JoeQ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I totally agree with you, plus its a huge waste of water! The Python water change system was what enabled me to do a weekly 50% And I kind of enjoy watching my tank turn into a jungle so I consider the extra work 'tolerable' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 I've been looking for one that will work with my pulldown sink sprayer thingy but I generally have to wheel a 15g bucket back and forth and use an electric pump. It's better than how I used to do it but I still have to stand there and control it all. Some days 'standing' has a 5 minute cap 🥲 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) That's a tough one! I use to have to carry 5gallon jugs and 5gallon buckets to water change. Which got to the point of saying "screw this". had it not been for the Python I probably would have torn my tanks down. Edited February 5 by JoeQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 I have hardwood floors (well, vinyl after a 2nd floor leak in 2020 but I digress) and I used to use a carpet scrap upside down under the bucket and draaaaaag it across the floor and then use a 1gal pitcher to schlep the water back and forth between sink and bucket, and then bucket and aquarium. Now I have a heavy duty trash can dolly under it that can hold like, 500lbs, a little electric pump to get the water out out the bucket, and a hose thing that I rigged up to sorta work with my sink's sprayer to get the water from the sink into the bucket. Definitely would like to redo the last bit since it tends to leak at the joint and requires some extra coordination on my part to not let the hose zip up into the faucet if I loosen my grip at the wrong time. All in all, not as elegant as the python system but plenty effective and I can monitor the temp better, dechlorinate in the bucket, and rinse things in the dechlorinated water easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Sounds like a lot of work! I'd just get a new faucet and a python!!! 🤣 In all seriousness, I have one of them pull down sprayers which is a pain in the butt IMO. It seems it has to be replaced every few years..... Good thing I also have a bathroom sink close by that I can tap into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 So I noticed some little white blobs on the glass this afternoon. Thought they were some sort of biofilm blob until I looked really hard. I think one of the new plants may have had some snail eggs 😅 I guess they can't be nerites since those don't hatch in freshwater but it is a debate as to how to handle them. Enjoy the extra cleaners? Let the siamese or hillstream eat them? Let them grow enough to individually remove them until there's no more? Decisions decisions 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Congratulations!! Save the snails! Very good for the eco system! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 I doubt it but I hope they're a cute species like those ramshorns. They look like Spongebob's cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I think, they are bladder snails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Probably. I mean as long as they're not carrying parasites or something I guess they can stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 (edited) I definitely need to find a better place for the bubbler 😅 at least it works. Hopefully the bubbles will be more even after its had time to saturate. Here's a quick doodle of the wiring, sans air bubbler. The green is the co2 diffuser, red is the heater, the weird squiggly line is my thermometer probe. It's buried in the substrate and comes out kinda middle leftish of the tank, a good bit away from the heater. I double checked the water at the top with a cooking thermometer and they're generally in agreement, 76ish, despite turning the heater to 73 😮💨 I did pH and tried my new Sera gh+kh tests, pre-adding bubbles, after co2 turned off for the night. pH 6.4 Gh 4 or 5 Kh 1 or 2. It was pretty much instantly yellow I'll test again in the morning to see how the bubbler has helped Edited February 6 by purrmaid hit the button on accident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) You definitely need to get that kh up! 1 ~ 2 is probably part of the reason your plants aren't doing well and live stock certainly won't be happy. Kh is responsible for keeping your ph stable. The other part is your fertilization! How are we coming with that second jar? Also be careful with burry your bubbler in the substrate (Unless I read that wrong). You could be kicking up micros that should be best left in the substrate. Edited February 6 by JoeQ Grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Also test your source water gh & kh. Imo that wood is what is buffering your kh/ph so low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 The wood and controsoil I think are the culprits. According to the website, it's a 'feature.'I was thinking I'd add more aragonite to the filter to offset it today bc adding oxygen just isn't going to be able to compensate that much hardscape based lowering. This morning's tank pH was 6.6 before co2, with the oxygen running all night, and still a 1 kh My tap water, dechlorinated, is a perfect 7 pH, 4-5 gh, and 1 kh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 The aragonite will take time to break down into the water colum and affect the kh. And im not sure how much youll need to get the desired effect. Kh is in essence a "shield" around your ph that protects it from acids eating away your ph. You can actually dip your hand to the bottom of your tank and feel low Kh! Feel that acidic sting? Thats on account of low kh! Gh is in fact plant nutrients calcium and magnesium considerd secondary nutrients (lower demanded than macro nutrients, but higher demand than micro nutrients) Calcium being responsible for kh Im not sure about your budge but if interested in a pre mix kh booster nilocg has these products. If you are trying to save a buck, you always have the baking soda option for quick water soluble calcium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 From what I gather, aragonite or crushed coral dissolve faster the more acidic your water is, trying to reach about an 8.5 ph. I think that means if your water was a 7 and you were shooting for 7.8, the same amount of media would last longer than it would in my tank making the same .8 jump. I'm inclined to use it first just bc I have a good 5lbs of it lol Oh yeah, I have a pickup grocery order this afternoon with a very special jar of spaghetti sauce in it. I'll try to make some new fertilizer after dinner lol. Does the fertilizer affect gh/kh? I would think it would 🤔 but maybe the plants suck it all up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 On 2/6/2024 at 11:01 AM, purrmaid said: From what I gather, aragonite or crushed coral dissolve faster the more acidic your water is, trying to reach about an 8.5 ph. I think that means if your water was a 7 and you were shooting for 7.8, the same amount of media would last longer than it would in my tank making the same .8 jump. I'm inclined to use it first just bc I have a good 5lbs of it lol Oh yeah, I have a pickup grocery order this afternoon with a very special jar of spaghetti sauce in it. I'll try to make some new fertilizer after dinner lol. Does the fertilizer affect gh/kh? I would think it would 🤔 but maybe the plants suck it all up... 8.5 is way too high for both most plants and the live stock you mentioned. I would guess a ph of 8.5 would need a kh of 15~20 (rough estimate) Ideally for your plants and live stock you would aim for a kh of about 3~4 which will put your ph at around 7.4 As for fertilizers affecting kh & gh, it will not affect kh on account of you have no calcium (caso4) in your mix. You do however have magnesium which effects gh, but not in substantial amount to affect it much. At this point your kh is the biggest factor thats having a negative impact on your plants. Green leaf aquariums recommend gh at 3~5 kh at, 3~4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 I think the bag says it naturally tries to reach an 8.5, assuming you'rejust using it and no other substrates. People use it as an African cichlid substrate and they like that, I guess. I just want to use enough to raise the ph to a 6.8 (morning)-7.0(after the co2 of the day) range and get the kh/gh happier. I'm assuming raising the kh will help that stabilize Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) Yes, thats the general function of kh. It stabilizes ph. A ph of 7 might also prevent much of a swing from your co2 which is what I believe co2 tester fluid does. It changes colors according to kh+ph values. Edited February 6 by JoeQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Parameter update~ I added ¼ c aragonite about 4 hours ago. The co2 has turned off, drop checker was green Ph 6.4 (better than 6 yesterday) Gh 4 Kh 2! The 1st drop actually turned blue instead of an instant yellow The spaghetti sauce jar is clean and drying~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 On 2/6/2024 at 7:59 PM, purrmaid said: Parameter update~ I added ¼ c aragonite about 4 hours ago. The co2 has turned off, drop checker was green Ph 6.4 (better than 6 yesterday) Gh 4 Kh 2! The 1st drop actually turned blue instead of an instant yellow The spaghetti sauce jar is clean and drying~ Lovely! Good job, now lets start getting your plant babies some food! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 Day 2 of ph being around 7.0 on the morning, gh of 4-5 and kh hovering at 2. Will the pps fertilizer raise kh just by being there? My bro keeps shrimp in an 8 gal and wanted to take me to look at them (I'm not buying any today but he wants to) after chemo so I was wondering if I should look at their chems or some limestone rocks or just wait for the fertilizer to solve all my problems lol I did add back my nerite snail yesterday since the water seems to be good enough for baby snails lol I'm thinking of removing the giant anubias in the left corner but what to replace it with~? 🤔 something bright to lighten that darker area? Tall or mid? Idk All 3 petstores with fish are in the same strip mall near me (really weird tbh) but convenient when you don't have a lot of go power. All 3 have plants though one is a Petsmart so 'have' is a generous, technically accurate statement only. Anyway, lotta variety to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/8/2024 at 12:44 PM, purrmaid said: Day 2 of ph being around 7.0 on the morning, gh of 4-5 and kh hovering at 2. Will the pps fertilizer raise kh just by being there? My bro keeps shrimp in an 8 gal and wanted to take me to look at them (I'm not buying any today but he wants to) after chemo so I was wondering if I should look at their chems or some limestone rocks or just wait for the fertilizer to solve all my problems lol I did add back my nerite snail yesterday since the water seems to be good enough for baby snails lol I'm thinking of removing the giant anubias in the left corner but what to replace it with~? 🤔 something bright to lighten that darker area? Tall or mid? Idk All 3 petstores with fish are in the same strip mall near me (really weird tbh) but convenient when you don't have a lot of go power. All 3 have plants though one is a Petsmart so 'have' is a generous, technically accurate statement only. Anyway, lotta variety to choose from. Your fertilizer will not affect your kh since there is no calcium in the mix. It is also highly recommended that you avoid limestone. That will raise your kh through the roof with no knowing how high it will go, as well as any chemicals. You did put aragonite in there, I'd hold off and see where that takes it to. If anything use a small amount of baking soda to raise it a degree or two. As for plant selections that's on you. My thing is being able to grow them well. Any artistic tank touch in designing layouts still eludes me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purrmaid Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 I finally felt up to going out and picking up a grocery order.....and stop by Petco. I have no self control bc I bought some sort of narrow amazon sword (maybe the ozelot type according to the employee? No spots though) and more super red Ludwigia. I need to do a trim and some planting now lol. The cabomba is growing like crazy! I still need to test my pH after co2 tonight but so far it's been spiking up to a 7.6, possibly higher overnight, gh is at 5 and kh is only at 3. I turned the air off a few days ago to try and prevent the overnight spikes but no luck. At least the snails and siamese algae eater seem fine. Ideally I can get the tank to a consistent 6.8±0.2 pH and whatever gh/kh shrimp need to molt...whenever I find some that won't immediately get eaten. Red ones would look nice but I need like...1.5 inch ones that a future dwarf gourami wouldn't eat and that will breed in freshwater 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 How's the algae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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