measurements 8 hours later of the temporary tank with just the fish, plants, wood and filter. No substrate. Ammo and nitrites were zero. So this gave me a bit of confidence that the filter was stepping up to the task and would be OK back in the main tank with new substrate.
As luck would have it my tap water pH was 7.2 that day and water temp was only 1 degree celcius lower than the temp tank water so I didn't have to spend ages nursing all the fish back into their main tank. I used Prime for the first dose in the rebuilt tank because I expected some kind of mini cycle. Cleaned the decorations in hot water, replaced the java moss and cleaned and kept the rest of the plants and the driftwood.
So it's been a week since I put everything back together. I've kept a close eye on water parameters each day. I haven't experienced a mini cycle as yet nor fish illness or death. The bio filter is holding up like a champ with new substrate. The fish immediately took to the new tank full of energy and establishing territories. Always fun to watch. I had a re-occurrence of the white hair like algae on my plants after the first 24 hours but before I could even come up with a plan of attack it all magically disappeared by the second day. I guess there may have been some latent material inside the filter media but when it hit the new water without it's old food source it probably wasn't self sustainable? Who knows, I'm just glad its gone. All my plants are now clean, green and happy.The water is crystal clear. Did my first 15% water change today with tap water and conditioner. That's all. No other chemicals. PH was 7.4 by the time of water change. It had only risen 0.2 in a week. I'm guessing as the tank matures it will settle around this target pH or maybe a bit lower once the new substrate is well aged with poo and other wastes. Either way, much better result than 8.3. Moreover the fish appreciate a clean and pH stable water column which is ultimately what this was all about.
So my lessons. If someone from an lfs says I need so and so chemical to improve water quality, pH, treat algae, improve clarity or new cutting edge technology substrates to breed alien fish from Proxima Centauri in my tank, I most likely don't. And YOU most likely don't. If it sounds too good to be true, trust your gut. Attack the root cause no matter how invasive or disruptive. The responsibility is still mine to go with my gut and educate myself so I know what I need, why I need it and when to use it and be more critical and discerning in selection. I'm still new at all this. Lots to learn.
I go to a different lfs nowadays and If someone tries to sell me something I now just excuse myself and quietly walk away.
Learned a hard lesson, but worth it. So much wiser.
I wanted something visually appealing, on a beginners level so went to my lfs for some pointers. Other than the tank I also bought 75% Pisces black diamond quartz, 25% Pisces liquorice gravel. The effect to give a nice contrast between the two mixes while still being dark substrate to bring out the neon tetra colours.
Fast forward months later after completing fishless cycling which went really well, I had to go through a complete substrate change after the tank was cycled and fish in.
How I got to this point is laboured and long winded and many important lessons learned along the way.
While the black diamond quartz is quite inert (and very nice looking) the liquorice gravel was NOT inert.
Prior to purchasing fish I did a water test and my tank pH was right up there at around 8.3 pH. Something was lifting it and keeping it there. Up till now undergoing fishless cycle I figured the high pH was due to the constant addition of ammonia and the natural process of the cycling taking hold. But the cycle had finished and the final last big water change was done. I'm not someone who would be a pH chaser but not only is 8.3 not good for keeping Tetra it was having adverse effect on my plants where the tips would start to yellow within 24 - 48 hours of introduction into the tank. My java moss especially had a pretty hard time and developed extensive browning.
In my process to identify the problem I included multiple continual water changes and also testing my decorations, filter media and finally gravel sample with vinegar. While most of the samples sat in the vinegar undisturbed, the liquorice gravel grains fizzled like I had opened a new bottle of lemonade. The black diamond quartz was unaffected. I was pretty distraught. This stuff was well mixed in throughout my entire substrate.
I went back to the lfs and promptly told them while the black diamond quartz appeared ok, the liquorice gravel is not inert and now I'm faced with a possible substrate change in a cycled tank with fish in. Nothing on the packaging disclosed it was not inert, nothing on the website disclosed it's not inert and the staff at the lfs did not know it was not inert. In reality it can and will raise your pH to well over 8. I guess this is ok if you want to house cichlids - not so good if you want to house tetra like I did, which is possible with my local tap water quality.
However the lfs staff member told me, 'no big deal, no need to replace your substrate, use this! We use this all the time in store and I use this at home with no problems' (handed me a bottle of Seachem neutral regulator) and told me dose of this per water change would lower and maintain my pH to a comfortable level for tetra. Firstly, use acid buffer to get my tank pH to under 7 first before the regulator, which I did, very slowly over days so as to not shock all the fish. I was quite apprehensive but gave it a try mainly in comparison to having to relocate all the fish and do a complete tank strip, cleaning scrubbing and re-substrate.
Indeed it did lower my pH to around 7.2 over a few days. Great. Problem was I had to keep using it. Furthermore I found out later its buffer is based on phosphates which replace (?) the carbonates in the water column. However the water column carbonates were continually being added back into the water column buffered from the substrate. So there was an unwinnable battle between the chemical and my substrate. Predictably my phosphates went through the roof even after the first application, and I was expected to keep using it! Shortly thereafter (within that same week) my water was cloudy, because neutral regulator also precipitates calcium and magnesium (which exist in the water and contribute to GH) back into solid form and it just floats about everywhere and also gets into the filter. The stuff was everywhere like a fine dust swirling around in the water and a fine layer over all my substrate and decorations and plants. Vacuuming and mech filtering only provided temporary relief as soon it was all covered again. Combined with the high phosphates were contributing to this strange looking white hair like algae over all my plants.
Yes, I had fish in tank through this whole thing. Funnily all my plants made a recovery and began to look lot better which was odd as neutral regulator is not plant friendly apparently which I also found out later. Only the java moss didn't recover. It was too far gone to be resuscitated.
By this stage I really had had enough. Enough of chemicals, enough of quick fixes and enough bogus advice. More so I was annoyed with myself more than anything. Seems like for each problem down the daisy chain there is another magical chemical to resolve it, even down to water floc that would collect all the fine precipitate particles and settle them to the bottom so they can be vacuumed and the water clarified with something like Purigen. Pretty soon I ran the scenario in my head that I was being led down a road where I was going to be dosing water changes with acid then dosing regulator to balance, then continuous vacumming up dust balls which was collected with liquid floc and the water clarified with Purigen.
All this just to cover for incorrect substrate as the primary cause. All expensive and all without end. All adding to dissolved solids which ultimately cant be good for the fish. Already wasted weeks of time, wasted money and my tank water was still unstable and looked like a ecosystem inside a snow globe. I put a stop to this before going any further.
I was pretty pissed off. I've always relied on logic and my gut. Unsure how I got this far without killing all the fish to be honest. So I organised for a full substrate change full clean and scrub of pretty much everything. Set aside a whole day, just so I could go slow and easy.
So I went to the local dollar and cents cheapie store and got myself one of those plastic storage boxes for a few bucks, roughly the same size as my tank. Came with the lid. Siphoned all the tank water in stages and relocated all the fish along with all the plants and driftwood along with partial water change. Moved my filter over and it was all good. Poor fish were stressed to the max with the entire upheaval but to me the end was justified. Was hoping they wouldn't keel over in the meantime.
I had already bought 10kg of black diamond quartz substrate a few days before this and really gave it a thorough clean and going through and completely sifted. Yes I went the whole enchilada with this. Even visually to the best of my ability sifted through and physically picked out any gravel pieces which were not black diamond quartz, piece by piece. This took a long time but I ended up with a significant amount of impurities including some grains of liquorice gravel bits that somehow got in! I didn't want any impurities in the black diamond quartz that didn't belong there.
Completely emptied the tank of every last grain and washed and scrubbed the tank in hot water. Kept the old substrate as it would come in handy as decorative potting mix or something for the wife's plants but I wasn't keeping it to use any of it to reseed the new substrate. I already had a strong bio filter that I'd be putting to the test.
In the day while I was cleaning and relaying out the tank I stopped and took ammonia and nitrite measurements 8 hours later of the temporary tank with just the fish, plants, wood and filter. No substrate. Ammo and nitrites were zero. So this gave me a bit of confidence that the filter was stepping up to the task and would be OK back in the main tank with new substrate.
As luck would have it my tap water pH was 7.2 that day and water temp was only 1 degree celcius lower than the temp tank water so I didn't have to spend ages nursing all the fish back into their main tank. I used Prime for the first dose in the rebuilt tank because I expected some kind of mini cycle. Cleaned the decorations in hot water, replaced the java moss and cleaned and kept the rest of the plants and the driftwood.
So it's been a week since I put everything back together. I've kept a close eye on water parameters each day. I haven't experienced a mini cycle as yet nor fish illness or death. The bio filter is holding up like a champ with new substrate. The fish immediately took to the new tank full of energy and establishing territories. Always fun to watch. I had a re-occurrence of the white hair like algae on my plants after the first 24 hours but before I could even come up with a plan of attack it all magically disappeared by the second day. I guess there may have been some latent material inside the filter media but when it hit the new water without it's old food source it probably wasn't self sustainable? Who knows, I'm just glad its gone. All my plants are now clean, green and happy.The water is crystal clear. Did my first 15% water change today with tap water and conditioner. That's all. No other chemicals. PH was 7.4 by the time of water change. It had only risen 0.2 in a week. I'm guessing as the tank matures it will settle around this target pH or maybe a bit lower once the new substrate is well aged with poo and other wastes. Either way, much better result than 8.3. Moreover the fish appreciate a clean and pH stable water column which is ultimately what this was all about.
So my lessons. If someone from an lfs says I need so and so chemical to improve water quality, pH, treat algae, improve clarity or new cutting edge technology substrates to breed alien fish from Proxima Centauri in my tank, I most likely don't. And YOU most likely don't. If it sounds too good to be true, trust your gut. Attack the root cause no matter how invasive or disruptive. The responsibility is still mine to go with my gut and educate myself so I know what I need, why I need it and when to use it and be more critical and discerning in selection. I'm still new at all this. Lots to learn.
I go to a different lfs nowadays and If someone tries to sell me something I now just excuse myself and quietly walk away.
Learned a hard lesson, but worth it. So much wiser.
