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Water quality questions update.
As you may recall, I had the dolomite laden tank and was trying to find
a solution to stabilizing my water pH.
Thanks to everyone who gave advice!
I ended up removing ALL the gravel from the tank (not an easy job) and
replacing it with dolomite-free gravel. I did so in two stages.
First I removed 1/3 of the water and replaced 1/2 of the tank substrate.
This dropped the pH from about 7.5 to 7.3. Then, one week later, I did
another 1/3 water change and replaces the other 1/2 of the substrate.
That moved my pH to about 7.1. Two days later I added fertilizer
(Kent), for the first time in this tank. I also added a pH down product
(Mardel South America native water conditioner). I had a few
reservations about this treatment. But I added half the recommended dose
and so far (only 3 days) the pH is rock solid at 6.8, the KH is 3, and
the Hardness is about 20ppm.
For the future I plan to perform smaller water changes and use sodium
bicarbonate to keep my buffer around 3 degrees.
I don't have a budget for a CO2 injector and will forgo one if I can
keep my plants healthy.
Although better, my tank is not exactly paradise either...
I have had a bad green water problem for over three weeks now. I hoped
the water changes would help but they have not. I have cut back the
light to 11 hours. I even tried Accu-Clear from Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals. Its supposed to clump up particles in the water. Well
when I added it _nothing_ happened. I mean nothing. The water is just
and cloudy as ever.
This lead me to believe that maybe the cloudiness is due to some other
problem. Its a milky colour with just a little green in it (I remember
green water being bright green). I have never heard of green algae
staying in a tank for three weeks. Visability is about 14". HELP!!!
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can rid this menace from my
tank???
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Christian.