AnimalNerd98

I use these guys too! But when I want to incubate the eggs in a separate container without a light, I use the spawning mops so I don’t have to worry about the water lettuce breaking down and disintegrating in the incubation tank. Java moss is better, but sometimes it can sluff off things into the water.

1) Carbonic acid is in an equilibrium with the amounts of bicarbonate and carbonate. The carbonate and bicarbonate do not have a direct effect on pH, they just act as buffers against large pH changes. 2) When CO2 is off, the pH goes up because less carbonic acid is being formed. This “raised” pH is just the normal pH of your aquarium water without injecting CO2, it will not get any higher without any additives or changes. If you are changing water regularly, you are likely keeping the water from actually becoming too acidic (below 6.5). 3) The carbon dioxide can either gas off into the air or it can react with water to form carbonic acid.

Haha, the Pac-Man joined with the smiley face is just bicarbonate. Bicarbonate is just a carbonate molecule combined with a single proton. Hmm, interesting ideas. I know that extremophile archae exist at low pHs, but I am not sure if they undergo the process of nitrification. After doing a little digging, I asked myself: why can’t nitrifying bacteria adapt or evolve to lower pHs over time across several generations? I think the answer lies in the chemistry. At pHs lower than 6.5, the dominant form of ammonia (NH3) is actually ammonium (NH4+). The enzymes that nitrifiying bacteria normally use may not bind to ammonium as well as ammonia. Interesting stuff indeed!

I have used DIY fry traps/breeder boxes to get fry out of my WCMW and CPD colonies. I use these a bit differently though. Instead of putting the parents in, I put the parents on the outside and let them spawn. The fry move themselves into these traps to get away from their parents. From there, I just siphon them out or catch them out with a brine shrimp net.

You might just get locally bred Neocaridinia from your LFS or another hobbyist so you don't have to doctor your water. Neos are pretty hardy and adaptable. But, if I were trying to lower my GH and KH, I would actually cut down on water changes and use mostly plants to take out some of the minerals.

Thanks for making this post! I think the problem that many of us have is that we remember Cory saying something in a livestream, but we can't remember which livestream and which part of that livestream. I was going to catch up on the livestream tomorrow, but I definitely want to watch this section first!

Interesting breeding project! I don't know much about the interrelatedness between these two species but you may get some viable offspring out of them (whether they are sterile or not). Perhaps you'll make headway on the next flowerhorn (because Flowerhorns are hybrid fish, themselves). A lot of Endlers sold nowadays are also hybrids of Endlers and guppies. Alien bettas are also hybrids of different wild betta species. Genetic and conservation ethics aside, I think selling hybrid fish is fine as long as the seller is transparent of what they are selling (even though you don't plan on selling them). Just saying that hybrid fish are not inherently bad, especially if we're not using these hybrids in conservation breeding programs, haha.

True! KH is not an invulnerable shield but it can temper the blows of otherwise larger pH swings.

I wouldn't say it is wasted in high KH because the dissolved CO2 is what the plants use anyways for photosynthesis. As long as the CO2 is not reaching its saturation point, CO2 will continue to dissolve into the water which is available for the plants to take up (before it is all converted into carbonic acid). Bicarbonate and carbonate interact with the product of CO2 reacting with water, not necessarily with carbon dioxide itself. If anything, I think temperature has a bigger factor in determining how much CO2 is held in the water. For example, cold water has a greater solubility for gases like carbon dioxide and oxygen. This is the reason why it is more important to add air stones to tanks with high temps because the solubility of oxygen for fish is relatively low in comparison to cooler tanks.

Ahh, I see what you mean now for the analogy. So carbon dioxide makes carbonic acid in water. The acid can lower aquarium pH, but the components that make up KH are preventing the acid from lowering the pH too much. Once the shield of KH has been broken down, pH will be “attacked” by the acid making it swing down. Something like this?

I’m sorry, I’m trying my best 😂 Maybe someone has an alternative explanation that works better. By the way, what is bps?

Ooh, I’m following this! I’m most interested in getting N. multifasciatus and I’ve been doing research on them. From what I’ve seen, 10 gallons are like the minimum for these guys but many people prefer colony breeding them in larger tanks like 15 or 20 gallons with more floor space. Cory has used MTS as a clean-up crew and nothing rooted will make it through the fish remodeling (unless you use an Aquarium Co-Op Easy planter). I think floating plants would work best. I’ve also wanted to always try out what Cory said about keeping guppies and Multies together. Those baby guppies will keep the Multi adults well-fed I’m curious to see what other people have to say about Multies and other species

This has happened to me too! My wife found one of my Amanos dried up on our carpet and she was not happy 😆😬 You might want to consider putting on a lid. The floating plants and pothos just make it easier for the not so smart critters to crawl out

Excuse the algae, haha. I just tied sponges and süsswassertang around the branches. Maybe I’ll make a post of how I converted it 😝

Technically, yes. They may have added some other stuff in there, but the main ingredient is just something you can get at the supermarket. However, @Cory in the past has said that baking soda works in a pinch, but may be difficult to dose straight from the powder form because you need the smallest pinch to affect KH. If you are trying to always have consistent KH levels, it may be difficult to distinguish between a pinch and a half-pinch per gallon every time you change water. I believe the alkaline buffer should be a more dilute solution and makes it easier to dose. Good luck!

1) Yes, pH is an abbreviation of the power of hydrogen 2) A solution is more acidic when a solution has more H+, and more basic when it has less H+. H- is another hydrogen ion, but it is not the ion that we measure for pH. Sorry for the confusion. But technically, if a solution has a lot of H-, it will be more basic but this reasoning requires a more intense chemical explanation. 3) When CO2 is added to the water, it makes the water more and more acidic. So in a way, yes, it is "eating up" the carbonate compounds in the aquarium.

Sorry about that! I will try to amend it to make it more beginner-friendly. Most of it is understanding and memorizing the terms itself. Ions are just atoms or molecules with a positive or negative charge. Thus, an H+ ion is just a hydrogen atom that lost an electron, making it positively charged and just a proton. Because pH is the power/potential of hydrogen, we want to track how many free hydrogen ions are in the water. If the protons are bound to anything else like bicarbonate, it doesn't count. More protons = lower pH and acidic, less protons means higher pH and basic. But maybe this terminology is intimidating. Let's call protons/H+ ions (same thing) smiley faces. Carbonate is blue pac man. Bicarbonate is just a blue pac man fused to a yellow smiley face. How does this analogy work for you?

What is your target pH/KH/GH? Also, may I ask as to why you are wanting to use remineralized RODI water instead of dechlorinated tap water? The Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer work basically in opposites. The Alkaline buffer contains mostly sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and increases the KH by adding carbonate and bicarbonate ions to the water. The Acidic Buffer contains mostly sodium bisulfate which converts bicarbonate/carbonate ions into CO2, lowering the KH. What are your plans for increasing GH (magnesium and calcium ions). I hope someone else can help with the math and dosing part.

OOH! Could you link the video? I'm curious to see how fish go after fresh spirulina. I heard spirulina also needs a high alkalinity, right? Some species of it need some salinity as well? Let me know what you find out!

I used to have and make bonsai but got out of it when I went on vacation and my bonsai didn't survive with my plant sitter. I actually converted one of my dead bonsai (a Chinese elm) into an aquarium bonsai. Let me know if you're interested in seeing that. However, I really appreciate the art of bonsai in relation to how it may have influenced modern aquascaping. Especially with the theme of trying to recreate nature on a smaller scale in our homes.

Hmm, interesting question to pose. I think it comes down to how would the fish consume it? As I understand it, spirulina is a biomass of single-celled cyanobacteria. So although it can form clumps, it can also exist in a state almost like the algae that is suspended in green water. Most of the prepared foods we give to fish containing spirulina have been processed in some way to make it palatable or easy for the fish/inverts to eat like pellets or even gel-foods. If you fed the green water from spirulina, it may be great for feeding filter feeders and tiny fry but may be less effective for everything else. If you feed the clumps they can form, this may be easier for algae eaters to pick at and take in large gulps. You could also process your spirulina yourself but it seems like more trouble than it is worth considering how relatively cheap we can get spirulina powder or get fish foods containing spirulina. I'm curious to see what other nerms think.

I second the suggestion of Malaysian trumpet snails because they are mostly nocturnal and will come out to eat leftovers and algae when the lights are out (and the betta is sleeping).

Here is the best way I can explain it (refer to diagram). I have colored the positive hydrogen ions (protons) red and the carbonate/carbon dioxide constituents blue for simplicity so you can track down the protons. When CO2 is dissolved in water, it can form carbonic acid (H2CO3). Carbonic acid can break down Into a single, positive hydrogen ion (a proton) as well as a bicarbonate ion. The bicarbonate ion can be further broken down into yet another proton and a carbonate ion. All of these molecules exist in a dynamic equilibrium (fluctuating ever so slightly depending on the relative concentrations of each molecule). When we talk about pH, we are talking about the power/potential of hydrogen. In other words, how many protons are present in the mixture? So, the more protons are available in the water, the more acidic the solution is and the lower the pH. Consider Scenario 1 in the diagram. If we are continuously pumping in CO2 and dissolving it into the water, we will have a relatively high concentration of CO2. This will shift the equilibrium further to the right (notice the bigger arrows pointing to the right), resulting in more and more hydrogen ions being produced and released into the water. This is what causes the pH to "drop." However, the equilibrium can also shift in the opposite direction with the right circumstances. Let's say you dissolve baking soda (sodium BICARBONATE) in pure water and add it to an acidic solution with a low pH like vinegar. The equilibrium will shift to the left and CO2 bubbles will start gassing off as more bicarbonate ions join with protons to form carbonic acid, before becoming CO2 and water. Thus, we see how carbonate and bicarbonate ions act as buffers to prevent large changes in pH by acting as a reservoir/sink for hydrogen ions. When the pH is high, bicarbonate ions can form carbonate and a proton to make the solution more acidic and counteract the high pH. When the pH is low, carbonate ions can join up with free protons to form bicarbonate ions, making the solution less acidic and counter the low pH. pH swings happen when there is not enough bicarbonate and carbonate ions to buffer against drastic changes in the amount of protons in the water. Look back at Scenario 1 in the image: if there are not enough carbonate ions to take up the free protons to form bicarbonate, more and more protons will enter the water making the water more and more acidic. Let me know if that explanation makes sense.

I am somewhat of a fish tank fanatic myself.

Another thing to be aware of is having the CO2 on a timer rather than always having the CO2 cranked. It should preferably come on about 1-2 hours before the lights come on and 1 hour before the lights go out. Times given by @Irene in the new Co-Op video on setting up CO2. Here is the Co-Op guide on pH, GH, and KH that may be helpful: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh