# Some general help please?



## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

Hi, I'm new to the site and had a few questions about my aquarium. 

First off the specs (I'm a computer geek too) 

10 Gal Tank (not sure diminsions but will post pic) 
3 feeder fish, 2 ghost shrimps (one is a mama), 1 albino cory 1 juli cory and two unknown (the gold and black one in my photo and the other one is the same breed but different colors. 

The fish tank is fairly new (about 2 months, it's our first serious venture into this) and currently has 6 plants it in which are barely growing (been in for about 2 weeks) and there is limestone in the filter (as I heard it helps raise the pH level which is my problem right now (we previously had another rock which too my concern may have buffered around a low pH. 

NO3 - 40 ppm 
No2 - 0.5 ppm 
pH - 6.5ish 
KH - 120 ppm
GH - 180 ppm
Temperature - Hovers around 76 degrees Fahrenheit 

I know I'm reaching the maximum of fish in that tank (which is why I put in the plants to reduce NO2 (which it has, it was previously in the 5 - 10 ppm range) and hopefully reduce NO3 as well. 

There food is a mixture of just flakes and algae discs (to add variety and hopefully make sure there isn't a nutritional deficincy). The water is removed 25% per week and added again (water is tap but is chemically treated) and the filters are changed about once every 2 to 3 weeks.

Am I doing the right thing? How can I raise the water pH without causing my fishes a lot of stress? Is the limestone going to help and if so how long will it take? 

My last concern is we have some brown algae growing on the rocks ( this is before I started to introduce the algae food so I know it's not that ) is that concerning and what natural steps can we take to fix it? I have chemicals for it but I don't want to keep on dousing my fishes with chemicals. The lights are kept on from 7 in the morning to 9 at night and turned off until the next day at the same time. 

Any help would be appriciated, thank you guys!


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## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

Not sure if the photo will show up, the link though is... 


ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

The orange and black fish isnt a cory,its a platie.
Welcome to the forum,too!


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## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

Oh I know that the black and orange one isn't, may bad if I mis-stated that. I meant the one in the back far right corner is an albino cory. We have an albino and a julius cory and two fish that we didn't know what they were (until you mentioned platies, thank you!)

My concerns now are just the brown algae and the pH level being (from what I've read) too acidic. Any advice on if we wanted to get more fish what fish might do well in that kind of tank? We are also planning (once we move) to get a 50 gallon tank to up the size tremendously.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Usually water with a KH and GH like you have posted would have a higher PH. What are you using to test your water with?

Brown algae (diatoms) is normal in a new setup as it matures. It can be caused by nitrite and or disolved organic compounds (DOC's). There is also some evidence to suggest the presence of silicates in the water will cause diatoms. It is nothing to worry about as it will not harm your fish in anyway. It's just ugly.

The presence of nitrites (No2) indicates your tank has not completed the cycle process. Have you tested for ammonia?

Lime stone in your filter should increase the total disolved solids (TDS) of you water raising the GH/KH/PH slowly over several days.


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## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

I'm using test strips (after reading some, I figured out that's not the right way to go from others on this forum.) The fish seem generally happy (if that's possible). They seem more active and don't seem to clash with each other. Is limestone the way to go? And would getting more fish be okay or a bad idea all together?


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Hold off on any more fish until you have figured out if you tank has completed cycling. I would either take a sample of your tank water in to a LFS for testing to confirm your results or I would pick up a liquid test kit. Many here use the API Freshwater Master Test kit. You can get one at the Foster/Smith website for $19.99.

Test strips are considered to be inaccurate. When a tank is fully cycled you should have zero ammonia and nitrites with nitrates present.

It is best for your fish to have a stable PH than to attempt to match your PH to what the species supposedly likes. Your fish will adjust to the current PH and it is much better to let them do this than to have PH swings which will cause stress to the fish and opens an opputunuty for disease to set in.


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## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

Oh, okay! Thank you and I will hold off on more fish and won't try to change the pH at all (except the limestones that are already in there) anymore. I wanted to lower the pH only because I wanted to eventually get some snails and I read that an acidic water will basically eat through their shells. I won't be getting snails though until we move because I feel like there are too many bottom eaters as is and any more may cause too much competition between them. I will be buying the water testing kit though, and thank you all for the advice it's helped tremendously.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

The ammonia->nitrite->nitrate spikes are for a bacteria only cycle.

with plants the ammonia is consumed by the plants directly.

so with plants you can get an initial nitrate spike as bacteria is building up. Then nitrates will drop. And pH with plants will rise due to the plants consuming carbon dioxide.



So I feel part of you concern is actually just the plant action. Especially with the fish still being active and healthy. although I would add more plants like fast growing anacharis or vals, even the plants you have will be benificial.

the algae is also preforiming the same functions because they are plant life also. You can kill the lights for a few days and stop adding food to kill off the algae or keep harvesting it. both will encourage the plants to grow helping to keep algae at bay.

Give it some time and I think in a few weeks the plants will expand, algae go away, and nitrAtes start to drop down.

my .02


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

ashengrad said:


> 3 feeder fish, 2 ghost shrimps (one is a mama), 1 albino cory 1 juli cory and two unknown (the gold and black one in my photo and the other one is the same breed but different colors.
> 
> there is limestone in the filter (as I heard it helps raise the pH level which is my problem right now
> 
> ...


Several thoughts, and questions.
#1. What light and substrate are you using? For a basic planted setup, those two things really determine how well your plants are doing, and they sound like they're doing alright but could be doing better (as in, growing faster).
#2. Even a standard light with a 14 hour long cycle is going to cause algae. Cut your light back to 10-12 hours per day (maybe turn it off for a few hours during the early afternoon when you're at work or something).
#3. All your tank parameters look OK except the nitrite (NO2), and the fact that you're not testing for ammonia (NH4). I would advise you get yourself an ammonia testing kit just to be safe, since it's still a relatively new tank with a heavy fish population.
#4. As stated above - don't try and mess with your pH. If you do, here's a source on ways to properly mess with it:

Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank

Hope these tidbits help!


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## ashengrad (May 13, 2011)

The light is a flourescent light bulb not really sure on what else besides that. 
It says Marineland Natural Daylight F15T8/18
From what I found after some searching it says that it's (supposedly) a 15 watt, with a color of 6500k. It provides 660 lumens. Not sure if any of that helped. 


The substrate is just gravel rocks and some pots for design.

As for the messing with the pH I feel bad because this morning about 14 hours ago from this point) the most I did with messing with the pH was added in limestone and took away a big rock that was in the fish tank. I heard that limestone will naturally raise pH and I figured that (hopefully I was right) by adding in one rock and taking away one rock I wouldn't mess with the pH too quickly. I'm not looking to add chemicals or change it out with higher pH water because I read that it won't help because the fish tank has a buffer designed around a certain pH and so I just tried to up the buffer. (Plus adding chemicals from what I read will just force the pH higher temporarily, and then lower it and cause them untold stress.) 

We will go to only 12 hours from now on and I bought the kit from Amazon (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals 34 Fresh Water Aquarium Master Test Kit) so once it comes in we will test for all those and post a reply on what the real levels according to that are. 

Thank you all who have helped to quell my worries (and slightly amplify some).


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

ashengrad said:


> 1. The light is a flourescent light bulb not really sure on what else besides that.
> It says Marineland Natural Daylight F15T8/18
> From what I found after some searching it says that it's (supposedly) a 15 watt, with a color of 6500k. It provides 660 lumens. Not sure if any of that helped.
> 2. The substrate is just gravel rocks and some pots for design.


1. The Kelvin rating (6500K) is perfect for plants, however you might want to look into a higher-powered light like a T5 or a T5HO. 15 Watts over 10 gallons is classified as low light. Your plants will do fine in it, but if you want to get some good growth, look on Craigslist and occasionally you'll see a nice T5 come through. I've got a 48 Watt T5HO over my 10 gallon, and my plants have absolutely exploded (but I really have to baby it, as the algae will too if left unchecked).
2. Consider some root fertilizer tabs. You stick them in the gravel and your plants will like you better. Also, look into some API LeafZone or similar liquid plant food. It's easy to dose and again, your plants will thank you.

Just my thoughts though. If you're happy with your plants as they are, by all means leave them be.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

ashengrad said:


> I wanted to lower the pH only because I wanted to eventually get some snails and I read that an acidic water will basically eat through their shells.


Snails need a neutral to high ph (higher being a little better). If the ph is too low, the shells will corrode and the snails will die. It's the same for shrimp. They need a high ph in order to grow strong new exoskeletons.

As for bottom feeder competition, it's all in what you are feeding and how much you are feeding. In my 10g I have 3 Zebra Nerite snails, 3 Oto Cats and 20+ Red Cherry Shrimp. I feed algae wafers, veggie fish food flakes, shrimp bites, zucchini and algae that grows in the tank (and that I grow on rocks in water in windows to replace the rocks in the tank that have been cleaned of algae), and so far everyone is happy.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I think the shrimp and snails just need calcium for stronger shells.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> I think the shrimp and snails just need calcium for stronger shells.


Oh, I thought it was a higher ph in general. (I'm on hard well water, so my ph is high, which is great for the shrimp and snails, but I guess it's the high calcium concentration that's keeping them healthy). Good to know. Thanks.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, because hard water is usually high in mineral content like Calcium and Magnesium which does have an affect on the ph.


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