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So should I wash it off or do I leave it like that?
Agree with WingCher, looks like the minerals in the rocks are reacting with the acids in the water and forming those powder residue. I guess you just have to manually clean off the powder. Once algae start growing on the rocks they will cover it anyways.
The vinegar test mainly reacts in direct contact with limestone, calcite or chalk... so even if you don't see it fizzle on a rock, its still possible the rock has mineral content (just maybe not as high as limestone, calcite or chalk), so its GH and PH increasing effects is slower.
So should I wash it off or do I leave it like that?
If you don't mind the powdery look can just leave it alone... otherwise just brush it off or take out the rock and wash.
Since you are not using active soil substrate, there'll be nothing to counter the gradual increase in pH and GH, so do expect those parameters to stay on the higher side. Just factor that in when choosing livestock.
I tried stuffing my tank with driftwood to try to lower the effects of the rock since driftwood lowers ph and softens the water. But idk if it's enough or which one (driftwood or rock) actually makes a greater impact
Oh and is it possible to put in soil on top of my gravel? Or should that have been the other way round?
Well, it depends on how much KH there is in the water as that parameter prevents pH from dropping and keeps it stable... so if KH is high, it could counter the pH reducing abilities of wood, even if alot of it is used and the water is yellow with tannins. So its mainly a matter of the ratio between amount of pH lowering wood vs the pH raising KH and hardness of the water.Originally Posted by Ryan Peh
Its one of the reasons why active soil substrates like ADA Amazonia aquasoil pull KH to zero, thats how it can easily buffer and maintain lower pH conditions for long periods of time.
Yes, you can put active aquasoil on top of the gravel, can also be under it... though if you want to grow plants in the soil, its better to have the soil on top so that the plant roots can reach all the soil nutrients.
Since your tank is still newly setup, and you prefer to maintain lower pH conditions, you might as well just re-do the entire substrate. Its better to do it correctly now, rather then only do half measure and later it will be even more hassle to change the setup once you add even more livestock.
Here are the steps:
1) Transfer the fishes to a temporary tank (there are only a few livestock at the moment so a medium size 20-30 liter plastic or glass tank with sponge filter can suffice as short term accommodation for them)
2) Drain the tank, remove all the gravel, replace with ADA Amazonia aquasoil (for your 4x2x2 tank, just go for a moderate 5cm soil height will do, which is around 36 liters of soil), create a slope so that the front is lower and back is higher (better depth perspective).
3) Refill your tank, then let the filter run for the next few weeks and the tank will cycle on its own. Add lots of fast growing and floating plants to soak up the ammonia and rich nutrients. This is a great period of time to practice your aquascaping skills.
4) Once the tank is cycled, then slowly re-introduce the fishes back into the tank.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 24th Oct 2015 at 20:21.
Omg that's insaneeeeee... Taking out all the gravel is just insane and I already spent $50-60 on the gravel and I don't intend to spend more on that. I think it'd be better if I just got rid of the huge rock and replace it with something else?
Yeah, it does require extra work to re-scape the tank, but if you want a stable tank environment with specific parameters, then sometimes just have to bite the bullet and do it.
You could also go the easier method and just remove the rocks too, maybe replace with more drift wood to lower the pH, this method will rely on tannins released by the wood though, so you have to be okay with the yellowish water.
An amazonian biotope style setup which focus on lots of twisty driftwood can look very nice too.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 24th Oct 2015 at 20:54.
I feel so screwed now LOL... Okay I've read that fishes can survive even 1 point above their preferred ph level... So at most I'll remove the rock and replace it with inert decorations or more driftwood and plants!
Yeah, its not really necessary to adjust your water pH unless it way out at extremes or you are keeping some really sensitive fishes/shrimps which require low pH in order to stay live.
Most softwater fishes can indeed adapt and live in slightly higher pH conditions if acclimated properly to those environments. Especially those fishes that were tank or farm bred (which applies to most fishes found at LFS), they are much more used to a wider range of aquarium water conditions.
Yup! That's what I read on many articles too! I'll get a ph test kit and check my ph first before I make further adjustments or add anymore fishes!
Dont kancong...check you ph 1st and what do you plan to have in your tank? these are all minor problems that can easily be dealt with.
I see that the gravel in your tank is not thick so that a huge problem if you want to reset. Update us on your ph.
I'm planning to have:
30-50 tetras
6-8 angelfishes
6-8 dwarf neon rainbowfish
1 rainbow shark
3 SAEs
6-8 Hatchet fish
And maybe some cherry shrimps and ghost shrimps at the bottom
i mean not a huge problem..
Actually it's quite thick... There's 45kg worth of gravel LOL
OMG I added 8 baby angel fishes and 3 SAEs yesterday...
Today all 3 SAE died (1 stuck at the air strip)...
The Angels are all doing fine and my neon dwarf rainbow is wandering around alone but doing fine too..
Anyone knows how the 2 SAEs died??
My ammonia is around 0.25ppm btw and I haven't gotten other test kits!
I added aquarium salt today just to see if that helps anything.
If the other fishes are still okay, then just continue doing water changes to help minimize the ammonia levels in the tank. Give the tank time to cycle and stabilize its parameters.
Try not to add anymore fishes into the tank until ammonia is at zero, if you keep adding more and more livestock while ammonia is still being measured, it will just keep overloading the cycle.
Those SAE that died might not have been able to adapt properly to the shock of transport or introduction into new tank environment, so they couldn't make it.
Btw, how do you acclimate the fishes to your tank? Using drip acclimation?
I acclimated them by adding tank water to the water that they came in every 15mins. But the problem is the LFS gave me such a small bag to hold the fish that when I pour it into a small pail, it barely filled 1cm depth so I had to add around 100% of the water from my tank to allow the fishes to even have enough water in the pail... I was thinking if that killed them :/
Anyway I took around an hour+ to acclimate them cuz I went for dinner in between but I did the same for the angelfishes and they're surviving fine.
Maybe look at getting a length of silicon air line tubing and a plastic flow control valve (both can get for $1-$2 from all LFS), then can do a slow drip acclimation process on any new livestock you get.
Its a much easier process as you can set the drip rate and just check on it from time to time. The addition of water into the container will be slow and steady, so it helps to greatly reduce the stress of transition. Some fishes are more sensitive than others in terms of adapting to new tank conditions.
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