Hi All
I'm new to the forum and really excited to have joined! I'm a beginner (this is my second set up and my first was a bit of a catastrophe).
I had some questions regarding water chemistry and RO water. I previously used tap but my source water is extremely hard (London) and is very high in Nitrate as well which contributed to a lot of algae issues in my first set up.
I've recently set up my 20 litre, planted nano tank. I've elected to use 100% RO water which I am remineralsing, and I wanted to ask if others have done this and how they scaled their doses for various quantities of water for a nano tank, i.e. large quantity at start up, 50% water changes and 20% water changes and so on.
I'm using Seachem Replenish, Seachem Acid Buffer and Seachem Alkaline Buffer, with the aim of attaining the following water chemistry: dGH 1 (2.5ml per 20litres), pH 6.5 (Acid Buffer 1.2g per 20litres & Alkaline Buffer (KH for pH stability)1.5g per 20 litres).
In order to scale the doses down, with Acid Buffer as an example for a 50% water change of 10 litres:
1.2g/20litres = 0.06g per litre x 10 = 0.60g
I have observed however that my dGH is sitting between 5.4-6.4 which is much harder than I was aiming for (aiming for 1)
I don't know where I should expect KH to be based on the Buffers (as Seachem aim for pH rather than a KH reading) but it's sitting at around 3 when the water is mixed and drops to 2 in the tank after about a day (though sometimes freshly mixed water is reading as 2). I expect the KH to go down in the tank as I'm also using Tropica soil which has some buffering capability. Is there a converter for KH vs pH? I'm assuming not since the KH is just to stabilise the pH, not create it.
My pH is stable and generally reads at 7 though sometimes it looks a bit more orange than red so I expect its sitting between 6.5 and 7.
Bottom line, is it normal to see some mild fluctuation? I'm also seeing the KH dropping over a number of days. I'm currently in week 3 running 20% water changes twice a week and moving to 20% water changes once a week from next week onwards. Someone suggested that 20% water changes are not enough and I should carry out 50% weekly, but I'm not sure the reasoning for this.
Should I be scaling my quantities the way that I currently am or is there a more accurate way to do this?
And lastly, should I be overly concerned? The tank has been set up for a week and 2 days and I plan to stock 6 Chili Rasbora (though it currently seems better suited for shrimp at the moment!)
If helpful, since set up:
Daily 50% water changes for the first week (no ferts)
Alternate Day 20% water changes for second week (ferts)
Will aim to drop to either weekly 20% water changes or bi-weekly 10% water changes (ferts)
Light is on 6 hours for first 3 weeks, to then increase to 8 hours
Tank is heavily planted with all easy grade plants including; Anubias, Spikey Moss, Bacopa, Crypts and Sagittaria
No CO2 this is a low energy set up with low light as well.
Hardscape: Lava Rock, Wood (not sure which type honestly), sand and Tropica Soil
Cheers in advance!
I'm new to the forum and really excited to have joined! I'm a beginner (this is my second set up and my first was a bit of a catastrophe).
I had some questions regarding water chemistry and RO water. I previously used tap but my source water is extremely hard (London) and is very high in Nitrate as well which contributed to a lot of algae issues in my first set up.
I've recently set up my 20 litre, planted nano tank. I've elected to use 100% RO water which I am remineralsing, and I wanted to ask if others have done this and how they scaled their doses for various quantities of water for a nano tank, i.e. large quantity at start up, 50% water changes and 20% water changes and so on.
I'm using Seachem Replenish, Seachem Acid Buffer and Seachem Alkaline Buffer, with the aim of attaining the following water chemistry: dGH 1 (2.5ml per 20litres), pH 6.5 (Acid Buffer 1.2g per 20litres & Alkaline Buffer (KH for pH stability)1.5g per 20 litres).
In order to scale the doses down, with Acid Buffer as an example for a 50% water change of 10 litres:
1.2g/20litres = 0.06g per litre x 10 = 0.60g
I have observed however that my dGH is sitting between 5.4-6.4 which is much harder than I was aiming for (aiming for 1)
I don't know where I should expect KH to be based on the Buffers (as Seachem aim for pH rather than a KH reading) but it's sitting at around 3 when the water is mixed and drops to 2 in the tank after about a day (though sometimes freshly mixed water is reading as 2). I expect the KH to go down in the tank as I'm also using Tropica soil which has some buffering capability. Is there a converter for KH vs pH? I'm assuming not since the KH is just to stabilise the pH, not create it.
My pH is stable and generally reads at 7 though sometimes it looks a bit more orange than red so I expect its sitting between 6.5 and 7.
Bottom line, is it normal to see some mild fluctuation? I'm also seeing the KH dropping over a number of days. I'm currently in week 3 running 20% water changes twice a week and moving to 20% water changes once a week from next week onwards. Someone suggested that 20% water changes are not enough and I should carry out 50% weekly, but I'm not sure the reasoning for this.
Should I be scaling my quantities the way that I currently am or is there a more accurate way to do this?
And lastly, should I be overly concerned? The tank has been set up for a week and 2 days and I plan to stock 6 Chili Rasbora (though it currently seems better suited for shrimp at the moment!)
If helpful, since set up:
Daily 50% water changes for the first week (no ferts)
Alternate Day 20% water changes for second week (ferts)
Will aim to drop to either weekly 20% water changes or bi-weekly 10% water changes (ferts)
Light is on 6 hours for first 3 weeks, to then increase to 8 hours
Tank is heavily planted with all easy grade plants including; Anubias, Spikey Moss, Bacopa, Crypts and Sagittaria
No CO2 this is a low energy set up with low light as well.
Hardscape: Lava Rock, Wood (not sure which type honestly), sand and Tropica Soil
Cheers in advance!