OK, water-changes are good so, unless you have problems with your local
supply like phosphate or something, or you're overfeeding your fish (you're
not, right?) the issue seems to be something that there's NOT ENOUGH of,
rather than something there's TOO MUCH of. See, this is like Sherlock
Holmes, isn't it? Once you've eliminated the impossible...

I'm going to go with a complicated "two cause" diagnosis. CO2 AND trace
element deficiency - I suspect that either there's not enough CO2 being
produced or that too much of your CO2 is being dissipated by the biowheel.

With pH at 7.6, your dCHº would have to be 15 (somebody check my math,
please!) to be at the low end of optimal. So please test for hardness again
to verify.

There is a condition of very basic (high pH) and very soft (low dCH) under
which iron (and other trace elements?) precipitate out of the water column.
Unfortunately, I don't have the chemistry to speak inteliigently about this.

Recommendation: Get more CO2 into the water. Increasing CO2 will lower the
pH. Resume supplementing with trace. DON'T overfeed your fish. DON'T post
back that you have superabundant CO2 because that would make me look stupid
and **** me off.

Good luck.

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"

chet chet-at-surewestDOTnet wrote in message
...
Got some water parameters using the aqua pharm "master test kit".

Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 5.0ppm
kH: Uhhh.. I can't find the directions but it was five drops
of
the kH test liquid.
pH: Somewhere between 7.6 and 7.8.
A little discrepancy between the high and low level
test
kits.
Temp: 76F
I'd calculate CO2 saturation, if I could quickly figure out kH levels.

I performed a 40% water change this past Sunday.

Is there something I'm missing?

chet


"chet" chet-at-surewestDOTnet wrote in message
...
"kush" wrote in message
...
Also, I'm not familiar with the bio-wheel power-filter. Is that a
mechanical filter that accelerates bacterial breakdown by heavily
oxygenating the water?

Yes, it is the bio-wheel power-filter. I have it set to the lowest
setting
(I like quiet). According to the literature, it is designed to provide a
high oxygen level to nitrifying bacteria that live on the wheel. It does
not
generate a lot of surface turbulance. I'll measure CO2 again this
evening
and get back to you on the numbers

My Rotala indica is one of the fastest growing plant in my tanks. At
comparable light levels, I'd expect to prune four to six inches off it
every
week. Is yours growing that fast?

It has grown some, but more like two inches in a month. Plus it's
getting
a
little "leggy". The Amazons, Onion plants, and Anacharis are the
racehorces
in my tank.

How much and how often are you changing your water?

~40%-50% every other week.

Have you added any phosphate-based products to adjust your pH?

None that I am aware of. I have added Seachem "Flourish" and Seachem
"Root
Tabs" and Hikari goldfish food.

I'll get you numbers tonight.

Thanks for your help

chet