new piece of drift wood

26 posts • Page 3 of 3

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

so is a stable ph of 7.8 acceptable for a planted aquarium, and the fish i keep ? I also with more steady waterchanges, and canister filter maintenance got my Nitrates down to a stable 5 PPM


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I have 7.8 ph come out of the faucet at home...all other readings are within normal ranges except the ph, and believe it or not, all the fish, plants and frogs are fine

ph on the very low side, say below 6.0 may give the inhabitants serious stress, but anything even by 8.0/8.2, believe it or not, the fish etc are adaptable

most plants prefer 6.5 to 7.5 ph range, but even plants will withstand ph up to 8.0/8.2...so a stable 7.8 ph is okay. Plants are actually more tolerable of higher ph than fish are (though there are some plants that are very sensitive).

If you could tell me what type of plants you have, I'll be able to be more specific. But for the most part, 7.8 ph is okay.


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

Here's a list of the plants in my tank so far

Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Wendtii, Bronze (Cryptocoryne wendtii )
Red Melon Sword ( Echinodorus barthii )
Brahmi ( Bacopa monnieri )
Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae)
Kyoto Grass (Ophiopogon japonica )
Banana Plant (Nymphoides aquatica)
Anubias Nana ( Barteri v. nana )
Tiger Lotus, Red (Nymphaea zenkeri)


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

plants will adapt to the 7.8 ph...very few live plants are too sensitive to ph above the neutral rate of 7.0

you'll be fine


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

i'll stick to the 7.8 coming out of my tap, and use the SeChem Prime to purify water during changes.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

even though I do not care for any chemicals, the Prime is the best if your tap water reads ammonia, nitrite and nitrate out of range...in the other house I lived in, I applied Prime for the ammonia from the tap was 4.0 ppm (can you believe that?)...but beings the tap water here is 0, I no longer use Prime

so I agree 1000%, that if the ammonia and nitrite are above 0 and the nitrates reads above 40 ppm, then by all means, apply Prime (you can even double the dose, it is completely safe on every water change)

new piece of drift wood

26 posts • Page 3 of 3

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