Water parameter help please

[guppy78]

Hi are the following parameters ok?

GH 180
KH 80
PH 7.0
No2 0
No3 0

For the last 4-5 weeks my water has had a yellow tint to it, a rather big tint, Ive upped my water changes to 2x20% per week but the yellowness remains, about 30 minutes ago I did a 50% change and took those readings 5 minutes ago.
now my peacock gobi seems to be resting on the bottom of the tank, I never really like doing more than a 20% change incase it harms or stresses my fish, my guppies and cory however seem ok with the change.

Ive ruled out tannins a long time ago as I have no real wood in my current tank or plants.
Ive even removed an artificial cave that was in there which was blue with pink/purple leaves incase it was dye running from that.
Ive googled a silly amount of times trying to get to the bottom of this yellowness but to no avail.

My tank is only 36 litres, I add tap safe to every water change and api quick start (good bacteria in a bottle) every time too.

I just really wish I knew what was causing this, Im also setting up a 90 litre tank soon with bogwood, real plants, moss balls etc before I buy more fish and just hoping I can get to the bottom of this before then.

 

[Kayla]

Yellow tints can be caused by a couple different things but the most common is dissolved organic compounds are the organic matter that has broken down in the water. It could be fish waste, uneaten food that has decayed, decaying plant parts, or even a dead, decomposing fish. If this is the case your nitrate and nitrite levels would increase. To fix this problem clean the walls of the aquarium, lower the nitrates and nitrites, and also make sure you aren’t feeding to much. Another cause it can be is called Tannins which are in driftwood. Is there driftwood in your tank?

 

[Byron]

If the colour in the photo is true, that is a greenish tint which is what we call green water. It is caused by unicellular algae feeding on the organics (nutrients) and using the light. There are ways to deal with this and prevent it. Reduce the light (this can be tank lighting and ambient room light), and reduce the nutrients/organics with larger volume water changes. Be careful not to overfeed the fish; they need much less than many think. Live plants especially floating plants would help this a lot as they have a high uptake of nutrients from the water.

Water changes should be more substantial, at least 50% of the tank volume once a week. Smaller volume changes are no where near as effective. There is no reason why fish should be adversely affected by water changes, unless the parameters of the tank water are way off from those of the replacement (source or tap) water. Parameters refers to GH, pH and temperature.

Another issue with stress from water changes involves the possible lack of "hiding" or refuge places. The photo is only part of the tank but it seems as bit bare. Having some decor like chunks of wood, rock (non-calcareous), or other items, plants (real or artificial doesn't matter here), and floating plants will significantly help fish by making them feel "safe." A plain dark background on the tank also is very important for fish, this always calms them. Ordinary black construction paper cut to fit the tank back wall outside is all you need. Black works better than other colours. This would probably help the goby too. Fish in bare or almost-bare tanks will always be highly stressed.

At water changes you should use the conditioner to dechlorinate, but it is not necessary to continue using the quick start, and this could be another part of the issue.

 

[guppy78]

Yellow tints can be caused by a couple different things but the most common is dissolved organic compounds are the organic matter that has broken down in the water. It could be fish waste, uneaten food that has decayed, decaying plant parts, or even a dead, decomposing fish. If this is the case your nitrate and nitrite levels would increase. To fix this problem clean the walls of the aquarium, lower the nitrates and nitrites, and also make sure you aren’t feeding to much. Another cause it can be is called Tannins which are in driftwood. Is there driftwood in your tank?

no driftwood etc no, my nitrates were 0.5 the other day so not sure it is that and last check today they were down to 0

 

[Kayla]

no driftwood etc no, my nitrates were 0.5 the other day so not sure it is that and last check today they were down to 0

Those would be the only reasons I know but good luck and sorry I couldn’t be more help.

 

[guppy78]

If the colour in the photo is true, that is a greenish tint which is what we call green water. It is caused by unicellular algae feeding on the organics (nutrients) and using the light. There are ways to deal with this and prevent it. Reduce the light (this can be tank lighting and ambient room light), and reduce the nutrients/organics with larger volume water changes. Be careful not to overfeed the fish; they need much less than many think. Live plants especially floating plants would help this a lot as they have a high uptake of nutrients from the water.

Water changes should be more substantial, at least 50% of the tank volume once a week. Smaller volume changes are no where near as effective. There is no reason why fish should be adversely affected by water changes, unless the parameters of the tank water are way off from those of the replacement (source or tap) water. Parameters refers to GH, pH and temperature.

Another issue with stress from water changes involves the possible lack of "hiding" or refuge places. The photo is only part of the tank but it seems as bit bare. Having some decor like chunks of wood, rock (non-calcareous), or other items, plants (real or artificial doesn't matter here), and floating plants will significantly help fish by making them feel "safe." A plain dark background on the tank also is very important for fish, this always calms them. Ordinary black construction paper cut to fit the tank back wall outside is all you need. Black works better than other colours. This would probably help the goby too. Fish in bare or almost-bare tanks will always be highly stressed.

At water changes you should use the conditioner to dechlorinate, but it is not necessary to continue using the quick start, and this could be another part of the issue.

Thanks a lot, ill stop using the quickstart on water changes and carry on doing 40% weekly, Ive ordered some seachem prime rdy for my big tank, The tank is idd bare, I did have a lot of artificial plants in there but removed them to give the fish more swimming space etc so ill drop a few more back in, I did forget to mention there was brown spots on the glass on the back pane which I removed with one of those magnet cleaners, ill buy a backing paper for my big tank which i was planning, this little tank was just more a less a learning curve till I felt comfortable keeping and looking after healthy fish with no worries etc my goby however now seems happy, shes exploring a submarine I put back in after removing the blue cave I had in there.

on another note when my 90 litre "80cm long, 40cm high, 35cm wide" is set up with wood/plants etc I was thinking about the following.

6 x-ray tetras
6 neon tetras
6 ember tetras
6 mosquito rasboras
and another peacock goby so mine has some company, I also have 4 guppies

would this be overkill? As they are tiny and each one is only 1cm when they get delivered or maybes run my current tank in another room with just the guppies? thanks

 

[Byron]

Thanks a lot, ill stop using the quickstart on water changes and carry on doing 40% weekly, Ive ordered some seachem prime rdy for my big tank, The tank is idd bare, I did have a lot of artificial plants in there but removed them to give the fish more swimming space etc so ill drop a few more back in, I did forget to mention there was brown spots on the glass on the back pane which I removed with one of those magnet cleaners, ill buy a backing paper for my big tank which i was planning, this little tank was just more a less a learning curve till I felt comfortable keeping and looking after healthy fish with no worries etc my goby however now seems happy, shes exploring a submarine I put back in after removing the blue cave I had in there.

You should be changing more water, and with the present issue you need to change more. At mininum 50% but 60% would be better. And at the same time...one larger change is more effective than multiple smaller changes. This is frankly crucial to a healthy aquarium. I change 60-70% of myt tanks' volumes every week without fail and have been for over ten years now.

Unless the fish are very active swimmers (those here are not) you do not need a lot of open space. The decor will settle them better.

The brown is likely diatoms, common algae in a new tank. Clean the inside of the front glass, and any other sides as you like, at every water change whether you see algae or not. This works to prevent it taking hold.

I am not a fan of Prime as a conditioner, for reasons I won't get into. In a new tank it may be good but when the bottle is gone, I would change to another, and here I recommend API's Tap Water Conditioner. It is highly concentrated so you use very little, which is beneficial for fish, and it is incredible effective.

on another note when my 90 litre "80cm long, 40cm high, 35cm wide" is set up with wood/plants etc I was thinking about the following.

6 x-ray tetras
6 neon tetras
6 ember tetras
6 mosquito rasboras
and another peacock goby so mine has some company, I also have 4 guppies

would this be overkill? As they are tiny and each one is only 1cm when they get delivered or maybes run my current tank in another room with just the guppies? thanks

Given the GH and pH in post #1, these fish should be fine. I would increase numbers a bit though. Shoaling fish (meaning, fish that live in largish groups) will always be "better" the more there are of their species, so it can benefit to have more of fewer species than few of many species. Both the Ember Tetras and Mosquito Rasboras are very tiny fish, and groups of 9-12 of each would be preferable. You need floating plants so these will be less stressed, they like the shade and cover and love to browse dangling roots for microscopic food. The X-Ray (presumably Pristella Tetra) and Neons I would increase to 8 or 9 each.

I would move the guppies to the smaller tank, yes. The other mentioned fish will prefer this too!

 

[guppy78]

Oh nice to know, ill do 2 x 50% changes a week from now, I thought 20% was maximum for some reason (im rather new to this) so thanks a lot

and even bigger thanks about the fish im gonna be buying, I read that only 15 tetras should be kept in a 90 litre tank but thought how come? as the tank is quite big and they are quite small

That was the reason I kept each species down to 6 so it was not over stocked when ideally I wanted 10 of each, also amongst other plants im gonna be setting up I was gonna order some
nymphaea rubra red tiger zenkeri lotus bulbs, around 2 or 3 which hopefully will provide shade for the smaller fish

 

[Byron]

I always read through a thread when there has been a post subsequent to my last, and I usually read through it after I post...but here I seem to have missed something and that is the tank size. A 90 liter is roughly 23 gallons, so I would revise my fish numbers. The Ember and Mosquito at 9-10 is fine; neons at 8-9 is fine. I would suggest leaving out the X-Ray (Pristella Tetras). With the three species here, you have substrate space for catfish, perhaps a group (7) of cories?

 

[guppy78]

I always read through a thread when there has been a post subsequent to my last, and I usually read through it after I post...but here I seem to have missed something and that is the tank size. A 90 liter is roughly 23 gallons, so I would revise my fish numbers. The Ember and Mosquito at 9-10 is fine; neons at 8-9 is fine. I would suggest leaving out the X-Ray (Pristella Tetras). With the three species here, you have substrate space for catfish, perhaps a group (7) of cories?

oh right, yeah I can leave out the x rays, I just fancied a lot of little fish rather than a few big fish, how about 10 ember, 10 rasboras 10 neons and maybes 2 neon blue goby to go with my 2 peacock goby? if not I do like the salt n pepper corys

Edit: Ive just discovered pygmy corys so im thinking 5 of those and 2 blue neon gobys?

 

[Byron]

My knowledge of goby fish is quite limited so I weill just caution about adding more to the two you have. Goby keepers may be able to advise further.

I don't know that I would go with 10 neoins, these are not small fish if they are healthy and grow to their 1.5 inch length. The Embers and Mosquitos remain quite small.

Pygmy cories could work, they need more so 9-10 of these cories. And they must have a sand substrate. All cories should, but the dwarf species need it.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Byron took the words right out of my mouth regarding green water. I’m fighting it in one of my tanks too right now. His advice is all you need in that. Regarding water changes, large changes are perfectly fine. I do 75% changes weekly on all of my tanks. Never have an issue with any fish or shrimp. Good luck!

 

[guppy78]

My knowledge of goby fish is quite limited so I weill just caution about adding more to the two you have. Goby keepers may be able to advise further.

I don't know that I would go with 10 neoins, these are not small fish if they are healthy and grow to their 1.5 inch length. The Embers and Mosquitos remain quite small.

Pygmy cories could work, they need more so 9-10 of these cories. And they must have a sand substrate. All cories should, but the dwarf species need it.

oh, it is hard work this fish keeping haha, ill stick to 8 neons then, I may even change my mind for black neons yet but they do grow slightly larger which ill take into consideration.
I have white gravel to go on top of the plant substrate so that rules out corys, unless I switched to an inch of sand substrate to go ontop of the plant one rather than gravel, something to think about I guess, thanks for your time though its appreciated

 

[guppy78]

Byron took the words right out of my mouth regarding green water. I’m fighting it in one of my tanks too right now. His advice is all you need in that. Regarding water changes, large changes are perfectly fine. I do 75% changes weekly on all of my tanks. Never have an issue with any fish or shrimp. Good luck!

Thanks a lot, ill carry on doing the 2 x 50% rather than 2 x 20% to see if that solves this annoying problem