MrWaxhead
Fish Fanatic
I have question, I have been running planted tanks for over a year and both seem to do really well, one is non c02 <2wpg and thrives pretty well, the other is mutli bottle c02 with a diy reactor and 3.5wpg ( I gave up on my pressurized was a very unstable unit had a few melt downs with it hehe)
Here is my question, my tap water is extremely soft
6.8 ph
0.6 dkh or 10ppm
20ppm gh
2.8 c02 ppm
yet in my non c02 planted tank I have the following and it barely changes even on my weekly 20% change with my tap water.
7.4 ph
2 dkh
60 ppm gh
2.4 ppm
c02 heavily planted tank
6.4 ph
1.7 dkh
60 ppm gh
20 ppm c02
I can't for the life of me figure out what causes my tanks to harden my parameters, I only have things in my tank that should lower them bog wood etc. I have great results in both tanks, granted the no c02 tank grows extremely slow but always seems to be healthy. The c02 tank thrives and pearls like mad, and neither have algae issues.
I just worry that what ever causes the rise in values will eventually peter off and I will get a huge drop in ph and harm the fish. So far it has always seemed to be stable but I just kinda worry.
I assume that if this happens both ph and kh would fall together , ie if my tank balanced closer to tap levels 6.8 ph .6 dkh and my co2 levels basically drive my ph down a full degree I would end up with 5.8 ph and a reduced level of natural .6 dkh So c02 in theory would not be the killer of my fish a insane low ph would be. I could be dead wrong on that though, and that is what I am basically asking what should I watch out for in ways of signs that my tank is gonna drive down. My old home was only slightly harder 7.2 ph 1 dkh but enough that I felt a little safer. I have only been at this home 3 months now, and so far everything is stable at these levels.
The tank I worry about is my 55g co2 tank, as right now the levels are very healthy for a my fish as they like acidic soft water. It has 12 cardinals, 12 neons, 6 corries, 1 SAE and 5 japonica shrimp. And all are very healthy and bright, but I worry a dip below current levels would do em all in.
The only thing I can think of that could raise my levels would be snails, both tanks have a good sized snail population from guest visits in plants I have added over the last year or so. More so in the non c02 tank, they don't seem to like the acidic water as much in the co2 tank. If that was the case would I be fairly safe to assume as long as the snails are there my kh should stay fairly stable. Or is water this soft hanging on a thread waiting to crash?
Here is my question, my tap water is extremely soft
6.8 ph
0.6 dkh or 10ppm
20ppm gh
2.8 c02 ppm
yet in my non c02 planted tank I have the following and it barely changes even on my weekly 20% change with my tap water.
7.4 ph
2 dkh
60 ppm gh
2.4 ppm
c02 heavily planted tank
6.4 ph
1.7 dkh
60 ppm gh
20 ppm c02
I can't for the life of me figure out what causes my tanks to harden my parameters, I only have things in my tank that should lower them bog wood etc. I have great results in both tanks, granted the no c02 tank grows extremely slow but always seems to be healthy. The c02 tank thrives and pearls like mad, and neither have algae issues.
I just worry that what ever causes the rise in values will eventually peter off and I will get a huge drop in ph and harm the fish. So far it has always seemed to be stable but I just kinda worry.
I assume that if this happens both ph and kh would fall together , ie if my tank balanced closer to tap levels 6.8 ph .6 dkh and my co2 levels basically drive my ph down a full degree I would end up with 5.8 ph and a reduced level of natural .6 dkh So c02 in theory would not be the killer of my fish a insane low ph would be. I could be dead wrong on that though, and that is what I am basically asking what should I watch out for in ways of signs that my tank is gonna drive down. My old home was only slightly harder 7.2 ph 1 dkh but enough that I felt a little safer. I have only been at this home 3 months now, and so far everything is stable at these levels.
The tank I worry about is my 55g co2 tank, as right now the levels are very healthy for a my fish as they like acidic soft water. It has 12 cardinals, 12 neons, 6 corries, 1 SAE and 5 japonica shrimp. And all are very healthy and bright, but I worry a dip below current levels would do em all in.
The only thing I can think of that could raise my levels would be snails, both tanks have a good sized snail population from guest visits in plants I have added over the last year or so. More so in the non c02 tank, they don't seem to like the acidic water as much in the co2 tank. If that was the case would I be fairly safe to assume as long as the snails are there my kh should stay fairly stable. Or is water this soft hanging on a thread waiting to crash?
