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[APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 10, Issue 34



Do the discus "blow" at the gravel looking for food? they might be stirring
things up.

Ann Viverette

> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 08:22:17 +0200
> From: "Laith Arif" <laith at swissonline_ch>
> Subject: [APD] "Grainy" or "sandy" water??
> To: <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
>
> Hello everyone...
>
> I have been noticing for the past month or so that my water seems to be
> grainy or sandy. And recently it has gotten worse. The water looks a bit
> cloudy white but when you look closely you can see what looks like fine
> particles suspended in the water. It's worse when you look "end-on" then
it
> looks almost like a sandstorm in there...
>
> My water parameters are all fine. 200l tank, heavily planted, CO2
injection,
> 125W of light, 29C, pH=6.6, KH=3, PO4=0-0.25, NH3=0, NO2=0 and NO3=10. I
do
> a 35% water change every two weeks with a mix of RO and tap water to get
KH
> down to 3.
>
> About a month ago I added 4 discus to the tank. Since then I have fed the
> fish a couple of times with frozen beefheart and bloodworms (they love the
> bloodworms!). Otherwise I just feed flakes and granular discus food. I
have
> increased the number of times I feed them to 2 or 3 times a day (before
the
> discus I fed once a day).
>
> The only other incident is that I have been suspecting my pH controller
> probe to be defective because at each calibration (monthly) it was having
to
> adjust by between 0.2 and 0.3 pH. Also when I measured pH with a liquid
test
> it was showing me an aquarium pH quite a bit higher than the pH controller
> was (6.9 vs 6.6). I took the probe back to the store and they gave me a
new
> one to replace it and now the pH is where I want it to be and matches
liquid
> pH tests.
>
> The above means that for several months now my aquarium was getting about
> half the CO2 it should have been getting while I was still dosing
> fertilizers normally as if the CO2 level was good.
>
> I put some "ultrafine" mesh pads in the filter two days ago to see if this

> would help and I see no difference.
>
> I've been thinking that the "dust" in my aquarium could be:
>
> - excess ferts precipitating out of solution because the plants didn't
have
> enough CO2 to use them all?
>
> - Related to the increased feeding frequency (even though each feeding is
> less)?
>
> - My substrate is 4cm of Dennerle Deponit covered by 5cm of gravel. Could
> the "dust" be from the substrate?
>
> - Anything else?
>
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Sorry for the length but better that you all have as much info as possible
> no?
>
> Laith
>


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