Soft water issues

[Anonymous]

Hi mates,

I have a small issue with my Amazonia 1 tank, after one month running it I still got biofilm at the surface of the tank's water inside the drop checker, the drop checker's water is fine, the tank's water surface is fine. I've cleaned the drop checker every other day and the film is back in no time, this is an issue cause I can't really read the drop checker and adjust the CO2 properly. My guess is that the tank hasn't reached bacterial maturity due to soft water/ph swings, the water is still yellowish, hardness drops at 2-3 dGH after few days after the water change, I have some brown scum (like Tom has) in some areas of the tank (mainly on wood), so I need some advice, should I:

1. Wait for the soil to settle down and do regular water changes as always (I don't think I still have the patience )
2. Boost the GH, I'm now using 6dGH water at water change, but how much? 10? 15? (I know that nitrifying bacteria have issues with soft water)

Any other advice would be helpful.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Tom]

I had this in my tank when I used a dropchecker (one of the reasons I got rid of it), and I have very hard water.

 

[Johno2090]

I remember reading about the bio films. It's due to bacteria one of two types commonly due to high protein content in the water ( high protein foods or sick plants ) or it can be a bacteria that uses excess iron in the water forming a sheen across the surface.

I have it at the moment but my rank us only 2 weeks old and fully stocked, so I'm going to put money on mine being a high bio load and unmature filter.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are right about biofilm appearing when tank's bacteria can't process all the organic matter, usually if kept unchecked you'll get into some nasty algae bloom. Hopefully this is not the case.

I've changed yesterday the water with some prepared at 9dGH and the film in the drop checker is gone, there was some inside yesterday but I haven't cleaned it 'cause I've forgot. Now the drop checker changes color, first time seeing it lime green.
The down side I've forgot also to add again nitrates and BGA is back here and there on some mosses ... fun fun.

I'll do today another change using similar water to up the GH again and I'll keep you updated how things evolve.

Cheers,