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OK, so I fall back to Colin's post above on possible physical issues with the stream. Beyond that, I don't know what cold be causing pH fluctuations.

OK, got it, back to our PM.

I'll PM you.

Odd, this site has been down a couple times...anyway, seems to be back now. No actually, I'm cautious about personal data that can be so specific to me, unlike my name which can be any number of people. We can do PM's if you like?

Hard to tell about the flow, it may or may not be too much. Floating plants are needed. You could get some pygmy chain swords for spots around the base of the wood/rock areas.

Each fish species has evolved to function in very specific water parameters. They also have environmental needs, like the water currents previously mentioned. These needs are part of the genetic blueprint for the species. We cannot change them. The topic of further evolution is far too broad...

Yes, pencilfish need floating plants. They need the overhanging "shade" to be their most colourful, and that of course means healthy.

The issue of water temperature has arisen, so the record might as well be set straight. There are no Corydoras species that occur in warm water, "warm" meaning anything above 25C/77F long-term, and most never get this warm. Ian Fuller is the Corydoradinae authority and he regularly gives...

No, assuming the aquarist wants the best for their cories and is not one of those who experiment without realizing the dangers. It is true that the pygmies might not dig down depending how deep the cover of sand is but there is still the underlying bacterial issue with plant substrates. It is...

As noted by essjay, the burying of the rhizome in any substrate is or can often be the death knell for this fern.

Agree, they are sometimes found together in the habitat. Which brings to mind, we have not been told the tank size (dimensions especially) nor the GH/pH.

I am hopeles with electronic mumbo-jumbo so if you figure out whatever needs figuring out, I'm happy to chat.

It is worth knowing what is actually coming in with your water. But 10ppm is a far cry from 80ppm which is a risk to fish.

OK, tomorrow? I'm on Teams under my full name same as here (my signature).

Sorry for so many questions, but something is doing something to the water for the pH to vary so much so often. Do these filters do anything, I mean chemically?

OK. When you collect the rainwater from the stream, is it put through any type of filter or substance before you use it, or does it just go in the tank?

According to the Seachem site, Matrix does not affect pH. It is supposed to partially reduce nitrate, which I would question. But not pH. I just noticed you are dosing two doses of Flourish Comp, this may be too much, as I can see some algae on the glass (?). That substrate, is just Flourite?

I thought there was a chat on TFF, but I can't find it now... . There is the PM conversation. Or do you want to do a video chat...are you on Microsoft Teams? There is also Skype, though it is less reliable. Don't post log-in names on the open forum, but by PM.

All I can say is there is no reason these plants cannot thrive in sand. Mine certainly did, and for years I had gravel until I found out it was not good for my fish (cories) so I changed, and wished I had way sooner. There may have been something in your sand (or gravel), or some other factor...

Something is way off here, let's see if we can figure it out. First, do you have nitrate in the tap water on its own? The reason nitrate is low (or should be) in aquatic plant tanks is because the plants prefer ammonia/ammonium, and they literally grab all they can. And they are faster at...

I'm going to do a slight detour here, hope no one minds. The above post reminded me. Betta splendens seems to live solitary in its natural habitat which is still and sluggish waters, including rice paddies, swamps, roadside ditches, streams and ponds. Such an environment is not conducive to...

Conifer tree wood must be kept out of the aquarium. The sap is deadly toxic. Alder cones come from trees of the genus Alnus, in the birch family Betulaceae. This is a deciduous tree, not a conifer. They have an appearance of a pine cone, but they are not related at all.

The vast majority of habitats from which our fish come are in fact far more stable than many would have us think. Temperature--water has a high specific heat capacity which means that temperature changes are resisted and occur relatively slowly. In terrestrial environments, daily temperature...

Agree. But we do know that the more water changed the better, and that is really all that matters. The other issues like stocking/feeding/compatible fish. sufficient numbers of a shoaling species--all these do or can negatively impact the biosystem and must be considered.

I agree with others, and the article linked in post #4 is very informative. Remember, this works with any safe deciduous tree leaves that are dead dry. I used oak leaves and maple leaves in some tanks. It was a challenge in the Black Ruby Barb tank, they ate them as fast as I could add them!

@Colin, this is carrying on from another thread, here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/methods-for-raising-gh-kh.489912/post-4290655 There are some unknowns in this. First, the water is forest stream water. The GH and KH are 2 ppm (if memory serves me, but they are very low) and the pH is...

If I am correctly understanding this, I do not agree with a couple points. First, it is certainly possible to have stable water parameters and conditions. That is the point of water changes. Various forms of "pollution" increase and the only way to remove them is a water change. If the tank...

First observation from the photos is your swords seem to be doing very well. The stem plants clearly are not. I think this is likely a combination of light and nutrient issues. Flourish Tabs are superb, I have had over a decade of incredible success using them. But they are for large rooted...

First, let's confirm it is diatoms (brown algae), as we have had several posts where this "brown algae" was used for black beard algae which often is brown. A photo of the tank would also help. Does the algae easily come off with your fingertips? On the light, six hours should not be too...

Welcome to TFF. :hi: The problem isn't with numbers per say but you do have some issues with the fish species you have. As you are new to aquariums I'll start by mentioning that each species of freshwater fish has evolved to function in a very specific environment. Here, environment includes...

As others have noted, these chemicals are not only useless long-term, they are seriously dangerous for the aquatic inhabitants. The pH is closely tied to the GH and KH, and other factors such as CO2 also impact it. Wood is rarely effective, as it takes a lot of wood to achieve anything. Dried...

Water changes should not depend upon rising nitrates. The point of water changes is stability. Nitrates should not rise from water change to water change by more than a couple ppm. My article at the top of this section of the forum explains this...

I'm afraid it does not work like this. The Oscar's aggression will not be "diverted." And the stress this will cause any shoaling fish is cruel. Don't do it.

Just to clarify, this is not the case. First, how would plants growing in soil and sand manage if this was an issue? This is the substrate in nature. Second, this suggests the roots have no problem with nutrient and gas exchange. And they certainly spread, my Echinodorus plants had roots...

There are reasons for not doing this. Water evaporation with the heat rises, and I cannot imagine this is good for a TV. Then there is the "repair" issue 10 Tanks raises, which is to me very significant. Once set up, an aquariuim is immovable without tearing it completely down, so its...

agree there will be no issues adding smaller Diamonds, and certainly agree you need more than seven. This is an active species, and the interaction among males is well worth having them, but they definitely need 10+. You have the space in a 55g so I would look at 11-12 minimum.

Dwarf gourami risk iridovirus which is untreatable. And bettas are not community fish. Either cold really be asking for trouble. Over the years, with 4-foot and 5-foot tanks with small fish I usually considered a slightly larger shoaling fish, and this strategy worked well. In my 5-foot tank...

You had issues before related to a plant substrate, so you may likely have them here too. Is there a reason you are using any plant soil/substrate? You mentioned cories early on, they cannot go in a tank with these substrates.

"Algae" can mean different things to different aquarists. I like to separate algae into the common normal algae that is present in all healthy aquaria, but not really seen most of the time. Opposite to this, are what I term "problem" algae, which was what the initial poster of this thread was...

OK, that all tells us a lot to go by. You are looking into soft and very soft water species, which covers most of the fish from South America and SE Asia. And the tank length of 120cm/4 feet is good.