pH In Water Keeps Dropping.

[StriGoi]

This forum was originated by a 14 year old Malaysian kid.

And now it's taken over by?

I see that the members here are mostly Canadians and Americans.

Anyone from Portugal? LOL

[J-P]

you know, when you told me to buy the corals, i did so immediately cause i'm anxious to fix this problem, so i bought this red looking coral which the LFS says its a "dead coral". Upon reading this, i got the wrong coral than.

The flat scallop kind you are talking bout is white in color and has lots of straight lines on it right? <== Yes that is correct. Mine are are all flat with ridges going front to back

Anyways the red coral bought has so much "white residue" (which i assume is salt) even that after soaking it in water for 3 days now, nothing has change. I am afraid of introducing it into the tank. So hence no corals yet. <== have you tired boiling it? I don't know if it will work but it might be worth a try.

The problem still persists, but it is dropping at a very much lower rate.

Is there anything to do with my filter system?
Can't be right?
Cheers![/quote]

Sorry about the blurry pic. But there are about 100 flat sea shells in there plus 2 hunks of coral. Poopie the Pleco made a mess (an it has only been a week). Now keep in mind that my tank is not normal. It is heavily planted, and much larger than the average. That is why you should proceed with caution. I can't advise either way, but for me in my situation they do act as a buffer against my CO2 injection.

[StriGoi]

you know, when you told me to buy the corals, i did so immediately cause i'm anxious to fix this problem, so i bought this red looking coral which the LFS says its a "dead coral". Upon reading this, i got the wrong coral than.

The flat scallop kind you are talking bout is white in color and has lots of straight lines on it right? <== Yes that is correct. Mine are are all flat with ridges going front to back

Anyways the red coral bought has so much "white residue" (which i assume is salt) even that after soaking it in water for 3 days now, nothing has change. I am afraid of introducing it into the tank. So hence no corals yet. <== have you tired boiling it? I don't know if it will work but it might be worth a try.

The problem still persists, but it is dropping at a very much lower rate.

Is there anything to do with my filter system?
Can't be right?
Cheers!

Sorry about the blurry pic. But there are about 100 flat sea shells in there plus 2 hunks of coral. Poopie the Pleco made a mess (an it has only been a week). Now keep in mind that my tank is not normal. It is heavily planted, and much larger than the average. That is why you should proceed with caution. I can't advise either way, but for me in my situation they do act as a buffer against my CO2 injection.[/quote]

Okay once again, i think i got the wrong coral in mind after seeing your pics. LOl

Honestly those looks like small sea shell to me.
J-P, why not i go get the coral, i take a pic, show it to you and see whether its those or not.
Cause i tried google'in it and the corals i had in mind isn't available.

I do boil my DW but didn't know you can boil corals.

Will give it a try.

Thanks again.

Oh, it may sound ironic, but my MBU's name is PuffY.

[Nick]

I have fixed this problem with a mesh bag of crushed coral substrate in my filter in the very last part of the sequence.

[StriGoi]

I have fixed this problem with a mesh bag of crushed coral substrate in my filter in the very last part of the sequence.

Thanks Nick!

Will give it a try !

Now i know why people use corals in freshwater.

Cheers!

[StriGoi]

GUYS !!!!!!

1. I am posting here is because i have the regulars here answering this as i do not want to post it as a new thread.


Just only yesterday i saw this thin long white thing sticking about 5cm out of my puffy's rear.

I am also assuming that that is the stomach worm which most animals have.

It looks dead.

Now, recently my puffy was sick so he was treated to melafix+primafix.
I am assuming that these 2 medication cause the worm to be flush out of his system.


It's LONG !!!!

Compared to his body ration size and it is not fully out yet.

[J-P]

Actually that should be posted in the hospital.

Possibly a worm it is passing? What is its regular diet?


Edit:
opps didn't notice that we are already in the Hospital

[StriGoi]

Actually that should be posted in the hospital.

Possibly a worm it is passing? What is its regular diet?


Edit:
opps didn't notice that we are already in the Hospital

A worm that it is passing? You mean its normal? Its dead?

Regular diet?

Dried prawns, crayfish, recently live crabs.

[J-P]

It is possible that it is dead if you were previously medicating. On the other hand, if there was one there are probably others.

I'd definitely have that thing taken somewhere and have it scoped out.

[Nick]

Long strings passing from a puffers rear are often due to worms, but doesn't mean the worms are dead, only present. Recommending wormer plus or similar broad spectrum wormer.

[RTR]

Back on the original topic: Normal tank processes eat KH (carbonate/bicarbonate hardness). The largest single use is nitrification. Processing ammonia to nitrite, and that to nitrate in our biofilters uses two units of bicarbonate for every unit of ammonia processed. Since we value our biofilters, we have to compensate, generally by water partials. If your water is low KH (have you tested KH? It is far better to check that than just pH) you can and will get marked acidification from normal tank processes. The small frequent water partials you are doing is the best way to handle that in mild cases. If the situation is more severe, supplementing the KH is far better than adding commercial buffers. Most of those are phosphate, and that is a huge waste of money - basically futile. You need carbonate/bicarbonate. Phosphate or other commercial buffer will not replace it in nitrification. Increasing the pH without replacing the bicarbonate your tank absolutely must have by only increasing the pH is a waste of time and money, and may be very hazardous. The problem with bicarbonate addition is that it MUST be done before the water is added to the tank unless you are an experienced chemist. Direct addition to the tank can cause death by osmotic shock, and a lot of hobbyists have done this.

A lot of other tank processes use up bicarbonate as well. Water changes are not just to remove undesirables such as nitrate, but equally important is replacing all the normal water ions that we need and use up.

I have used coral rubble or aragonite gravel in external filters when I had low KH water. I use mesh bags of the material in external filters (HOB or canister or sump matters not, so long as the water flows through the material). I rotate between two bags at 2-4 week intervals (biofilms can slow solution of the needed ions, drying and rinsing between uses is easy). In-tank use is certainly possible, but most of these materials are white to whitish, and algae may be a problem or chore (I am lazy).

HTH

[StriGoi]

Thanks for the replies guys, iam very busy now in indonasia.

I will back to Singapore in 48 hours and reply accordingly and thanks.

Thanks.

[StriGoi]

It is possible that it is dead if you were previously medicating. On the other hand, if there was one there are probably others.

I'd definitely have that thing taken somewhere and have it scoped out.

That was what i thought so too.

Melafix + Pimafix + 10% daily WC was his remedy.

[StriGoi]

BTW, guys.

I found a VERY INTERESTING article about melafix and pimafix.

I am sorry if it might be old news to some of the people here.

Here it is..

http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine-fi ... -work.html

[StriGoi]

Back on the original topic: Normal tank processes eat KH (carbonate/bicarbonate hardness). The largest single use is nitrification. Processing ammonia to nitrite, and that to nitrate in our biofilters uses two units of bicarbonate for every unit of ammonia processed. Since we value our biofilters, we have to compensate, generally by water partials. If your water is low KH (have you tested KH? It is far better to check that than just pH) you can and will get marked acidification from normal tank processes. The small frequent water partials you are doing is the best way to handle that in mild cases. If the situation is more severe, supplementing the KH is far better than adding commercial buffers. Most of those are phosphate, and that is a huge waste of money - basically futile. You need carbonate/bicarbonate. Phosphate or other commercial buffer will not replace it in nitrification. Increasing the pH without replacing the bicarbonate your tank absolutely must have by only increasing the pH is a waste of time and money, and may be very hazardous. The problem with bicarbonate addition is that it MUST be done before the water is added to the tank unless you are an experienced chemist. Direct addition to the tank can cause death by osmotic shock, and a lot of hobbyists have done this.

A lot of other tank processes use up bicarbonate as well. Water changes are not just to remove undesirables such as nitrate, but equally important is replacing all the normal water ions that we need and use up.

I have used coral rubble or aragonite gravel in external filters when I had low KH water. I use mesh bags of the material in external filters (HOB or canister or sump matters not, so long as the water flows through the material). I rotate between two bags at 2-4 week intervals (biofilms can slow solution of the needed ions, drying and rinsing between uses is easy). In-tank use is certainly possible, but most of these materials are white to whitish, and algae may be a problem or chore (I am lazy).

HTH

RTR, many thanks for the info.

I relaize that in ur post and other's i am still required to add in corals into my system.

I will do that today as i recently just got back from indonasia.