
Fish disease affecting shiners
#61
Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 12 September 2013 - 04:34 PM
Yeah I have lots of fish and Zero plants. I can't remember what the alkalinity was now, but I really don't 100% trust the test strips
#62
Guest_gerald_*
Posted 13 September 2013 - 09:35 AM
The commercial tests for alkalinity are just a measure of buffer capacity, right? You can have a weak acid buffer under certain conditions. Eventually nitrification in a phosphate-buffered system will leave you with something much closer to phosphoric acid.
#63
Guest_Rainbowrunner_*
Posted 14 September 2013 - 12:41 AM
#64
Guest_Rainbowrunner_*
Posted 14 September 2013 - 01:30 AM
#65
Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 19 September 2013 - 08:54 PM
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#66
Guest_Irate Mormon_*
Posted 19 September 2013 - 08:58 PM
#67
Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 20 September 2013 - 06:49 AM
That fish disease - I hate that stuff.
Me too. I won't be too much longer that I'll have to worry about it......I'm almost out of fish
#68
Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 20 September 2013 - 09:03 AM
#69
Guest_EricaLyons_*
Posted 20 September 2013 - 12:35 PM
I think this may have to be a teardown and start over situation.
Or just a 'start keeping nitrate under 30 ppm' situation. It's important. Nitrate should stay under 30 and pH shouldn't dip a point and a half suddenly. You gotta keep the water comfortable for the fish or you start to lose them.Ammonia & Nitrite are at 0, Nitrate was high,80ish. Based on strip, Ph was 5.5 (oddly low for water in this area) and the alkalinity and hardness was high.
I feel like wiping my tank out and running bleach through the system or something, it's very frustrating.
In the future, every week do a test of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If nitrate is above 30 ppm, do a water change using dechlorinated water to bring it back down. It should never be hitting 80 ppm; that's hard for a fish to recover from.
Maybe it's time to consider a sump full of hornwort.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65yVr7DiDls
Stick a shop light over the sump tank (aim for about 100 to 200 lumens per gallon), and you'll grow it great. Hornwort doesn't need a substrate, just light, water, and nitrogen. It's super easy and it's native here.
Check this out:
The plant in Table 2 ate 26 ppm of nitrate in five days. http://www.theaquari...ical_Filtration How much plant was that? One plant? Five plants? I don't know, but now imagine the capability of an entire sump full of hornwort for eating nitrate. It may accumulate much slower or stop accumulating altogether. Then you take the hornwort out every week and throw half in your trash. That's a lot less effort than a water change. Heck, if you've got a monthly fish club meeting, take it there and you can make a buck. Plants are good.
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