DBrown918

I would do it after the p trap myself since the purpose of a p trap is to prevent odors from coming back up through the sink. I'm no plumbing expert though.

Thanks. I've got hygro and vals in another tank I'll pull from.

Temperature is going to be even higher for the rams. I plan on 84-85 degrees eventually. Do you know of any low tech plants that will do ok at higher temps? Lighting is moderate. I'm not going any higher on gH either so I guess I'll see how it does there.

Anyone have any experience with Pogostemon erectus? Setting up a new 10 gallon tank and got a tissue culture and this is my first time with this plant. It's a low tech set up with very soft water because I'll be housing only a pair of German Blue Rams to attempt breeding. PH - 6.6 kH - 1 gH -2 Temp-82 Substrate is activ-flora black sand. Almost identical to eco complete but finer particles closer to sand. I loaded Seachem flourish root tabs around the areas I planted. Tank is just set up today so trying to get some advice before it cycles. I used straight RO water remineralized slightly. Does it do ok with moderate lighting and no CO2? Is it a heavy root feeder (hopefully)? I don't want to be doing a lot of water column ferts because I'll be trying to maintain a low TDS for breeding purposes.

Fin tear is usually caused by a bacterial infection due to poor water quality. Looks like fin rot to me. Test your ammonia and nitrite levels and post the results and you'll have to treat it like a bacterial infection to treat.

Yeah I was just talking about how I reduced the flow for the Betta. The added sponge media is a good idea too.

In my wife's flex I cut up filter sponge and inserted it in both intake grills and pulled off the nozzle and stuffed some in the back of the nozzle and put it back on and it worked wonders Betta is happy as a clam.

I wouldn't worry too much about the parameters with a Betta unless it was wild caught. Almost all of the Bettas you will find at local fish stores or chain stores are farm raised or captive bred at least, so they are pretty hardy. Much more important to just keep the parameters consistent and have patience make sure the tank is fully cycled before you add the Betta. My wife has a platinum half moon in a fluval 15 alone (living his best life) and her pH is over 8 and hardness is pretty high and he's perfectly healthy and happy. Just keep it stable and keep up on water changes and you'll be fine.

No stop with the constant water changes unless your nitrates are high or you have ammonia or nitrites. You have no ammonia right now so unless you have some nitrites or a high amount of nitrates (for example over 40-50) do not change the water.

I don't see why you can't feed now. Just only feed very little amounts let them eat a little then feed a little more. Try to make sure none gets wasted by giving small portions.

Looking better but keep testing every day for the next few days to be sure.

Did you change water before you took those readings?

How often do you have to change water to maintain a TDS of 30? Also, with kH at zero what does your pH settle at and how do you keep it stable with no buffering?

It's happening because your tank was either never fully cycled or the cycle was damaged somehow. Treat it like you are starting over with cycling.

Wow I've never heard of this species before it is incredibly beautiful! When you use straight RODI water do you remineralize at all for gH or kH?

You don't want the kH higher for discus, they prefer lower. KH and pH go hand in hand. The lower the kH the lower the pH and vice versa. You don't want it too low as it can cause pH swings but for discus you definitely want it on the low side especially if you are aiming for pH of 7.0. RO water has 0 kH and gH so all im doing is putting your target parameters for gH of 15 in mind and dividing 15 by the current level of 23 gH which is 0.65. That means 15 gH is 65% of your current tap water level gH. Since RO water is devoid of hardness you would use 65% tap and cut with 35% RO and it would reduce your gH to 15. Your kH would also be reduced to 6.5 because 6.5 is 65% of your current tap level of 10 kH. Since your gH and kH level are different you can't cut with RO to get the exact amount of each that's the closest you can get.

I messed up the math there sorry it would actually be 65% tap not 65% RO. So 35% RO.

Ok in that case you would need to cut 65% RO which would bring gH to 15 and kH to 6.5. Just fyi you will have to use a pH reduction chemical with a kH of 6.5 to achieve a neutral pH. You could try organic sources like peat moss, driftwood, etc., but the likelihood of maintaining a stable 7.0 pH with a kH of 6.5-8 is not easy. The higher the kH the more likely the pH will rise over time and settle at a higher level. The breeder may be able to maintain these levels because he's probably using bare tanks with no pH influence from substrate, rocks, etc. For example I have inert sand substrate and a moderately planted tank with 2 kH and 5 gH and my pH fluctuates between 7.2-7.4 during each day.

I get these same piles from my driftwood in my sand sometimes. Nothing to worry about. Just vacuum as much as you can during water changes. I've had no issues. Some of it won't come up in the vacuum so I know it's wood.

Ok so if you wanted to cut with tap you would need to do at least 80% RO water. This would bring your kH to a 2 and your gH to about a 5. You're still going to be using mostly RO water either way is my point.

They may be gasping for air due to ammonia toxicity, which is more likely in this situation. Hope he's dosing with prime.

Didn't your tap water have a high gH level and somewhat lower kH level? If so you're going to have to cut your tap water with a lot of RO water and then you will be able to get the gH down to a manageable level but your kH may be too low so you'll have to remineralize it somewhat anyways. I honestly have no problems remineralizing my RO water. You just have to make the same amount every time and figure out the measurements for remineralizing that amount and you are set. Your water company will usually have a target set of parameters they maintain, but once in a while they can deviate significantly. Especially if there is a problem at the plant, which happens. I know this because I've worked operating a reverse osmosis water treatment plant before. Also depends on the source water being treated and the type of treatment plant it is. Ours was about as stable as it gets due to reverse osmosis and deionization. RO water is your best bet with discus simply because of the lower TDS achieved and the fact that you can engineer it to the correct levels. If you want to cut just realize you are going to be using mostly RO water anyway with the gH level being really high. Don't I recall you saying it was in the 20s for degrees of hardness?

If you don't have enough air and fish are gasping that could be another thing slowing you down as the nitrification cycle requires aeration to take place. If the level of dissolved oxygen in the water decreases, so does the rate of nitrification. Don't touch the filter media for a while.

Good to know. Right now I'm just on Xtreme community crave flakes and frozen brine shrimp. I'll have to add some frozen blood worms to the mix.

I just got my first group of 6 of these guys and I'm loving them so far. Never had any rasboras before. Super easy going and beautiful fish. I've only had them for 2 days now, but the orange is already starting to brighten! They absolutely went nuts for frozen brine shrimp on day 2.