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Ben Brantley 20-04-2003 07:09 AM

Your thoughts on this scenario?
 
Dave Millman wrote in message ...

You did not specify how long it was between water changes. KH is consumed
by normal biological processes in a planted tank. KH drops by 0.2 to 0.25
per week in my tank. This explains your KH drop. Baking soda raises KH and
nothing else, and is the simplest way to raise KH.


Ah! That's very helpful to know; thank you! Averaging 1.5 weeks
between water changes, but I'm not extremely predictable.

A rise in GH is probably caused by something dissolving in your water.
Leading candidates are rocks or some component of your gravel. If KH
falls, pH falls with it. This causes the water to be more acidic, and
could cause more rock material to dissolve.


Hmm... okay. I use Seachem Fluorite exclusively for the gravel,
which I understand to be pretty much totally chemically inert.
(PARTICULATE-ly inert would be another story... :)

1. Get on a regular water change schedule. 20% weekly is good, or biweekly
at a minimum. Use a water conditioner (Prime or Amquel).


Are there issues with too much Amquel? Why would I want to treat RO
water with Amquel? I do use the designated proper amount whenever I
add tap water in since we have chloramines here.

2. If you want to continue using RO water, supplement it with Kent RO
Right and baking soda to restore GH and KH. Other products work too, but
RO Right is much cheaper in the long run.


If I understand correctly, reduction of salts dissolved in the water
notwithstanding, RO Right is a replacement-water deal. Is it also the
case that I can gently approach my desired GH with small doses of RO
Right every day?

Thanks for your time,

Ben

Ben Brantley 20-04-2003 07:09 AM

Your thoughts on this scenario?
 
Thanks for your time, Dave.

Charcoal filters used in front of RO membranes in most RO systems take out Chlorine. But neither removes
chloramines, thus the need for Amquel/Prime. Regarding dose, read the bottle.


SpectraPure's 5-stage RO/DI units include an optional
chloramine-removal stage... this, of course, is what I have. Do I
still need Amquel?

I choose to use RO water and reconstitute it because I choose to breed sof****er fish in my plant tank.
This makes my life more complicated than those who use nice hard tap water in their plant tanks, since I
must replace nutrients present in the tap water.


What if I'm just concerned about excess phosphates and extremely hard
water? I have both of those here and neither seem like they'd be very
helpful in creating a healthy environment for discus and other
soft-water fish.

Thanks again,

Ben

Dave Millman 20-04-2003 07:09 AM

Your thoughts on this scenario?
 
Ben Brantley wrote:

SpectraPure's 5-stage RO/DI units include an optional
chloramine-removal stage... this, of course, is what I have. Do I
still need Amquel?


You would have to contact SpectraPure to ask that one.

What if I'm just concerned about excess phosphates and extremely hard
water? I have both of those here and neither seem like they'd be very
helpful in creating a healthy environment for discus and other
soft-water fish.


That, in a nutshell, is the justification for using RO water. Just brew your RO water, add RO Right as per the
label instructions to restore a bit of hardness, and your Discus will be as happy as they can be.
Not to go in circles, but the problem arises when you want to raise plants in the same tank, since most plants
want a bare minimum of GH 2. If you choose to add CO2 for the plants, the pH of the unbuffered RO water will
plumet toward that of battery acid fairly quickly.

Here is my formula:

72 gallon tank (actual water volume estimate 60 gallons)
CO2 bubbled in at 2 bubbles/second
100% Flourish substrate

Water changes:
20 gallons per week pure RO
2 teaspoons RO Right
1 teaspoon baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
2ml Prime water conditioner

Result: GH2, KH2, pH 6.4.
KH will drop to 1.5 in about 2 weeks if I skip a water change.


Plant nutrients: I am three months into a fairly rigorous experiment with nutrients to control algae, so some
of these numbers are in flux.

Seachem Flourish 10 ml per week
Seachem Iron 3 ml per week
Seachem Potassium 18 ml per week
Potassium Nitrate 1/2 teaspoon per week

I also have 70+ biological ammonia production units in the tank, all of which are fat and happy.

The result is a tank overflowing with green and red plants, and most forms of algae gone. Green spot algae
still grows slowly on the glass, but I think that will be there no matter what I do.




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