is circulation needed

[kenneth_kpe]

well i recently installed a foam to muffle the downpour of my HOB

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=60874
seen here

and i think it might the reason that some of my fish are getting weak and a couple even died. could this be possible because the water inside the tank is too still ? when i look at the leaves inside the tank i notice little or no water movement inside the tank. could this be bad ? should i install a power head inside the tank to create more water moving around ? im using a 20 gal tank and was wondering what size, and i was thingking of rigging my diy c02 to the powerhead so that maybe itl raise my c02 levels a bit anybody have advice on the power of the pump if ever ?

 

[Silly me]

you dont think that your over fertilizeing CO2??

oxygen dificiencey
Fish are prone to disease, stressed, gulping for air at the surface. After long periods of this plants become stunted. Cause: insufficient light or nutrients, which slows down plant growth and production of O2, breakdown of nitrogen ceases. Over fertilization of CO2.

Treatment: check lights, filter, CO2 system, increase circulation, fertilize if needed

 

[kenneth_kpe]

the fish that died were gouramis and a cory, the other fish seem healthy bec they dont slow down or gasp for air..... I posted this on the other thread asking if it would be 02 deffieciency and they told me that gouramis are the last one to go in case of oxygen def. bec they can breathe air.. ? but im still stumped. do you think i should get a power head and fit in in the mid of the tank pointing a bit down to create a bit of circulation ? will a c02 reactor create water curent ?? ? ?

 

[Bryan]

I don't think lack of circulation is bad, as long as there is enough oxygen in the water for the fish. The main thing circulation is good for is to move the dirt/debre so that the filter can get it, if there is no circulation everything will just fall to the bottom, but that's OK though, if you have fish that clean the bottom. When you have a planted tank I think that it looks better when there is no current.
On my tank, the downpour is quiet as long as the water level is higher than the bottom of the downspout, but, look into what Silly me posted.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

im gonna try to get a powerhead a small one and increase circulation, and if the current is too strong im gonna turn it into a c02 reactor... anybody see something wrong with that ? i feel bad for the dead fishes..... im gonna be extra carefull this time

 

[Bangin]

Gouramis shouldn't be seriously affected by an O2 deficiency because they take air from the surface. I know that poor water circulation will lead to nasty algae.

Is there any other explanation for the fish deaths? Somehow I doubt it has anything to do with CO2 or water circulation.

Good luck. I'm sorry to hear about your fish losses.

 

[Lateral Line]

I would think adding something to increase your circulation is likely to void any benefit you would get from your CO2 reactor. CO2 comes out of solution very easily.

As Bangin has said, Labyrinth fish are generally the last to go in reduced O2 situations because they can breath atmospheric O2. I too suspect there is another reason they died.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

will the c02 still get diffused even if i put the powerhead kinda in the middle of the tank. and im gonna turn it into a c02 reactor using the powerhead... do you think it would do more harm then good ? im really stumped. if i have money to buy only 1 more test kit what should i get ? ammonia ? or nitrate ? i think nitrites aren't really a prob since im heavily planted ? they should me eating em up ?? i dunno

 

[kenneth_kpe]

o ya i test for c02 i kinda forgot that part using PH and KH and always always get C02 levels of around 9-14 ppm, since the my ph reading is kinda shaddy from 6.5 - 7.0 i think....

 

[konrad05]

If your CO2 levels aren't steady, your fish most likely died from pH shock, I can't see anything else obvious being the cause.
The smaller the tank, the more you really have to be careful with adding CO2, the pH will shoot down and up much much faster than in a larger tank.
What's your Watts per gallon and plantation level, you might not even have to add CO2

 

[kenneth_kpe]

im running 3WPG and the tank is quite planted, only around 20 percent of the foreground isnt covered with plants.... yeah maybe its the PH shock, is there something i can do to prevent this ? like raise my KH level a bit ?? does that work ? because i only have a low KH of 2 ? and doesnt a low KH result to larger PH swings ???

 

[konrad05]

indeed it does. KH is the carbonate hardness or buffering capacity of your water. The higher the value the better it will donate and accept Hydrogens from the water, thus preventing pH swings.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

oh my, so i have to get those KH plus kits then, i dont mind to be really stupid but that means i have to add KH plus every week since i do water changes every week right ? : oooooo

whats a good level of KH ?

 

[Bangin]

A good level of kh is 4. You can sometimes get away with 3°kh but 4° if you want to be safe.

 

[konrad05]

Only downside to using the chemicals to raise your KH is that they simply add phosphate as the buffer, which could result in a big algae disaster

IMO, you could try looking into adding calcium carbonate or something, crushed coral I've heard