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Mmiller2001

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Everything posted by Mmiller2001

  1. Mmiller2001
    My experience with oak leaves is that they never really break down. Is that bad or good? Dunno, but shrimp never eat them. I would boost my source water. Meaning, if I had a 5 gallon bucket to use for water change, I would boost GH and KH in the bucket and then do my water changes. That will raise your numbers slowly. For me, and not to get too technical, if I just wanted to raise GH and KH by no more than 1.5dhardness, I would just dose the tank directly. What kind of shrimp do you have?
  2. Mmiller2001
    Equilibrium is for GH, and it also contains other salts. It's an okay product that will raise GH, but it will also add potassium and iron. So if you just want to boost GH, I'd recommend plain old Calcium and Magnesium in a 2:1 ratio. That's the cheapest route. Salty shrimp is a product that will boost both KH and GH in a ratio. However, it's very expensive and is inferior to plain old Calcium and Magnesium. If you want to raise just KH, I recommend potassium carbonate, it's cheap, easy to measure and easily purchased from Amazon. If you learn to chase numbers, you eventually learn to set them. And learning how these numbers impact your water is very beneficial.
  3. Mmiller2001
    Thank you Tami, I'm always cutting and have to remind myself to let them grow 🤪
  4. Mmiller2001
    I will for sure. I'm on the notify list. And thank you.
  5. Mmiller2001
    Alright, hit a 5.3pH at noon. Fish were hanging out at the top so I backed CO² down a bit. At 3pm, pH was 5.5. I will boost it back up as I think I was a bit to heavy handed when I backed it down. I also started my degassed sample, letting that sit out for 48 hours and will pH then. I'm looking for a 1.2 to 1.4pH drop from degassed to CO² saturation. I've also changed my dosing numbers. NO³ 18ppm PO⁴ 8ppm K 33ppm Fe (as proxy) .64ppm
  6. Mmiller2001
    It's done, 0dKH has begun!
  7. Mmiller2001
    Pulled one apart, it looks like powder.
  8. Mmiller2001
    So if the gel cap came up, just think where all the fertilizer went!!!
  9. Mmiller2001
    Do you have Seachem Prime as your declorinator?
  10. Mmiller2001
    https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/green-killing-machine-internal-uv-sterilizer-with-power-head The cause is too much light and ammonia.
  11. Mmiller2001
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JJ5GXSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This stuff is awesome!
  12. Mmiller2001
    Did you cycle the tank? Did you add all 31 fish at once to the tank?
  13. Mmiller2001
    This is the best pool filter sand I've found. Near perfect in size and weight. Grew this tank using it with no root tabs. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JJ5GXSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this one is grown in Black Diamond Blasting sand, also no root tabs. The truth is, substrate really doesn't matter. Some plants just won't grow well in sand versus aquasoil or dirt. And some plants won't grow without CO2. Each of the tanks above are on CO2 and that's the difference. I would save your money on substrate and apply it to a CO2 system. It's not hard, it just seems that way. I'm using Eco Complete now, but I wish I had gone Black Diamond Blasting sand. Hope this helps.
  14. Mmiller2001
    I've watched my Harlequin's pull apart shrimp! And they darn near killed 2 of my Albina Glowlight Tetra.
  15. Mmiller2001
    Tomorrow is D-day. I'm moving my tanks to 0dKH. I'm nervous, but ready for the adventure. I'm hoping my Belem will like the change. I also cranked up the CO2 today, I hit a 5.7pH, can't imagine how low it will go with 0dKH!
  16. Mmiller2001
    I found this question to be interesting. So I reached out to Hikari, the maker of ICH-X and asked them the same question. Should I discontinue CO2 while using their product? The short answer was no, just aerate the tank heavier. They did ask about what declinator I used. If the dechlorinator reduces O2, which some do, this could be a cause of concern.
  17. Mmiller2001
    It comes into the tank on dust via air also. There is no way to keep your tank unexposed to algae spores.
  18. Mmiller2001
    Once you get the tank cycled, you will be able to manage the KH increase via water changes with RO or distilled water. The stone is TL/DR raising your KH which in turn raises pH. After some time you will get a feel for the amount of water changes needed to maintain stability.
  19. Mmiller2001
    A pH drop of that amount wouldn't concern me. But a rapid shift in osmotic differences could be an issue. @Colu suggests an O2 issue, which is probably correct. Sometimes tap water can be low in O2 and high in co2. A cheap way to test for osmotic differences is with a TDS pen. You would check TDS of your source water and tank water. If they are within 100ppm of each other, no problem. Your stock is all software stock, I'd imagine they are enjoying the lower pH. The nerites might be a bit upset, but they can manage.
  20. Mmiller2001
    Which nicrew is it?
  21. Mmiller2001
    I had no luck with Micro Sword and gave up. So it's hard to say. I've read 40par is enough for most medium to high demand plants. Do you know the par for that model?
  22. Mmiller2001
    Good move!
  23. Mmiller2001
    55 or 75 gallon?
  24. Mmiller2001
    I wouldn't water change, but I would plant alot more. If ammonia doesn't disappear, and you start seeing algae, start water changes to control algae. When ammonia is zero and nitrites are zero, big water change to get nitrates in the 20ppm range. I would also start dosing fertilizer, very lightly during this time.
  25. Mmiller2001
    What is ammonia testing?
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