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FAQs on Freshwater Aquarium Water Quality 3

An overfeeding incident 8/13/08
Dear Crew;
I hope you have all been having a wonderful summer.
<It has been great! Merritt here today!>
It's been some time since I have written, things have been pretty good thus far. A couple of nights ago, I went to feed my Harlequin Rasboras, and noticed the tub of flakes was empty. I fed them some blood worms instead, my five year old son then informed me that he had fed them, and had been doing so for many nights, and by accident, and dropped all the flakes into the tank.
<Ahh!>
In the morning, I of course awoke to an algae bloom. I removed all the decorations, vacuumed the substrate, did a 50% water change, and found one of the two flying fox I have dead. I did not change the filter. Things are looking a lot better, but I was wondering, when can I do another water change?, and would cleaning the filter or putting in one new element, i.e. sponge, be a good option at this point?
<Right now your tank is overloaded with waste from the uneaten food. Just do more 50% water changes, and wash the old filter to get rid of any uneaten food and try to vacuum the substrate with the water changes.>
I am not sure why the flying fox died, overfeeding? I think my water is toxic, and wonder if I should clean the whole tank and start again? I was just about to put in a few more Harlequin Rasboras that I have in another tank, it also appears that my Malaysian Trumpet Snail have all died also. I am so sad, my beautiful tank has turned into a dark and gloomy place, and I don't know what my next step should be. Any help you could offer me would be greatly appreciated.
<Don't get give up on your tank. I have had the same problem, really! You are going to lose fish, but if you can keep up with water changes, vacuuming the substrate and add AmQuel, you should not have to start the tank over.>
Thank you in advance.
Charlie, and her grounded son Ben
<You are welcome! Merritt A.>

TDS vs. PMDD – 7/30/08
Dear Benjamin,
<Hans>
I'm using pea gravel for my substrate. I did vinegar test for my substrate, and I think it is fine. The rocks are not bubbling.
Recently I tested some of the pea gravel to a bucket and left it for 3 days and did not show any changes in ph and kH.
<Good>
I also have few bog woods in the tank.
And yes, you are right!.. I tested the water and it has a TDS value of 593! By the way, I've recently bought an RO unit for my tank and a TDS meter.
<A good choice, given your trouble>
Thus, currently I have got ph=7; and kH=8, which according to the table shows a desirable co2 level.
Since I have got a good read-out from the ph-kh-co2; I think it is time to move on to fertilizing the plants.
Judging from the last read-out (TDS=593), I have done 2 water changes. and now, ph=7;kh=8;CO2=??(should be OK according to the tables) but I still have a TDS value of 467. I know that a TDS meter measure total dissolved solid, but I do not know what or which solids does it refer to..
Does it means that I have enough macro and/or micro elements in the water?
<Hard to say...in your case, probably a lot of carbonates, metals...>
Does it also means that I do not have to add fertilizer such as PMDD? I would assume that by adding PMDD dose would increase TDS.
<With RO you will need to add buffers and fertilizers, but I would wait to fertilize until you have the KH under control- keep your variables limited. Once your hardness and pH are both in their proper places, begin to tinker with other factors>
Many Thanks..
Hans.
<No trouble!>
(I'm new to fresh water planted aquaria. Unlike most people I guess.. Im started off with marine and has had great success with my tank with the help of your crew!!, thus I really mean MANY MANY thanks to you all!) But I still think fresh water planted aquaria is more challenging than marine. It is the growth rate that fascinates me.
<Understood...truly beautiful, often under-appreciated or unknown ecosystems. Best wishes for your tank, Benjamin>

Guidance on Water Analysis – 07/10/08
I would like to ask for your guidance on what components of my well water would need to be analyzed in order to use it for my Bettas.
<As with ANY freshwater fish, the minimal test kits are pH and nitrite. The pH gives you a first-pass approximation on water chemistry, and nitrite tells you about the water quality in the aquarium. There are other tests you can use, but these are the two best ones to start with. Bettas are almost completely indifferent to water chemistry, and will do well between pH 6-8, 5-20 degrees dH.>
I am presently using bottled water for my many Bettas. Using bottled water has been expensive over the years. They are all in 5 gal. filtered, heated tanks and until recently seemed to be thriving. When I noticed signs of stress I started checking water quality and found everything was good. I also began using PolyFilters to see if that would improve things. Nothing changed so I decided to check the PH for each bottle of water and found it varied from bottle to bottle. (from 7.5 to 8.2) When I started using this water two years ago the PH was pretty constant at 7.5 so I never suspected the water.
<Sounds a complete waste of money in my opinion. No need for Polyfilters, though use them if you want. I'd be keeping them in plain tap water, with dechlorinator of course.>
All of this to say that I would like to use our well water for these fish because I am paying a fortune for bottled water that doesn't seem to be very reliable. I originally decided to use bottled water because the well water is hard with a PH of around 8. This week I inquired about having the water analyzed at a Lab. and I was presented with 28 pages of possibilities. I just have no idea of what analysis should be done and was hoping you could give me some guidance on what to have checked.
<Right. Now, what you need to measure is pH, general hardness, and carbonate hardness. Your local pet store will certainly have these test kits in stock, and many stores do the tests on the spot for a nominal fee (here in England, often one pound). With that data you can compare your well water with the tolerances of Betta splendens, which are broad. pH 6-8, 5-20 degrees dH, 3-12 degrees KH would all be fine. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
>
The following may help. We live in a rural community outside of Ottawa, Ontario. We are on a 4 acre bush lot. There are no agricultural or industrial properties close to us. Our well is drilled. It is 149 feet deep, mostly through limestone and shale. It has no colour, or odor. We have it tested yearly (most recently June of this year) and it is 0 for all of the things humans need to be concerned about for drinking water. This may be perfect drinking water (if you are not prone to kidney stones) but I know that the requirements of fish are different so any thoughts on what should be checked/analyzed would be very much appreciated. If everything checks out and I am able to use the well water do you feel I should dilute it with RO water because it is so hard.
<None of this really means much in fishkeeping terms. Fish obviously thrive in waters unfit for human consumption (e.g., the sea). But it's likely you have standard issue hard water that's been filtered through limestone or chalk. Contrary to popular myth, such water can be very good for fishkeeping:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm
>
Your help with this would be very much appreciated. If someone has a chance to get back to me please respond to the cc'd e-mail address as well as I will be on vacation for a few days.
Thanks again.
Jeanette
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Guidance on Water Analysis 7/10/08
What a relief I was thinking that I would need a fairly involved analysis of the water chemistry. Unfortunately I do not have access to tap water so
well or bottled are my only options. Thank you so much for simplifying things for me. I certainly won't miss paying for or lifting the many
bottles of water I use each week.
Thanks again
Jeanette
<Hello Jeanette. By "tap water" I really meant whatever water you get supplied to drink and wash with. If it's fit for that, it's fit for fishkeeping -- assuming you choose species that tolerate whatever the local water chemistry is! One other thing: if you're going to change water chemistry in the tanks from Brand X bottled water to local well water, do so in stages across a few days (maybe 3-4 days) so the fish can acclimatize safely. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Guidance on Water Analysis 7/12/08
No worries I plan to introduce the new water very gradually.
<Cool.>
Just want to mention how wonderful it is that you (and everyone in the crew) give the same care and consideration to a Betta or goldfish question as you do to one concerning an expensive or rare fish.
<Never thought of it that way. But thanks for the kind words!>
Thanks again.
Jeanette
<Most welcome, Neale.>

One more question, Neale, if you don't mind... Water quality, test strips... – 07/10/08
I got the test strips that you suggested before (thanks for the tip about cutting them in half!). My readings are 20ppm for nitrates, 0 for nitrates, 300ppm for total hardness (GH), 300ppm for total alkalinity, and 8.8 for pH. In an article I read on WWM the pH should be 8.1-8.3. My tap water tests the same as above (right when it comes out of the faucet and after sitting for awhile), so I'm not sure if the high numbers are completely my fault. Should I be worried about this and work to lower the pH?
Thanks for answering my unending questions.
Jasmynn
<Jasmynn, this can be short and sweet: Unless you're an expert fishkeeper, leave the pH alone. Almost all fish will adjust to a steady pH, even if it is slightly outside their optimal range. (By way of example, the water in Southern England has a pH around 8, yet lots of people keep Neons, Angelfish and so on without problems.) What fish hate much more is a pH level that fluctuates. Adjusting pH safely involves altering hardness, specifically carbonate hardness, as well. Otherwise the results are too unstable because you have to constantly add just the right amount of pH buffer. Add the wrong amount, of delay a water change for a few days, and the pH can suddenly change, severely stressing your fish. So unless you can soften water (not using a domestic water softener, but by, for example, diluting with rainwater) there's no point worrying about pH. Your pH value is very high, but this is indicative of a very high level of alkalinity. Remember, the pH itself doesn't matter: we measure the pH because it tells us something about the water chemistry. While certainly far from ideal if you were keeping freshwater fish from soft or moderately hard water environments, hard water fish (like Mbuna) and brackish water fish will not be fussed at all. Quite the reverse in fact; the high alkalinity will be positively beneficial to them. Cheers, Neale.>

Milky jelly like substance, FW... – 04/26/08
Hi. I have looked all over trying to find an artical or something about what I am having problems with. I have this clear sort of milky looking jelly like substance in my freshwater tank. It is on my rocks, my artificial plants and even on my water pump. Is it something that is going to start growing on my fish? I looked at them very closely, and do not see anything growing on them. Could this be mold? I am very confused and worried. I have had no problems with my tank until i put a handful of run of the mill gold fish in, of which, i only have one giant one left. If this is algae of some kind, can i put algae killer in with a tank cleaner, or will it kill my ugly little guy?
<"White gunk" can be all sorts of things, but the three most likely things are these: Firstly, fungus. There's small amounts of fungus in all tanks, and in their place they help with the nitrogen cycle, breaking down organic matter into the ammonia the bacteria can further process into harmless nitrate. But if you have too much decaying organic material, the fungus can get out of hand. It typically looks like an off-white, cotton-like thatch of fibres. It is harmless, and in fact some fish (such as Scats and Plecs) will simply eat the stuff, but it is a sign that the tank is basically dirty and poorly maintained. So you need to remove the organic material from your tank much more thoroughly. The second option is bacteria. These are caused by similar things but look like off-white threads, often forming quite long bunches rather than the fuzz typical of fungus. Again, in itself such bacteria don't do any harm, but they are a sign of poor management. Finally, snail eggs. These look like small (0.5-1 cm) patches of jelly. Only some aquarium snails produce eggs of this type, most notably Physa spp. "tadpole snails". Scrape and remove as required. These snails are harmless for the most part, though they will definitely eat certain soft plants and in large numbers can be a nuisance. From the sounds of things, your problem is most likely bacteria caused by poor cleaning of the aquarium. Stripping the tank down, scrubbing everything, throwing out anything too far gone (like gravel), and then re-building the tank would be my choice of attack. If you do this, take care to keep the filter media bacteria alive by keeping this stuff in a bucket of aquarium water. Given we're talking about Goldfish here, the key factors are very likely overfeeding, under-filtration, and overstocking. As we say repeatedly, Goldfish need tanks upwards of 30 gallons, and the filter should offer turnover of not less than 6 times the volume of the tank. Water changes should be 50% weekly. Anything less than these recommendations is likely to cause real problems with aquarium management. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: water quality article, FW 4/26/08
Hi again Bob (or whoever else can help with this one),
So in researching the pH and hardness aspects of water chemistry I have found the following:
fish like to live in a certain pH depending on where they are from;
<Indeed, though among freshwater fish at least some variation is normal.>
alkalinity, as related to buffering stabilizes pH;
<Correct.>
high pH and hard water go hand in hand often;
<Almost always.>
a rapid change in pH is not appreciated by livestock.
<Can be fatal even.>
What I have not found however is what exactly it is that happens to the fish when kept in the incorrect pH.
<The further you keep a fish away from its optimal pH range, the more likely problems become. The precise nature of those problems varies. Neon tetras for example will live perfectly well at pH 8, but they cannot breed. Guppies, on the other hand, when kept at an acidic pH simply become very sensitive to Finrot and fungal infections. All this said, pH is relatively unimportant compared with hardness and carbonate hardness. General hardness relates to osmosis, and this affects how easily a fish gains or loses water with respect to the water. Carbonate hardness is related to pH stability. So in general, aquarists keeping freshwater fish should not worry about pH any more than simply knowing what it is and making sure it is stable. Instead, they should focus on general hardness (degrees dH) and carbonate hardness (degrees KH) as these are substantially more important. If you have a high carbonate hardness you will automatically have a high pH, so this issue alone takes care of conditions for livebearers and hard water cichlids. Note that the converse isn't true: acidifying water doesn't necessarily reduce its hardness! Lowering carbonate hardness doesn't necessarily reduce the pH to acidic levels, but once you have lowered the carbonate hardness, reducing the pH using (for example) peat becomes possible. Of course you now have to deal with stabilising the pH, which is where pH buffering compounds come in. Water with high carbonate hardness is self-buffering, but water with low carbonate hardness is not, and can experience very sudden pH drops.>
I may have missed this in the FAQs, am rereading, but if you know of a good paper, article, text etc. where to find this I would greatly appreciate this. In the alternative if you can tell me that is also great. The articles already on the site, both yours and Neale's have been very helpful but I would like to expand upon them.
Thanks,
Forrest.
<This information should be in the "water chemistry" section of any decent aquarium book. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: water quality article (RMF, please comment if required) – 04/26/08
Thanks Neale,
and as I am now "talking" to you, I wanted to say that your articles on the topic, both that I have read on WWM and elsewhere are always wonderful and informative.
<Very kind of you to say so.>
Regarding Osmosis and hardness, I can't believe I didn't put that together right away. Thank you, as it stands most of my "good" books are all in the marine end of the spectrum, My freshwater ones are more deserving of the title "pamphlet" I shall change this when I go to the fish store on Tuesday.
<In very basic terms, the two disciplines are identical, though of course freshwater fishkeeping doesn't (usually) involve the issue of salinity. In marine aquaria, the salt is the dominant issue as far as osmosis goes, but in freshwater, the other "salts", i.e., hardness, assert themselves. The effects are subtle, and to some degree freshwater fish have evolved to deal with variation. They have to: heavy rain or periods of drought will dramatically alter water chemistry. But there certainly are fish, particularly hard water fish, that have little tolerance for variation. Rift Valley cichlids are the classic examples here.>
I will look at the selection and try to find some good ones. Thank you again, and if you have any recommendations specifically I'd love to hear them.
<There's a book called 'The Interpet Manual of Fish Health' or something like that, and it's my absolute bible for water chemistry and fish health issues. It's very readable but also very detailed. Availability of this excellent book varies, but on a good day you can get a used copy online for very little. I picked up my copy for the equivalent of about $3. What I like about this book is that it explains *what* pH changes do, and *how* ammonia and nitrite harm the fish. Of course not every aquarist needs to know this stuff; provided they look after their fish properly the theory doesn't matter. But for the aquarist who likes to dig a little deeper, it's a great read.>
Thanks,
Forrest
<Good luck, Neale.>

Suds in the Aquarium – 4/15/08
My question is...what would cause your tank to be full of bubbles on the top of the tank? All of the sudden when we changed our filters the next day we got up and the whole top of our tank was filled with suds ( they looked like someone had poured dish soap in the water). Do you have any suggestions on what we could do? We don't want to loose all of our fish. Thank you
<Plain bubbles in the water stuck to the glass, rocks and other ornaments can be caused by a variety of things. If the bubbles go away after a day or so, then don't worry about them. Changes in water temperature can cause bubbles to appear because of the differences in solubility of gases (warm water holds less gas than cold water). When a filter is cleaned, it often goes from having low turnover to much higher turnover because the pump is having to work against less "gunk" in the media. Result: more bubbles if there's splashing or a venturi fitted to the outflow. Now, froth at the top of the water is rather different. Froth is slimy or soapy to the touch, and unlike bubbles, can indicate a problem. Typically, froth comes from mixing air with organic materials. The mechanism is the same as the protein skimmers used in marine aquaria. In any case, it usually means there's too much organic matter in the water, often food, but potentially stuff like dead algae as well. The solution is to scale back food and to aggressively clean and/or water change the aquarium. This should eliminate the foaming, and from then onwards keeping the tank cleaner should keep the foam away. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Suds in the Aquarium 4/16/08
We did a water change and its seems like the suds at the top are getting worse...what should I do next????
<Difficult to say without knowing what these suds are. A photo would help. In any case, here's what I'd do:
1. Put water from tank into a bucket.
2. Put fish in there; cover with a towel or magazine to stop them jumping out.
3. Switch off and unplug heater; when cool, put someplace safe.
4. Switch off filter. Disassemble.
5. Put the biological media into a shallow basin of some type, just covered with water from the aquarium so that the bacteria stay happy.
6. Remove all the remaining water from the aquarium and deep-clean the aquarium as far as possible.
7. Pay close to attention to the substrate! Remove and rinse under a tap (assuming this system doesn't have an undergravel filter).
8. Wipe the glass, rinse off ornaments under the tap. Basically clean EVERYTHING.
9. Put everything back together again, remembering to add clean dechlorinated water.
There's no need to put "old" water back into the tank, assuming that the water chemistry and temperature of the old water is much the same as the new water that's gone in. Half-emptying the bucket with the fish, and then topping up with "new" water from the fish tank is a nice idea though, as it lets the fish acclimate to any slight differences. With luck, doing this should wash out whatever was making the mess in the first place. Cheers, Neale.>

Foam in New Freshwater setup 4/7/08
Hi Crew,
I know I've been asking a lot of questions lately, but I'm just setting up a new 55 gal Malawi tank, and I've been having issues with water quality. I set up the tank say 4 days ago. I put flagstone in it to increase PH. It's been at around 8.4 (according to the inaccurate strip tests.) My water is VERY soft, and from the tap its around 6.4 PH.
My major problem is that my water is foamy. The airstones create foam at the top of the tank, and the filter (whisper HOB) is even worse. Watching the water spill from the filter creates thousands of tiny bubbles in the water, that collect on the surface, and they don't go away! I've been told it's due to poor water quality, but I've tested Ammonia (0) Nitrite (0) Total Hardness (Immeasurably low) and PH (8.4). I need a good test kit for more accurate results, but I cant figure out what's up with the foam anyway.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as always.
Regards,
Ben
<Hi Ben. Normally if you're finding a lot of foam in a freshwater aquarium, then the problem is almost certainly eutrophication. In other words, a mixture of high levels of nitrate/phosphate together with a burgeoning population of algae and other microbes. You've perhaps seen a similar foam if you've ever walked around a polluted river or lake. In any case, the solution is easy enough to grasp in principle: reduce the amount of "pollution" in the water and things should get better. However, I think you may have some other problems at work here. I'm assuming there are no fish in the aquarium yet? I hope so, because soft water simply isn't acceptable for Malawi cichlids. Remember, the issue with Malawi cichlids isn't pH -- they are actually fairly tolerant of a range of pH values from about 7.2 through to over 8.5 -- but the carbonate hardness (measured in degrees KH). Why? Because it's the carbonate hardness that keeps the pH steady, and *that* is what Malawi cichlids want. The precise value doesn't matter, it just shouldn't move. This is why I tell people not to focus on pH-up or pH-down products if they don't tell me what their carbonate hardness is first -- if they're messing about with pH and not carbonate hardness, then they clearly don't understand water chemistry. So let's rewind a little. Adding rocks to aquaria isn't an acceptable way to raise carbonate hardness. It's too slow, and too unreliable. It's easier and cheaper to mix your own Malawi Salt mix, and then add that to each batch of water. Do 50% water changes per week, and this method will not only keep the nitrates low but also raise the carbonate hardness. As if by magic, when you get the carbonate hardness right, the pH will settle down at the right level too! There are many DIY recipes for Malawi Salt mixes on the web and in books. One I have to hand is this:
Per 5 gallons/20 litres
1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 tablespoon Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)
1 teaspoon marine salt mix (sodium chloride + trace elements)
I think doing things this way will help. Soft water foams more easily than hard water, as you may recall from chemistry class at school. That's why laundry detergents (at least here in the UK) recommend different dosages depending on your water chemistry. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Foam in New Freshwater setup 4/7/08
Thank You Neale,
I really appreciate all your help you've given me lately. It's really wonderful that people like you are out there that just want to be helpful to others. It's truly refreshing.
<Thanks!>
Anywho, yes there are no fish in the tank yet, and probably wont be for some time!
<Maybe so...>
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say my pollutants came from the used tank I bought not being scrubbed enough. There was a lot of pollen in it! I think I will do a 50% water change and gravel vacuum to see if that helps.
<Yeah, I'd break it down completely, and simply scrub everything you can, and throw out what you can't. It's a lot easier to do this now than once the fish and rocks are installed.>
As far as the Malawi Mix is concerned, is this something that needs to be tuned to my specific chemistry, or will the recipe you gave me kind of
balance things out to a good KH and pH?
<Pretty much takes care of everything all by itself. If you have hard, alkaline water in your area (outside of the domestic water softener, if you use one) then perhaps a 50% or even 25% dose will work. But otherwise don't worry about it. Carbonate hardness settles the pH at about 8.2, and doesn't raise it much above that. So you can't easily "overdose" the stuff. It isn't like salt vs. salinity. Do take some time out to buy/borrow a book about Malawi cichlids. All this will be explained, and it's useful to have it on hand.>
Regards
Ben
<Cheers, Neale.>

Water quality.... 03/26/2008
I have mollies - 2 female and one male in a 10 gallon tank - just found 3 fry 2 days ago and they are in a crib
<Congrats on the babies. But 10 gallons is well below what I'd recommend as even adequate for Mollies, let alone idea. Mollies are big, high metabolism fish and they like to have space to swim. A 10 gallon tank just isn't going to cut it in the long term.>
Frequent water changes have kept these guys happy for quite some time (all play and eat, and argue from time to time) but my question is water quality has been perfect until about 2 weeks ago- dip stick now shows nitrate and nitrite - daily water changes and testing- with conditioners and salt cannot seem to fix this??
<Neither salt nor water conditions would impact water quality. Why should they? Rather, the fact your fish are [a] growing and [b] multiplying is meaning that the bioload on the aquarium is going up. In other words, you have more fish in the tank now than you did X months ago. So it may well be that the filter system that worked back then is overloaded now. Too many fish, too little filtration, and too much food are the key issues.>
If all fish are bright happy and making fry - should I stress?
<Yes; these are warning signs that conditions are deteriorating. Long term, without correction, things will only get worse.>
My oldest black female has always been anti- social, she pretty much lives behind plants and the filter but always comes out to eat or to say hello if I walk up to the tank.
<"Saying hello" and being "antisocial" are things humans do, not fish. This fish is likely bullied by the other fish, and the only place she can hide is behind the plants. She's unhappy. Likely because the tank is too small. It's very important to think about animal welfare in terms of how animals work, not people. Much cruelty gets done by people who treat their animals as if they were human beings.>
(I used to watch her like crazy for signs of illness - but she never has gotten sick- and she loves people - just hates other fish)
<Female Mollies don't "hate" other Mollies, they're a non-territorial, gregarious species. But male Mollies certainly are aggressive, and should only be kept one to a tank unless you have a lot of males in a very big aquarium. Your tank is too small for Mollies, hence social problems. The fault is with your fishkeeping, not the fish.>
Babies are also happy, eating and chasing each other Is it futile to expect that I can ever get this stupid strip to stop turning pink???
<Not rocket science. Read the WWM articles on freshwater filtration, water changes.>
Thanks so much... Melissa
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Water quality.... -03/28/08
Neale,
<Melissa,>
I appreciate your taking time to reply to my email; i had no idea was being cruel by keeping 3 / 2 inch fish a 10 gallon tank, this tank was inherited and i have always been given a inch per gallon rule of thumb.
<The "inch per gallon" rule is a hopeless source of confusion. It is completely contextual and depends on various factors. For example: twelve Neons and one adult Oscar are about the same size, 18 inches, but quite obviously the Oscar needs a much larger aquarium. Another example: Bristlenose Plecs and Giant Danios are about the same size in length, around 4-5", but one of them is sluggish and doesn't move much, while the other is hyperactive and needs lots more swimming room. Yet another example: two tanks containing 20 gallons of water, one deep and narrow, the other shallow and broad. Which can hold more fish? The second tank will hold many more fish than the first because the surface area of the aquarium is essential for oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange with the atmosphere. In other words, make your decisions on whether a fish will fit into a given tank by thinking about the needs on the fish rather than simply locking yourself into believing in the rather useless "inch per gallon" rule.>
While i realized that this isn't "rocket science" i am fairly new to this hobby and trying to be proactive and to learn to properly care for my fish.
<Very good.>
There are many who don't bother to research or ask for help, but rather replace dead fish for 3 bucks at PetSmart.
<Indeed. But I can't do much to help those people. What I *can* do is give solid advice to those who ask for it. That advice might not be welcome, but it comes from 25 years of fishkeeping and a background as a zoologist.>
Sorry to have wasted your time with my problem fishkeeping -
<Not wasted my time at all. Happy to help.>
Also, i am quite aware of the consequences of animal welfare as i am a licensed veterinary professional -( however i have not had training or experience working with fish ).
<Very good. There are some differences between fishkeeping and, say, keeping a dog. One of the key things is that fish don't really adapt their behaviour to the home. A dog builds its social life around its owners. Fish don't; their social lives pretty much get determined around how we arrange the aquarium in terms of space, tankmates, hiding places, etc. If you're keeping Mollies then, what you have is a species that lives in relatively open habitats where the males fight with one another to monopolise access to the more gregarious females. Expecting them to "play nice" in a small aquarium is unrealistic. Its a bit like someone who gets a Border Collie but doesn't want to take it on long walks to use up its energy: the results will be bad!>
I spend quite a bit of my time educating owners on the proper care of their pets - i often have to remind myself that not everyone has discussed this very same topic over and over, day after day. I sought your advice because i was concerned; and because you offer your advice as a service -
<Service, yes. But remember we don't get paid for this. I answer a dozen messages a day, and that takes a good hour of my time. I do this because I want to and because I can help people look after their animals better. I suspect you are merely reading my direct British English as harshness. Sometimes Americans find British directness and irony difficult to handle. If that's the case here, I apologise. No ill-will was intended. Merely clarity.>
And yes; i also realize that fish are not people - i personify their behavior out of affection and in an attempt to explain it to someone who cannot see it- weather or not my molly actually saying hello is not actually related to the quality of care i provide. It just pleases me to see her get excited.
<Ah, but you misunderstand me. I talk to my fish all the time, and get excited when they respond to me in some nice sort of way, like becoming tame enough to hand feed. I have nothing against people appreciating fish as pets. Quite the reverse. But it *is* important not to let that slip into fuzzy thinking about their behaviour that hides latent problems. So when someone says that their fish is "shy", does that mean it really is a shy animal, or is so bullied it won't leave its hiding place?>
The same way it pleases you to be so knowledgeable.
<Ouch.>
Next time i will be sure to seek the advice of someone who enjoys giving it with tact.
<There are certainly plenty of other places to get advice. The quality of that advice is variable though. Here at WWM you get people who are at the top of their game, and many of us do this for a living, as I do, writing books and magazines. For what it's worth, I think you're overreacting here. Looking over my response nothing there seems particularly rude or tactless. Direct, yes. Remember: my first priority is the fish. Making you feel better is secondary. If I somehow made you feel unhappy, then I apologise. But rather than dwelling on that, look over the advice I gave. The tank is too small for this sort of fish. Water quality is poor, and long term that will make the fish sick. At least one fish is apparently being bullied. Put the animals, not your feelings, first. Their lives are in your hands, and the most I can do is tell you what needs fixing in my (yes) expert opinion.>
I will also be sure to let others know just where they can go to find helpful, objective advice.
<Please feel free to do so. We already receive literally hundreds of queries every week, and all those people get top-notch advice from experienced and professional fishkeepers. Very few of those people seem to be unhappy, and I get more than enough "thank you" notes and follow-ups to tell me I'm doing a good job.>
Cheers,
Melissa
<Cheers, Neale>
- I have to wonder if this is the first time someone has taken issue with one of your responses??
<Nope.>

Re: Ick, planted aquaria 3/26/08
Hello All,
I have a well established FW Live Plant & reef aquarium both of which I started with RO/DI water years ago, and adding the appropriate additives daily. Water changes with RO/DI as well. I want to start another, live planted aquarium. If I started with de-chlorinated tap water would this be a problem, or should I utilize RO/DI?
Thanks,
Matt
<Depends on the plants of course but few aquatic plants want very soft water. In general, 5-15 degrees dH general hardness suits most aquatic plants. You also want to have at least some carbonate hardness (3+ degrees KH) simply to moderate against pH swings through biological activities, including photosynthesis. On top of this you will need to check the pH and carbonate hardness so that you can measure the CO2 fertilisation correctly. In other words, you're going to need to mix tap water and RO water to get the right sort of water your fish and plants want. Cheers, Neale.>

FW, water chemistry, buffers 2/17/08
Dear wetwebmedia.com,
Hello, I have a question. Have you ever tried tetra easy balance? If so, is it any good. It said it stabilizes the pH of the water. Does this mean it corrects the pH and makes it 7.0? Thank you for your help.
~RK
<Greetings. I have not used this product, but used correctly pH buffer additives can work well, and some would argue that in soft water aquaria particularly they are essential. HOWEVER, please let me make two points I make repeatedly here at WWM. Firstly, fish don't care about the pH; what matters to them is hardness and the *stability* of the pH. Inexperienced fishkeepers erroneously focus on pH, I suppose because it is easy to understand. They read that (for example) Neons like a pH between 6 and 7, so they go buy a pH 'down' product to acidify the water in their tank because the pH is currently 7.5 or 8. Given that a pH-adjusting product doesn't change the hardness, the osmoregulation stresses on the fish remain the same, and all the aquarist has done is forced the fish to now have to cope with a sudden change in pH. In fact outside of breeding Neons couldn't care less about the pH provided it is somewhere between 6 and 8; what really matters to them is that the pH stays at one value, day-in, day-out In other words, it is much better for your fish to experience a constant pH that *isn't* optimal than have to put up with a constantly changing pH that swings between the optimal value and some sub-optimal value (which it will, if you don't also change the hardness of the water). Secondly, inexperienced aquarists should NEVER play with water chemistry. It's simply too complicated a topic to breeze into without any knowledge. By all means have a read of the articles here at WWM, in particular these:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwh2oquality.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsoftness.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwhardness.htm
Once you've digested these, and feel ready to manage the water hardness while understanding where pH changes come from (and how to stop them) then go ahead and set up an experimental tank with water chemistry different to your main aquarium. Go slowly, doing regular pH and hardness tests and adding only a few fishes to begin with so you can ensure that the aquarium is operating stably and efficiently. Otherwise, in almost all situations, aquarists are better off choosing fish that THRIVE in their local water chemistry conditions without the need for buffers or water softening. This way you can use big, frequent water changes without worrying about whether doing so is expensive or likely to cause a sudden change in the aquarium environment. A 50% weekly water change for example will dilute just about every problem an aquarist is likely to have to deal with. Check the General hardness as well as the pH of your local water supply. If you have soft water, then Rasboras and Tetras are the way to go. If you have hard water, then Livebearers and Rainbowfish will make a better investment. Barbs and Catfish are somewhere between the two, and will do well in either provided extremes are avoided. As a general rule, hard, alkaline water is by far the best for less-experienced aquarists and suitable for the widest variety of aquarium fish. Soft water can quickly become a nightmare to manage if you don't keep an eye on issues of overstocking, buffering, acidification, etc. Hope this helps, Neale.>

Water Chemistry Question, FW... 2/13/08
So, oddly enough, I'm a chemical engineer and relatively well versed in all things chemistry related and yet I find myself emailing you folks to get some advice on what I should do with my tank.
First, the background:
I bought my 55 gallon (200 L) tank in the late spring of last year. At roughly the same time I added approximately 15 neon tetras (love these fish!) I put in a bunch of live plants that I thought would do all right in my lowish light tank. Things were just fine for about a month until brownish strings of algae started appearing on the plants and there was an absolute explosion in the number of snails. So, I started adding an algaecide. This seemed to do the trick at first, though it was obviously a problem for the snails. Then, with little warning my tank was absolutely swamped by a green water bloom. This bloom persisted for pretty much the rest of the year as I tried a bunch of different strategies suggested on the internet. During this time all the plants died except the Java Fern and one other, the name of which escapes me. The snails were also entirely eradicated as were 2/3 of the tetras. I have no idea where they went. Their bodies were simply gone, though I do occasionally find snail shells when I vacuum the substrate during a water change.
Then, only a few weeks ago I finally figured out the combination required to deal with the problem. Basically, if I did a 50% water change, followed by filtration with a heavy charge of diatom powder in the H.O.T. Magnum I purchased followed by a double dose of the algaecide, I could completely remove the algae bloom. Frankly, I know I haven't permanently fixed whatever the cause of the problem is but at least I know how to deal with it if and when it re-appears.
Now, the current problem:
Thinking that I could actually work on making my tank look attractive, I decided to replenish the tetra's back up to their original number, put in a few live plants (Anubias and Vallisneria) and add a new type of fish. So, being something of a fool, I bought six red platys and decided to not bother with the whole quarantine thing or that part about where you slowly introduce the tank water into the water the fish came in. Now, two days later, I have a problem. The tetras all seem to be fine at the moment but the platys are a different matter. I've already lost one (who doesn't really look like there's anything wrong with him other than being dead) and at least one and possibly more are either dead or on their way out. At least one platy is showing signs of bacterial or fungal infection (which is weird because he seemed fine last night). I did a bit of research on the internet (which I know I should have done BEFORE I bought the platys) to see if I could figure out what's wrong, besides maybe the fish being sick when I got them.
As near as I can tell, Platy's and Tetra's can be kept together in a community tank, but they aren't a great fit. It also occurred to me that maybe the water wasn't right for Platy's. So, in addition to buying gear for a hospital tank I also bought a comprehensive water test kit and tested everything that seemed relevant. Here's the data:
Temperature: 77 F (25C)
pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.004 ppm
Nitrate: 0
GH: 3
KH: <1
CO2: 2-4 ppm
Anyhow, looking at these numbers and what I've read on your site (and a bunch of others) it seems to me that I've got a tank chemistry that's not going to favor the growth of plants and is going to be difficult for any fish besides those adapted to soft water conditions with minimal alkalinity to live in. My inclination (besides removing the Platy's until they're better or dead) is to add a combination of magnesium and calcium salts to the water to get the Total Hardness up and then very very carefully add some baking soda or crushed coral to the filter to get the buffering capacity up into a range that's better for the live plants.
So, what I'm hoping to get from you folk is some suggestions on what you think I should do.
-Aaron
<Aaron, your water is very soft; in practise that means that water chemistry is unlikely to be very stable. In addition, fish that need hard/basic water conditions (e.g., Platies) aren't going to do well. Paradoxically perhaps, soft water fish (like Neons) tend to do better in hard water than hard water fish do in soft. As a broad rule then, community tanks work better at a neutral to slightly alkaline pH with moderate level of hardness (around 10 degrees dH), and at least 5 degrees KH carbonate hardness so that water chemistry is stable. By that I mean the pH doesn't drop between water changes. Plants also tend not to do well in very soft water, and some plants won't tolerate it at all. Some plants remove bicarbonate as a source of carbon, and this will mess up your pH level even more by reducing the buffering capacity of the water further. Now, you haven't stated (or I've missed) whether this very soft water is what you have out the tap or what you're producing with an RO filter, or even if this is coming from a domestic water softener. As an FYI, domestic water softeners produce soft but saline water that isn't really suitable for fish. What these devices do is remove the temporary hardness (the stuff that makes lime scale) but replace that with sodium salts. What you get is water unlike anything fish naturally experience. It is much better to use hard/basic tap water and keep hard water fish than to use domestic water softener under the illusion you're creating a "soft water aquarium". If your water is this soft out the tap, then you need to harden the water. You can either make your own hardening salts or buy them from an aquarium shop (as "Malawi Salt"). One recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), 1 tablespoon Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate), and teaspoon marine salt mix (sodium chloride + trace elements) per 20 litres. This is for really hard Malawi water though, and for general aquarium fish you would likely need only 20-50% that depending on what you were aiming for. Experiment a little until you get a nice set of water chemistry values. Since these minerals are cheap and easy to use, this isn't much of a hassle. Do remember not to dramatically change the water chemistry of the tank all at once though: do it slowly across a week or two as a series of water changes. I suspect that once you've nailed the water chemistry, the random problems you're having with fish won't recur (though they will certainly need to be treated this time round). Hope this helps, Neale.>

Re: Water Chemistry Question 2/13/08
Hi. Thanks for the fast response. I live in the Pacific NW and we're "famous" for our very soft water. Most cities here are serviced by open air reservoirs fed directly by snowmelt and rainwater.
I believe I read somewhere in one of the FAQ's that I could breed Discus in tanks filled from tapwater (once properly cycled and adjusted) with minimal fuss if I wanted.
I shall try hardening the water a bit and see if that helps.
-Aaron
<Hi Aaron. Soft water can be very useful for certain fish and is very typical of the Amazon Basin for example. But in the aquarium you're fighting against acidification, and that makes water that lacks carbonate hardness problematic. So providing a little extra carbonate hardness especially can make a huge difference. It will be trial and error though until you get exactly what you want, but once you've established how much of each salt to add to the water, the "world's your oyster" when it comes to fishkeeping. Neutral, slightly soft to moderately hard water is the champagne of aquarium waters! Cheers, Neale.>

FW hazy tank and plant fertilization, AGA referral 12/28/07
I sent a message earlier regarding a hazy tank (same subject heading), I forgot to add an additional bit of info: I perform a 25% water change every 3 weeks and the water does not clear up afterwards.
Hopefully you can piece my two emails together.
<Have done so>
Thank you
Brent
Hey, your website is absolutely amazing, I have spent hours reading your FAQs and find them incredibly helpful! However, the situation in my tank does not quite add up. Here's the run-down on my tank:
Freshwater, 90 gallon, 2 Fluval 305 filters (no carbon media used), 100% Fluorite based, heavily planted, water test levels: 0 for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH 6.6 - 6.8, CO2 injection, KH 40 ppm, 270 Watts compact fluorescent lighting, temperature 79.8 - 80.3 F. Fish: 1 Pleco (6"),
<Yikes... what species? Some of these will "bother" to consume most all plants>
1 redtail shark (4"), 5 Neons (tiny), 5 black skirts, 2 flying foxes (3" each), 3 clown loaches, 4 honey dwarf Gourami, 1 Danios (a lone survivor of a former school of 5).
My tank has been running a little more than a month. I fertilize regularly (every two days) with flourish excel and iron and I use flourish (containing other trace nutrients) twice weekly.
<Mmmm, okay... I do wish there were simple, available test kits (of use natch) to test for the principal ingredients in these mixed fertilizer products>
Also, I inject CO2 into the tank and diffuse it with an airstone and the canister filter (seems to be about 90% efficient for diffusion). Also, there is minor minor algae on the glass, and a little amount of beard algae on the edge of one of my plants leaves. All the fish seem happy: no disease, no weird behaviour, excellent colouration, etc. I feed once every 2 days (4, 1cm diameter algae discs, and a pinch of granulated fish food). All the plants seem happy: excellent growth, thick stalks plenty of leaves, nice and green.
Ok on to my question: My tank is still a little hazy (white) and I would like crystal clear aquarium water. I think the haze is from a bacterial bloom, will that go away with time?
<Hopefully so... can be more of an unsightly nuisance... such microbial populations can "lead" to changes in water quality that are detrimental...>
Also, if it is a bacterial bloom, and the nitrate levels are so low (zero), why exactly are they blooming (their nutrient sources should be all used up by the plants)?
<Mmm, a bit of a conundrum, but likely what available Nitrate there is, is being "taken up" rapidly here... So, not that there is no NO3, but that it is concentrated...>
Also, my nitrate levels are at 0. In a tank that is heavily planted, should I be fertilizing with nitrates (NPK fertilizers) or is this going to cause the bacterial bloom to get out of hand?
<This form of Nitrogen is supplied via fish wastes and in the SeaChem products... sufficiently here>
Thank your your help!
Brent
<I'd bet most anything that you'd gain by reading Diana Walstad's works... do a search and scan when you have some time on the Aquatic Gardener Association's website: http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/
Bob Fenner>

FW cloudy tk. 9/30/07
Hey crew,
<Chris>
I have a 45 gallon freshwater tank. There are two catfishes, one platy, ten platy fries, two guppies, and four tetras. They have been well and healthy. However, the water seems really foggy. I do 20 percent water changes every two weeks. No fishes have died or had any disease and the nitrate and ph seem fine. The ammonia may be a tiny bit high though.
<Should be and stay zip, zero...>
I have not been overfeeding my fishes and only fed as much as they could eat. Do you know why the water gets cloudy?
<This and the presence of detectable ammonia leads me to suspect inadequate filtration>
Also, do you know any thing I can do or add any good chemicals to prevent it from fogging up.
<Not a good route to go... Improve the filtration, circulation...>
Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.
<Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmaintfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Community Tank Water Chemistry. 9/5/07
Hi Neale,
<Lisa,>
I'd appreciate your advice on "community tanks" concerning water chemistry.
<OK.>
I am "fostering" a 29 gallon tank. In the tank are 3 albino Corys, 3 black shirt tetras, 3 glowlights (I tried to identify them last night - their bodies are pinkish/flesh color with a red marking on the dorsal fin), 3 very pretty orange and red mollies and 1 pleco (plump and about 5-6 inches in length).
<Those don't sound like glowlights. Glowlights (Hemigrammus erythrozonus) are transparent with a coppery band from nose to tail along the midline. Need a photo to identify them, as they don't sound immediately recognisable to me.>
Due to the tap's very soft water (which I understand is preferred by Corys), my pH swings (as noted from my established community tank). I am not sure how to buffer it as in this
situation it doesn't make sense to buffer using peat or crushed coral on either sides of the spectrum to stabilize.
<Corydoras couldn't really care less about water pH or hardness. Anything from pH 6-8 and hardness 5-20 dH is acceptable, particularly with tank-bred forms (which is what you have). I've said this repeatedly on WWM in answer to many other questions -- the exact pH and hardness almost never matters: what matters is stability. So, if you have very soft water, then adding some crushed coral to the filter DOES make sense. Maybe you won't need much -- experiment! Perhaps half a cup to start with. Measure the pH and hardness each day for the following week, and plot a little graph. Once you've seen what effect it has, you can raise or lower the amount of crushed coral so that it meshes with the amount of water you change each week. What you're after is around 10 dH and a pH around 6.5-7.5. That's the "sweet spot" for virtually all tropical community fish.>
Similarly, where does one draw the line in stabilizing pH and hardness/softness in a community tank where for instance guppies (tank 1: 5 guppies, 5 Corys, 2 bumblebee cats, 2 Plecos, 1 giant danio) and mollies (tank 2: combo mentioned above) prefer more alkaline water and Cory's like neutral, soft water? I also understand mollies prefer brackish water (no salt has ever been added to their tank).
<Except for the mollies, what I suggest above will suit all of these. The guppies might prefer harder water, and certainly not a pH less than 7.0. Mollies, unfortunately, just don't do well in regular community tanks with 100% reliability. I know some people are fine with them, and that's cool. But 5 times out of 10, the mollies just don't thrive. So there's no way, ever, you're going to get me say "this set of freshwater conditions is ideal for all your fish, mollies included". Mollies just plain do better in brackish/marine aquaria. End of story.>
Also, as you can imagine the pleco in the 29 gallon barely has room to turn around. I'd like to move him to the 55 gallon Mbuna tank. I have not yet moved my other pleco from my established tank to the Mbuna tank because I have not finished aquascaping it yet (I'm in phase 1). The 55 gallon has 11 2-3 inch Mbunas and the nasty CAE. Will both Plecos be okay in the 55?
<This is a "suck it and see" situation. If you have two male plecs... don't bank on them getting along. Two females, maybe. One of each... who knows?>
At least they'll have room to swim (I watched the video on YouTube you referred to about the Plecos in the wild!)...?
<Isn't it cool!>
One other question please! Can a tank have too much aeration? I'm running 2 powerheads in the 55 and a "full length" airstone - I have two filters that break the surface with the water flow. I'm trying to equip tanks according to biotope - I haven't been able to find if the Rift Valley Lakes have strong currents or are rather still...
<Realistically, no, in freshwater tanks over-aeration and over-filtration aren't usually a problem. Yes, you can supersaturate water with gases, and these bubble out inside the fish, causing tissue damage. But this happens more in marine than freshwater aquaria, I think because of differences in gas solubility between fresh and salt water. Regardless, to get to this point you need A LOT of aeration and filtration, and freshwater fishkeepers rarely run systems with even 50% the water movement of comparable marine tanks. As for water currents in the Rift Valley lakes... it depends! Some parts of the lakes have strong currents, with some cichlids even living in the surf zone. But other parts are relatively still, particularly where there is a thick growths of plants (Potamogeton and Vallisneria, mostly). But provided you're aiming for about 6-8 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour, you should be fine.>
Thank you Neale!
Lisa.
<Hope this helps, Neale>

Mollies, Soft Water, Hardness, SG, Corys, Community Tank Questions 7/29/07
Hello from a senior citizen and younger bride in Georgia,
<Greetings.>
Many thanks for your wonderful efforts on this site. It is superlative and has helped immensely since we transitioned from marine tank to community tank.
<Thanks!>
Our goal is to have a colorful community tank with high quantity, hence 3 filter systems are in place.
<OK. But do bear in mind filters don't really let you overstock an aquarium. At the very least, an overstocked tank requires more water changes per week than otherwise.>
We have 8 separate problems/questions, with sub-questions having to do with either water chemistry or Mollies.
<Eight questions with sub-questions!? Oh boy...>
Forgive my husband's engineering training in outlining our tank and some of the questions. He wanted you to have ALL the parameters and orderly questions with no room for your guessing what we have here.
<Good.>
From reading your forum, we think that the LFS may have led us astray on Mollies and water parameters and we need a definitive answer and think your advice is what we want to trust.
<There's no "definitive" set of water conditions for Mollies; there's what they inhabit in the wild (anything from inland lakes to the sea) and then there's what suits tank-bred mollies in aquaria. All I can say with 100% confidence is that mollies kept in brackish/salt water are less prone to disease percentage-wise than mollies kept in freshwater aquaria. But then, there are people who keep them fine in freshwater tanks. Just not everyone: for every person who has success with them in freshwater, there's another who has nothing but trouble. So it isn't easy.>
We thank you in advance for your kindness in replying and apologize for the lengthy email.
<OK.>
Our tank and tank water parameters:
125 gallon tank, 5' long, est. 115 gallons water
<Nice and big tank, always a good start!>
Tank operating 15 weeks, popped normally with danios/platys, a few platys survived it all.
<Should be mature by now.>
Water changes 10-15% (12-20 gallons) a week with gravel vacuum each time.
<Bigger water changes would be better, especially if you're after a heavy stocking of the tank. 50% water changes weekly are not out of line. At the least, you want to be doing 25% water changes. Big water changes don't take any more work once you have the bucket and pipe out, and dechlorinator costs very little. But big water changes *massively* improve water quality.>
11 plastic 'plants' & no live plants
<OK. Livebearer babies appreciate live floating plants though, or at least, they hide among them well and avoid being eaten.>
4 plastic 'coral heads'-'lava tower'-'caves.' 1 small piece of slate for hiding babies and resting Corys.
<OK.>
2 - 2.5 inches thick new white gravel with under gravel filter on 2 large corner power heads (no air bubble venturis in use)
<The gravel sounds hideous. Here's a thing people don't realise about fake coloured gravels -- fish alter their colours to match. If you have bright white gravel, the fish will fade their colours. Instead of a rich reds and blues, your fish will gradually become pink and grey. This varies of course -- some fish (like fancy platies and goldfish) can't change their colours, but many can. Without exception, the darker the substrate, the brighter the fish's colours will be. Black is the best, but even plain gravel is good.>
Fluval 305 and Fluval 405 canister filters (F-405 added this week to allow our high fish capacity)
<Both good filters. But I think you're expecting too much from them. Even together, these will provide *adequate* filtration for a 125 gallon tank, nothing special. Here's the deal. An aquarium with standard levels of stocking with small fishes (danios, platies, etc.) needs about 4 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour. Your aquarium has 125 gallons, give or take. The Fluval 305 gives you 260 gallons/hour, the 405 340 g/h. So, all told, 600 gallons per hour turnover. That's a bit under 5 times the volume of the tank in turnover. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? But those turnover quotes exclude two factors: filter media, and head pressure. When you add filter media (which you have to!) the turnover drops. Why do they give you the turnover without media? Marketing I guess. Secondly, when you place a filter under the tank, it has to pump water against gravity back into the tank (that's head pressure) and this reduces turnover further. Bottom line, you can lop 10-25% of the turnover quote for any given filter. By the time the filter has become clogged, that turnover will drop even more. So realistically, you have *adequate* filtration for your tank. More than enough to do the job, but provided you keep a reasonable number of fish.>
Fluval's have the usual foam, poly-wool, charcoal, and ceramic.
<I consider carbon to be useless in most freshwater tanks. Unless you clearly understand and have a specific reason to use it (as opposed to what the marketing says) I'd recommend putting its space to better use with some more filter wool or ceramic.>
Charcoal changed monthly, poly twice monthly.
<OK.>
1 air bubbler in plastic lava tower, 2 corner heaters
Tank receives no direct sun. Ambient light is average. 2 fluorescent lights are on 8 AM-10PM.
<OK.>
Water crystal clear, no algae of any type present.
<Famous last words.>
Temperature 78 - 79 degrees.
<Fine.>
Salt added (2.25 teaspoons/gallon or 7.5 Tablespoons/10 gallons)
to maintain SG of 1.004 (6 PPT) per 2 LFSs. (Leads to a question)
<SG 1.004 is ideal for mollies.>
pH 7.0 - 7.2 per LFS tanks where all fish are bought. (Leads to a question)
Ammonia & Nitrites test zero using reagents, backed up with dipstick readings.
Nitrates 20 on dip stick, might be as high as 30 with vagaries of the color chart.
<Doesn't matter either way. 20 or 30 mg/l nitrate is pretty low. In a brackish water tank, where the salt detoxifies nitrate to a significant degree, this is basically very good water quality.>
Well water only. (Please see Well water parameters below)
Total Hardness GH always 75 on dip stick test at pH 7.0-7.2. (This leads to a question)
<75 what? mg/l calcium oxide? mg/l calcium carbonate?>
Total Alkalinity KH is always 40 on dip stick test with pH 7.0-7.2 (This leads to a question).
<Again, 40 what? What's the scale on the test kit?>
Food 2X a day: TetraMin Flake, shrimp pellets, and algae discs.
<Fine.>
Well water from tap: (we have our own well)
Usually pH 8.2+ and will not drop over night alone,
<For mollies, pH 8.2 with marine salt mix added is perfect, the champagne of waters.>
We drive tap water pH down with powdered swim pool acid in a new trash can, let aerate for 3-4 days to stabilize at 7.0 - 7.2.
<WHAT?????? You're using acid to change the pH? Look, pH doesn't matter if you don't soften the water as well. Since you're not softening the water, don't mess about with the pH. 99 times out of a 100, people do more harm than good playing around with the pH. Honestly, if you stick with hard water and brackish water fishes, your well water will be perfect for them. Add the marine salt mix, and bang, you'll have water they'll thrive in. Livebearers, glassfish, rainbowfish, gobies, various cichlids, various killifish, Monos, scats, archers... the list is very very long. So please put the bottle of acid down.>
DeChlor is used.
<Good.>
It buffers back only slightly when we drive pH down and eventually stabilizes.
<Your fish hate you for this, you know that?>
Total Hardness GH always zero on dip stick test
<WHAT???? Why on earth do you want zero GH afterwards? Nothing, not even cardinal tetras, appreciate water as soft as this. Mollies want something around 20 degrees dH (~200 mg/l calcium oxide). Even most soft water fish don't want anything less than 5 dH (40 mg/l calcium oxide). Zero hardness is practically toxic.>
Total Alkalinity KH always 80 on dip stick test
<Oh boy. I've kind of lost track really of what's going on here. What you've created is some weird cocktail of salts that your fish don't want. And then you're adding salt. Doesn't make any sense to me at all. Your well water is fine. Mollies will thrive in it. The harder the better, as far as they're concerned.>
Addition of DeChlor and pH Down to make water 7.0-7.2 does not change GH or KH
<Don't focus on pH; it's a mirage. The deal with pH is that it moves up or down depending on the hardness salts in the water. In most places, water either lacks hardness salts, and becomes acidic because of organic decay, or else has lots of hardness salts, and becomes alkaline/basic because of these salts buffering the pH upwards. But the pH isn't the "cause", it's a "proxy", a thing that changes alongside the thing that matters, the dissolved minerals in the water. Freshwater fish couldn't care less about pH really, and most will adapt to a wide range of values. What they care about is the "total dissolved solids", the minerals in the water, and the stuff the influences their osmotic balance.>
Addition of aquarium salt to make SG 1.004 (2.25 teaspoons/gallon) does not change GH or KH
<Don't use aquarium salt. It's rubbish. Use marine salt mix (instant ocean, reef crystals, etc.) Marine salt mix buffers the pH and does a lot more than just raise salinity. Your mollies will love you for it.>
After sitting to stabilize for 3-4 days, either in clean 5 Gallon buckets or new trashcan, the GH goes to 75 and KH goes to 40 (Leads to a question)
<At this point I've pulled out a lot of hair... so let's move on swiftly...>
Live Stock: Total 36 fish, approx 73 inches.
15 Platys, various types.
<They will enjoy your well water as it is.>
6 Cory Cats
<Assuming you don't have anything delicate, these will adapt fine to well water. Not wild about salty water, but if you adapt them slowly, should be OK. But next time you're shopping for catfish, pick a brackish water tolerant species like Hoplosternum littorale or Hypostomus plecostomus.>
8 Swordtails, various colors
<Like the platies, they'll thrive in well water.>
7 Mollies, Gold, silver, black, Dalmatian. (Which leads into a question).
<Not only do they like well water, they positively hate the water you're trying to create with all the messing about with pH.>
Question\Problem 1: Mollies are dying, mostly the males, all 4 color types in 4 - 14 days. We are selecting good fish at the LFS. The ones that get sick and die don't look any different to us in the store then the survivors. The Mollies that we lose begin to meditate head up, tail down, and stop competing for food or eating, mostly start to shimmy and not swim around, the fins droop and become limp, and then they die. Some settle listlessly to the bottom without shimmy, and then die. There is no sign of rapid gill movement, but the mouth opens and closes a lot (like a carp!) on some.
Presently the male Dalmatian and male black molly exhibit this behavior; a gold male died this week, a female black died this morning after 14 days, last 3 days unhappy. The other 6 females (gold, Dalmatian, silver, black) appear normal in eating and swimming and are 14 days in the tank. We have lost about 8 previous Mollies in the last 6 weeks. All other fish are normal excepting two shy swords. No fish pick on other fish. No ich or sores evident anywhere. Pellets/flake food are spaced to give the ill ones equal time for food, which they ignore. The sick Mollies may prefer either the bottom or surface of the tank. We read about the shimmy medicine for lack of electrolytes but that seems a long shot as others posting have not indicated success with Shimmy Block or Molly Bright (and all our Mollies are not sick). Any thoughts so far, considering our pH, GH, KH? We do not know how to change KH if that is needed or what causes it to change from tap to tank.
Ditto no knowledge on GH. The LFS (PetS) said they keep (and we should keep)
pH at 7.0, slipping to 7.2. The LFS does this for the entire store of all fish except the cold water fish. Doesn't agree with your site. We elected to follow their lead believing the fish would be safer with the same water in our tank as the LFS. I tested the LFS water and it is indeed 7.0 pH and 1.004 SG and 78..degrees in the continuous community tank.
<OK, I don't need to read much of this to know why. Knock off messing about with the well water. From now on, just add the well water plus salt plus dechlorinator. For the sake of the Corydoras, aim for SG 1.003 for now. Things will gradually improve and your mollies will recover.>
Your forum says Mollies need 7.5 pH and hard water. Is raising pH slowly to precisely 7.5 really necessary? We can do it, but what effect will it have on the Cory Cats, platys, and swords?
<Apart from the Corydoras, all your fish actually prefer "liquid rock" well water as hard and as alkaline as it is. It's what they like. The Corydoras not so much, but they'll adapt.>
UGH. It appears this would stress all the fish. (If we were answering our own email, here is where we would say "UGH, indeed!").
<Your problem is trying to create water conditions with a certain set of values without understanding what all those values mean. Go read this: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwh2oquality.htm >
What is the lifespan of a full grown Molly? Lastly on Q1, is this shimmy something only Mollies do when ill or stressed, and can it mean many things or only one thing? (My engineer husband threw that question in, hoping for a black and white engineer type answer). If you feel there could be multiple chemistry problems, we would like to try solutions one at a time to reduce stress on the whole community in the order of priority of change KH, GH, pH, SG, etc.
<Mollies live a few years, maybe 4 or 5, all things being equal. They aren't really long lived fishes in the wild or in aquaria, and inbreeding hasn't helped.>
Question 2: Can we successfully keep Mollies, Cory Cats, Platys, Swordtails in a tank together or are we beating our heads against the tank? We do not want to do an all Molly tank unless we could also do Cory Cats with them. We enjoy Cory Cats (like small puppies!), the graceful sword tails, and the "front of the tank" platy parade and could go Mollyless as an option, depending on your response. You can see we are trying to do it all, and of course LFS sells us all without hesitation. If our current whole combination won't work, what pH and SG do we need for only these two solutions: (1) Mollies and Cory Cats? (2) Cory Cats, Platys, and Swords? Is the SG of 1.004 ok for these fish if we go without Mollies or should it be no salt at all? Our book sez pH of 7.0 for Corys and no salt. Will they die at pH of 7.5 and the salt in the range we have (1.004) or the range your site suggests for Mollies (1.002-1.003)?. What effect is: The soft GH of 75? The alkalinity KH of 40? on either of tank (1) Mollies/Corys or (2) Corys, Platys, Swords?
<OK, all three livebearers will thrive in brackish water at up to pH 8, "very hard", and salinity SG 1.005. Corydoras are adaptable, though this depends on the species. Your standard issue peppered and bronze Corydoras really will thrive at anything from pH 6 to pH 8, and from 5 dH up to 20 dH ("very hard") hardness. Wild caught and more sensitive Corydoras are a bit less adaptable perhaps, but still, they're pretty tough little animals. Mollies couldn't care less about the salinity. They can be kept at anything from 1.000 (freshwater) to 1.030 (hypersaline, more salty than the sea conditions). A low to middling salinity (SG 1.003 to 1.005) is probably the best in terms of getting the best health from them while leaving your options open in terms of tankmates.>
Question 3: Why does the well water out of the tap, at GH zero, KH 80 (dip stick test, with no immediate change with DeChlor, pH down (to make 7.0-7.2), & salt added), change after sitting 4 days, to GH 75 and KH 40? It remains at these numbers in the buckets and when added to the tank, so it is not a change happening in the tank. If you didn't catch this in Q1 or Q2, Do we need to adjust KH and GH? How do we adjust KH and GH to your specs and not change pH?
<I have no idea what's going on with your well water because you're doing crazy stuff to it. Just use it as it comes, and let the fish adapt to it. Adding the marine salt mix will stablise the pH and balance the minerals in the water nicely, making the whole issue academic. Tell me what the pH, GH, and KH are of the water you have STRAIGHT OUT THE TAP, and give me the UNITS on the test kit, not just the numbers. (Without the numbers, it's like saying it's 0 outside without stating if that's Celsius or Fahrenheit.>
Question 4. We don't have algae on the tank walls for the LFS
standard\common $1.00 gold color snail (Ramshorn or Florida Apple, sorry no species). It died in 6 days after crawling the clean walls and being quite active. It was not on the gravel much, preferred the tank walls. Do you think it was the SG of 1.004 or the lack of food? Was it supposed to find uneaten food on the gravel? If we were supposed to feed it, what do we feed it? Can we keep a snail under the water chemistry we have (salt added)?
<Forget about apple snails. They're a poor choice in your aquarium for a whole bunch of reasons.>
Question 5: We notice that our salt added to maintain SG 1.004 is triple the 1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons directions on the salt jar and over double your suggested 1 teaspoon per gallon and a higher SG than your suggested 1.002-1.003 in the forum. (We are following 2 of the LFSs with this SG of1.004). When we used 1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons, it did not register on our Instant Ocean Hydrometer, which seems accurate in measuring 1.004. How much latitude on SG do we have for the fish we want to keep, knowing the Cory's are most sensitive (at 6 weeks here, Corys are fine with SG 1.004).
<OK, I'm not a fan of measuring salt by volume because, as you've discovered, IT DOESN'T WORK. For your aquarium, you're aiming for SG 1.003, which is roughly 6 grammes of salt per litre (about 0.8 oz per US gall.) Make up the salt by adding it to the bucket... and then test the SG using a hydrometer. A basic floating glass hydrometer will cost you all of $5 and make life 100 times easier. SG 1.003 should be perfectly safe for your Corydoras.>
Question 6: The LFS operates all community/semi aggressive tanks on the one big tank plumbing system, is that a contagious disease worry on a fish buy?
We don't have a hospital tank. Should we set one up and routinely quarantine each new fish from the LFS (PetS) with an anti-bacterial med as we used to do with copper on marine fish? If so, what medicine for routine use? We hope this is not necessary, but it goes back to these Molly problems.
<Quarantine tanks are always a good idea. That said, the mollies are dying because of what you're doing to them, not because of the retailer.>
Question 7: What medicines can be put in the big tank to prevent contagious disease (ich, bacterial) or cure one fish, without destroying the good bacteria? (Just planning ahead, since we don't have a hospital tank).
<For now, don't worry about it. As and when something goes wrong, you simply buy an appropriate treatment. There are any number of brands out there. But for now, I'd sooner you bought/borrowed a book on fish health, and read that. A much better investment of your time.>
Question 8: Is there one flake food for all live bearers? The Mollies are said to need veggie flakes in one forum and are said to be omnivores in another forum so that is confusing to see. How about swordtails and platys, veggie or fishy flakes or either? The TetraMin flakes we use says parts of:
"Fish meal, shrimp meal, algae meal, rice, wheat, potato, oats, soy" and a list of stuff we can't pronounce or read. Is this OK for fish we have when used with shrimp pellets and algae discs? It seems to be an omnivore food, not entirely veggie.
<There is livebearer flake. It's sometimes sold as Spirulina flake or guppy flake. Lots of brands. I happen to use Wardley Spirulina but other brands are just as good. The main thing with flake food I think is to buy *small* pots, as it loses its savour within a month or so. If you must buy in bulk, consider dividing the tub up, and freezing most of the flake you're not about to use.>
Many, many thanks and cheers,
Rosemary Brekka
<Phew! I think we got to the bottom of all of this! Good luck, Neale>

Re: Mollies, Soft Water, Hardness, SG, Corys, Community Tank Questions 8/1/07
Hello Neale,
<Hello Rosemary,>
Many thanks, you are a gentleman and scholar to take care of our questions, and deserve a day off.
<Cool.>
We are digesting your suggestions and discussing it with the fish. We have read the suggested link on pH and hardness 3x, but could not understand how to apply it to our situation for livebearers (high pH and zero hardness water out of the well). And the PPM measurement Jungle Labs uses for total hardness and total alkalinity is not mentioned on your charts on the pH/hardness article.
<High pH and zero hardness will generally only occur where water contains a lot of ammonia. Ammonia dissolved in water raises the pH, but it is of course not a mineral, so does nothing to the hardness. As for the PPM measurement, that's identical to milligrams per litre (mg/l) for all practical purposes.>
Apologies for not sending the KH/GH scale fist time. It is PPM. We don't know if this is what you requested (mg/l calcium oxide? mg/l calcium carbonate?)
<Doesn't really matter which one.>
Here are the well water from the tap stats today and the type of measurement on the Jungle Labs dipstick:
pH: 8.0-8.2
Total Alkalinity KH 100 PPM
Total Hardness GH zero PPM
<OK, what this is saying is that your well water has very low (apparently zero) levels of calcium and magnesium salts (the two usually occur together). But it has reasonably high levels of carbonate salts.>
Jungle Labs www site nor instructions tell us how to convert the PPM to dH or the KH and zero is zero anyway under any system.
<You don't need to convert between them. The numbers on the table on that web page are to help people compare the results from different test kits. All that matters are the descriptions, "soft", "hard", etc.>
So we are at a loss on our soft water, which obviously needs to be hard for the livebearers.
<I agree, you have an odd set of conditions here. The water you have here is very similar to the water people get when they use domestic water softeners. These replace calcium salts (which register on a General Hardness test kit) with sodium salts (which do not). Such water is not suitable for fishkeeping. As a simple no-brainwork required solution, add crushed coral to the aquarium filter as a source of calcium carbonate; as this stuff dissolves, it will raise the GH and provide excellent buffering. Of course, such water conditions will favour hard water fishes, but provided you keep the GH between 10 and 20 dH ("Hard" on your test kit) then Corydoras and livebearers should be happy.>
We did see the Cory cats topping at pH of 7.5 and livebearers starting there so that seems an intermediate point pH to satisfy all we have.
<Corydoras prefer a pH around 7.0, but they are tolerant across a range from 6.0 to 8.0; as with many fishes, what matters is the stability of the conditions rather than the absolute values. Many fishkeepers misunderstand this, and focus too much on the numbers. The numbers are guidelines. What fish want are stable conditions, even if those conditions are less than ideal, they can be expected to adapt to them. But unstable conditions, even within the optimal range, can cause problems.>
Crux of this email:
We thought the simple way was to ask you what we should do to the well water above, and we will do it. Knowing we have messed up the cocktail, this seems the easy way to be straightened out.
<For now, use the well water. Make absolutely sure you are not drawing water through a domestic water softener first. Lots of people make this mistake. Draw the water from the drinking (unsoftened) tap. Install a source of carbonate hardness as described above. Start off with a small amount, perhaps a cupful, and see what effect that has. If, after a week, the GH is still too low, add another cup of crushed coral to the filter.>
The duh portion remaining is our soft water. It just ain't hard, even with the pH 8.2.
<Check the ammonia levels.>
With this well water, the GH is zero PPM out of the tap and pH 8.2. We thought high pH = hard water.
<Hard water does have a higher pH than soft water, but not all water with high pH is hard water. A pot of ammonia solution has a high pH, but no hardness at all.>
We are confused with our reading on hard/soft water. If we need hard water, we don't know how to get that, with the well/tap pH already at 8.2. Is 'hard water' merely a euphemism for high pH and not related to our GH zero PPM?
<Hard water is good, because it is wonderfully stable. A hard water aquarium is far easier to maintain than a soft water one. Admittedly, it's a (substantial) minority of aquarium fish that prefer hard water, but there's still a very broad range of species to pick from, as well as lots of plants. Hard water is NOT a euphemism for high pH; it is just that the two things are commonly, but not always, related.>
Apologies, Please tap-dance through this chem.
On the plus side, we are now salting to SG 1.003 and DeChlor only to the water changes today, this still leaves our water zero PPM soft.
<Salt, tonic salt anyway, has no effect on hardness. Marine salt mix does though, which is why it is preferred when keeping livebearers. Marine salt mix contains both sodium chlorine ("salt") plus a vast array of other minerals including calcium carbonate that buffers the water raising its pH, GH, and KH. Tonic salt ("aquarium salt") is just re-packaged cooking salt and basically useless except for treating sick fish. There's otherwise no reason to add it to a freshwater aquarium. It's mostly a con.>
On DeChlor, can there be 'natural' chlorine in well water? Should we skip the DeChlor as well, since we do not treat our water?
<There's shouldn't be chlorine in well water, but use it anyway. I add the stuff to rainwater I add to my fish tanks as a precautionary measure. Dechlorinator should treat other things besides chlorine, such as ammonia and copper. So it's always worth using.>
On acid to drop pH: Do LFS pH down products work differently than swim pool dry acid we had mixed and used prior? We thought acid was acid.
<No, acid isn't acid. There are hundreds if not thousands of different kinds. When they react with the minerals in hard water, they produce different mineral salts. Some of these mineral salts may be harmless, but others might be toxic. You just don't know. Prussic acid, to give one extreme example, is hydrogen cyanide and obviously deadly; carbonic acid is merely CO2 in water and is the stuff that makes soda slightly acidic but obviously harmless.>
We have some real (dead) coral in storage. This should buffer the pH to 8.2 and keep it there, as it did this when we set the tank up and I had to remove a dozen pieces of coral. Should we place a piece in the tank again or do we compound problems?
<Probably won't have much effect either way. A problem with corals in freshwater tanks is they look kind of goofy, but if you're cool with that, stick it in. Yes, it will slowly dissolve into the water, but not as effectively as crushed coral in the filter because of water flow and surface area reasons.>
Thanks for simplifying our self induced problems, we are following your suggestions so far, it is the soft water/high pH starting water that has us shaking our heads. Margaritas on us if you are down this way......
<Cool!>
Cheers, we are most grateful.
Rosemary
<Hope this helps, Neale>

Re: Mollies, Soft Water, Hardness, SG, Corys, Community Tank Questions 8/2/07
Thank you, thank you, Neale! Appreciate your help squaring us away.
Don here today, Rosemary is off doing real work serving coffee on airplanes.
<Hello Don,>
We have added a cluster of old purple barnacles to the tank. Gives place to sleep & hide. And crushed some table top coral for one Fluval. It went peacefully into that dark place.
<Cool. I hope you cleaned off the dust though from the coral.>
On your comments: "....High pH and zero hardness will generally only occur where water contains a lot of ammonia. Ammonia dissolved in water raises the pH.... Check the ammonia levels."
<Indeed.>
As requested, we tested well/tap water 3 ways; our well water has zero ammonia; it passes thru no filter or water softener enroute from well to us.
Just PVC pipes. It shows SG of 1.000 mostly, a smidge over (but less than 1.001) rarely.
<Odd. Wonder where the salt is coming from? Perhaps your well water is slightly brackish.>
On your comments: ..." as this stuff dissolves (the crushed coral), it will raise the GH and provide excellent buffering..."
<Yep.>
Will addition of crushed coral raise the pH? If so, how do we control it to keep at 7.6 (where it is now) or stop it by 8.0? (Corys still a worry here).
We still don't understand pH movement in this case, given that ammonia is zero.
<Corys are fine up to pH 8. If you want to check, go visit Fishbase, and their tolerances *in the wild* for most species are listed as pH 6.0 to 8.0. Sure, they prefer something around neutral to slightly acid, but assuming the tank is otherwise healthy and stable they will adapt to pH 7.6 or 8.0 just fine.>
Our tank pH after two 20% water changes over 3 days (before coral was added:
7.6 on reagent test. Married our 7.2 tank water to the 8.2 tap water. The black male molly is out swimming laps a wee bit with top fin up, so someone is happy. Still hasn't eaten in a week.
<Sounds promising; but try mixing up the diet a little. Mollies are plant eaters, so some vegetarian flake, Sushi Nori, blanched lettuce, sliced cucumber and all sorts of other things might pique their jaded palates.>
Tank GH is unchanged at 75 PPM dip stick.
<Still fairly low.>
Alas, we were using tonic salt; Top Fin. LFS sells only Instant Ocean in marine type you describe. Pkg brags about buffering for marine tanks so I called the company. They said this salt will take us to pH of 8.2 like ocean water.
<Yes, if used at full dose, i.e., seawater strength, it will raise the pH to 8.2. But not at the miniscule doses I'm talking about here. Think about this logically: any elevation in pH is proportional to the amount of stuff used. If I use a half-seawater strength dose, it will raise the pH only half as much as full dose. If I do a quarter dose, only a quarter as much. And so on. Since we're talking about a 10% dose for the benefit of mollies, the pH rise caused by the marine salt mix will be very small. Try it and see! A small box of marine salt mix doesn't cost much, and even if you discover it doesn't work as I say (though it will) you can always use it a Christmas to brine the turkey.>
Buh-bye Corys?...... What brand do you suggest? We will just get it on the internet if it will keep the Corys happy buffering to less, and adding to the hardness we need.
<The thing here Don is not to concentrate too much on the methods, but on the goal: we want water with moderately high levels of GH and KH and a low salinity around SG 1.002, 1.003. Your job is to experiment: mix up tap water and salt until you get this. If you have a source of softened water, mix some of that in. Play around until you find a combination of factors that comes out with what you want. Mollies *do* need salt 5 times out of 10, which is why I'm recommending adding it. Corydoras aren't wild about salt, but at very low doses it does no harm. Ideally of course you'd keep these two fish in different tanks, since they really have different needs, but since that isn't an option you'll have to see what happens. Aim for SG 1.002 to begin with. That might be enough to support the mollies without stressing the Corydoras. You certainly don't want to go above SG 1.003. Interestingly, there is a relative of the Corydoras, Hoplosternum littorale, that prefers brackish water and grows more slowly when kept in soft water. If you ever get the chance, swapping your Corydoras with a 'Hoplo' instead would be worthwhile.>
Our black Molly bubbled thanks at you, Neale for help thus far with water hardness.
<Bubble my regards back. I adore mollies, but they simply aren't easy fish, despite being widely sold.>
On KH: Our tank KH unchanged 50 PPM dip stick & reagent. The charts we have both say 120-150 PPM for livebearers. Do we leave it at 50 PPM? Does curing the hardness cure the KH at the same time, or is it a different process? How will changing KH affect pH?
<OK. Raising the KH should raise the pH somewhat. Crushed coral will raise both KH and GH. What you need to do is add the crushed coral and wait a week to sea what effect it has on the tank. The GH/KH rises won't be instant; they'll take a few days to work through. In the meantime, don't focus too intently on the numbers: if the fish seem healthy and they are feeding happily, leave things be for the time being. Your prime goal is to raise the hardness (both kinds) to a level the mollies enjoy. But once there, you don't need to fuss too much. You do have very odd water conditions, and the ammonia levels are unacceptable in the long term, but provided your fish are happy, let things settle down for a few weeks before deciding on whether to raise the hardness or salinity further. Fish adapt; what stresses them are sudden changes.>
Thank you again for your kindness in reply.
Cheers
Don (and Rosemary)
<Hope this helps... I suspect this has all become so complex now we're in danger of arguing ourselves back in a circle. But anyway, good luck, Neale>

Re: Mollies, Soft Water, Hardness, SG, Corys, Community Tank Questions... FW qual. 8/8/07
Hello Neale,
<Hello Rosemary,>
Black molly male getting slowly better, comes out to investigate, nibble food now. Still reclusive.
<But at least the trend is upwards.>
May we follow-up with minor Q on our low tank KH alkalinity?
<Yup.>
For reference, our well water tap water is this:
pH 7.8-8.2 varies now with drought (or change of test kit)
pH does not drop over night.
<All good, and perfect for mollies, guppies, and other hardwater fish. Less perfect for soft water fish, but most will adapt fine.>
Total Hardness GH always zero ppm on dip stick test from tap.
<Not so good.>
Total Alkalinity KH 80-100 ppm on dip stick test. Shows same KH on reagent test.
<Bizarre. What you have is very soft water [hardness] with a moderate degree of buffering capacity [alkalinity]. In other words, almost no calcium or magnesium salts, but a fair amount of carbonate and bicarbonate salts. Why is this not normal? Because typically the mineral that makes water hard is calcium carbonate, the stuff in limestone and chalk, so you expect to get increasing amounts of both hardness and alkalinity the more limestone the water has passed through. Clearly, your water is coming up from something other than limestone, some other type of carbonate rock.>
125 gallon tank livebearers, Corys. 38 total fish. 2 Fluvals, UGF
<Fine.>
Following your suggestions, we no longer use pH down acid of any type.
<Good. Best to leave things in the "default" setting unless you have reasons not to. Your Corydoras at least should be fine enough in this soft water, but I'm still worried about the mollies.>
Well water goes into tank as is with DeChlor.
<Good.>
We eased SG to 1.003 from 1.004.
<Good; this should support the mollies nicely without unduly stressing the catfish. But still, keep an eye open for odd behaviour in the catfish, such as gasping or loss of appetite.>
We are 80 miles one way from LFS, so salinity is from aquar tonic salt. Had to make do with the huge container of tonic plain salt we have on hand. (We know you said it was worthless, we'll get some on our next big trip in
September).
<It is doubly worthless here, because it's adding no hardness (calcium/magnesium salts) to the system, since it doesn't contain any. Real marine salt contains a fair chunk of calcium carbonate, and this will help out the mollies infinitely more than plain NaCl, which is what you're using here. Still, cooking salt is better than nothing, because it detoxifies the nitrate, and that's something mollies seem to respond positively to.>
Temp 78F
Ammonia, nitrite = 0, nitrate < 20.
Over 90% water change total in 7 days raised our acid addition driven 7.0 pH up to 7.8, maybe 8.0 depending on how test kit feels that day.
Barnacles in tank & 1/4 C broken coral in Fluval didn't move GH much off zero for 5 days. So we added Epsom salt finally, and GH now reads 250-300 on (Jungle Lab) dip stick.
Was the Epsom Salt move OK?
<Epsom salt is magnesium sulphate, and as you've immediately observed this raises the GH (which measures calcium and magnesium salts, primarily). So this is raising the hardness up to where the mollies like it. Combined with the NaCl, the two make a reasonable stop-gap solution, I'd imagine.>
KH remains at 40-50 ppm in the tank. This is our remaining concern.
<Epsom salt contains no carbonate or bicarbonate, hence no effect on the alkalinity (KH).>
Reading indicates KH does not offer enough buffering now. Do you agree?
<To some degree. But provided the pH seems constant, don't worry about it too much.>
I know my baking soda will raise KH. We do not want the pH to rise at all.
(Corys again)
<The Corydoras aren't the issue here. My concern is messing about with not less than three different mineral salts (NaCl, Epsom salt, and baking soda) is bound to make water changes complicated (and thus, inconsistent). I'd leave things where they are for now, and once you're done with the cooking salt and have access to marine salt mix, switch to that so you can phase out the Epsom salts as well. That way, you'll basically be adding just one substance at each water change.>
Here it is: How do we raise the KH alkalinity without raising pH?
<Don't. For now, just let things be.>
Will this affect GH, which we now think is a tad high (but much improved over the old tank water of 75 ppm before your help)?
<It's fine as it is. 300 mg/l (= ppt) calcium carbonate (if that's what your GH test kit is quoting) is well within the tolerances of Corydoras. If you want, you could reduce this slightly, to around 150 to 200 mg/l, but don't go any lower.>
Again, our thanks for your superb help in getting us to this point.
Cheers,
Rosemary
<Hope this helps. Cheers, Neale>

Two fish dying after water change.... Freshwater 7/6/07
Hi...
<Ave.>
I have a 30 gallon octagon freshwater tank with danios (4 now), neon tetra, cardinal tetra (16), 3 Amano shrimp, 2 Siamese algae eaters, 3 kuhli loaches and 3 Cory.
<Okey dokey, all nice fish. I'm not wild about octagonal tanks for a variety of reasons, but you have small fish so it should be fine.>
I normally do water changes weekly but have been very busy and yesterday's water change came after 2 weeks. I replaced the old Wal-Mart filter entirely with a new Tetra Whisper but kept the old bio filter and trimmed it to fit.
<I'm not familiar with the Wal-Mart filter, but I will say this, it's usually better to *add* a new filter rather than *replace* an old one. If nothing else, you have a back-up filter in case one fails. But you also have more water current (a good thing usually) and much better water quality.>
Inside the tank I vacuumed the gravel, cleaned the glass with a scrubber (removing 5 gallons of water) and then added the new water. I had added Novaqua to the change water and lowered the pH of the tap water to 7.0 There was no odd fish or shrimp behavior at the time, everything appeared normal.
<Now, my only issue here is the use of pH buffer. Only if you have very extreme conditions do I think this worth doing. Neons will adapt to pH 7.5 just fine. If you're lowering the pH but leaving the hardness alone, you aren't really doing anything useful. Fish don't "feel" the pH, they respond to something called Total Dissolved Solids, that is, how much "stuff" is in the water. Messing about with the pH but leaving the TDS (in this case the hardness) alone is sort of like painting an elephant from grey to white. It's still an elephant, not a mouse. Almost always, it is better to acclimatise your fish to your local water conditions, or better yet, choose fish that PREFER your local water conditions. Either way, this leaves you free to do as big water changes as you want without worrying about sudden deaths from water chemistry problems. If you live in a place with very hard and alkaline water, for example, choose things like livebearers, x-ray tetras, gobies, rainbowfish, cichlids, etc. that come from similar conditions in the wild.>
Last night before I went to bed a flashlight check had everything looking okay. This morning I fed the fish as usual and watched them as I always do. The lights are on timer and that's "our" cue for feeding... the kuhli loaches are normally out in expectancy but could not be seen even after the food was in the water. Neither did the shrimp come out as usual. Then I noticed the gold danio having difficulty swimming and had prominent blood patches/lines... like the blood was more noticeable near the tail area.
<All bad signs. Since a variety of species have gotten sick simultaneously, water quality or water chemistry is almost certainly the issue. Your first step here is *always* to do a nitrite test (for quality) and a pH & hardness test (for chemistry). If your fish are acclimate to the local water chemistry, you'd also do a 50% or more water change to dilute the problem and hopefully save the fish. But since you've been messing about with pH buffers, that's not an option. See my point?>
I netted it and put it in a small container with tank water to observe. It kept floating upside down and then trying to right itself. I continued watching the fish in the tank and noticed one of my newer danios which hatched last July was near the top sort of picking at the floating food but a bit lethargic. I went to my office to work and checked later... it was flipping over and having difficulty swimming. I netted it and looked closely... it had the same blood type marking near the back tail area. Through a magnifier I can see the scales are slightly raised on the one side and it almost looks like a bloody bruise... the blood marking goes into the anal fin as well but not the tail fin or the dorsal fin. Another look at the tank fish with magnifier & flashlight the other danios have no blood markings at all and appear fine... also peeking in the normal hide holes for Kuhlis I saw one who appeared fine and good coloring. The shrimp had come out and were eating (2 females both carrying eggs) the male I rarely see.
<Quite probably after the "crisis" things are recovering because the fish/shrimps are re-adapting to whatever the conditions are in the aquarium. Freshwater fish are usually very, very good at this compared with (say) coral reef fish or Rift Valley cichlids because they inhabit variable environments. But if you push them too far, they can die.>
I always keep fresh pH and ammonia monitors in the tank.
<Personally, I think they're a bit of a gimmick. Expensive for what they are, in terms of accuracy and replacement requirement. But each to their own!>
After the second fish came up poorly, API tests of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite showed 0... I even tested for Copper just because I had it but it too was 0. The gold danio did not make it and I have moved the zebra danio into a small breeder tank to keep him from being tossed by current in a separate 5 gallon quarantine tank I have set up. But he doesn't look good. Any ideas what happened?
<No precise idea. But assuming you did not accidentally introduce a toxin to the aquarium (such as paint fumes or insecticide) I'd place good odds on an extreme water chemistry change. The symptoms sound very like over-acidification, which is quite easy to provoke. Anyway, we need to know two things: Firstly, what's the pH & hardness of the water *out of the tap*. Second, what's the pH & hardness in the aquarium your tank is normally at. Unless the water from the tap is pH 8.0 or more and hardness 20 dH or more, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Most standard tropicals will adapt to those conditions fine, especially commercially bred varieties of things like angels and Corydoras which are a bit more sensitive when wild-caught. Neons and cardinals admittedly like conditions on the soft side, but I've kept them in "liquid rock" waters of Southern England and they do fine. When I've had mortalities, it's been from Neon Tetra Disease, not water chemistry, and once the infected fish died off and I broke the re-infection cycle, the fish become essentially hardy and easy to keep.>
Thank you
Debbie
<Hope this helps, Neale>

Fish dying after water change-freshwater... follow up – 07/06/07
Hello,
<Greetings!>
Thanks Neale for your reply. I live here in Dallas, TX. I tested the tapwater and the pH is way over 8.0 (API low pH test is deep blue (7.8) and using API high pH test appears deep brown/purple (8.8) and hardiness tested at 3 (using API).
<That's an odd combination of results. What's the "hardness" you're using? A hardness of 3 degrees German hardness ("dH") would be incredibly low, practically nothing could live in that except fish adapted to very soft water conditions. But 3 degrees Carbonate hardness ("KH") would be only somewhat soft, and quite good for tetras and barbs, though bad for livebearers. Without knowing the system of hardness you are using, the number itself is unhelpful. Imagine as if I said something was 100 degrees, without saying whether Celsius, Kelvin, or Fahrenheit. 100 C is boiling water, 100 F is simply a warm summer day, and 100 K is abysmally cold deep space sort of frigid where even what we think of as gases are frozen solid!>
I never use to buffer the water before a change, I usually would let it aerate and age for a week... until I got the Amano shrimp.
<Non sequitur. Adding buffer does nothing to make tap water more or less safe to use in the aquarium. The only ESSENTIAL addition is dechlorinator (specifically, one that removes chloramine as well as chlorine). Aerating water is, in my opinion, neither effective nor economical. The electricity wasted aerating the water more than offsets the couple of cents' worth of dechlorinator. I buy the stuff in big "pond-friendly" bottles, and that lasts something like a year for an outlay of around $20.>
So the very first water change I did with the shrimp in the tank they went nuts all over the tank. It kind of freaked me out... so that's when I tested the pH of the tapwater and made the assumption it was the high pH of the new water that made them go crazy in the tank.
<Not sure that A follows B here. Your retailer is presumably keeping fish in water chemistry similar to that which comes out of your tap. So doing a water change shouldn't cause any serious problems. But not adding dechlorinator can cause all sorts of problems. Chlorine itself is toxic, and chloramine breaks down into chlorine plus ammonia, a double whammy for the fish.>
The second water change I did with them I adjusted the pH to 7.0 before water change and had no reaction from them. (Note: Sometimes I did not aerate/age the water and simply conditioned and added to tank with no issues but I don't remember whether the first change with the shrimp was aged tapwater or conditioned tapwater straight from the tap)
<Adding small amounts of "raw" water to an aquarium without dechlorinator is usually harmless. I confess to having done this when I saw a tank that needed a little topping up. As with anything, it's a question of concentration. A small amount of cyanide is harmless (as in almonds for example) but lots is obviously dangerous. If you're uncomfortable about your success with fish, a very good idea is to do lots of small changes instead of one big one. Two or three 10% water changes across the week should be adequate in most cases, but any potential changes in chemistry will be so small as to be relatively harmless.>
Octagon tanks... now that I have one not my favorite either and do recommend against it ... but (A) it was my first tank and (B) neighbor had it in his garage sale for $5 with solid wood stand.
<Sounds fine. I've had a hexagon tank as well for much the same reason. The problem with them is they have a poor surface area to volume ration (usually) meaning that for any given volume, a octagon/hexagon tank will hold fewer fish than a regular rectangular one. They also tend to limit the swimming space for fish. Fish that like to swim forwards, like danios, will find them less satisfying than fish that move up and down flat surfaces, like Ancistrus.>
The new Tetra Whisper filter has a much stronger flow and a longer intake tube... two pluses for this deeper tank.
<Yes, good call.>
The remaining fish are still fine. The Kuhlis were out swimming late last night. The only other thing if not chemical is possibly during rearranging of decor and vacuuming they were accidentally pinned or hit causing this... but these fish are pretty fast moving and I move slow allowing them to get out of the way.
<Banging a tank frightens the fish, but shouldn't cause serious harm, except with very highly strung things like needlefish (which freak out and damage themselves).>
Thanks again.
Debbie
<So here's the game plan. Find out what hardness scale you on your test kit, dH or KH. Once you know that, we can decide whether modifying the pH and hardness is important. Also, confirm you are using a dechlorinator with chloramine remover. Skip the aerating thing. Waste of time. Long term, start phasing out the pH buffer if you can, and as and when you decide to replace fish, pick species that *prefer* the water chemistry you have. It'll make like 100x easier. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Freshwater 2 fish dying follow up - Carbonate Hardiness test 7/7/07
Hi agai