More Aquarium Maintenance...

Nothing new to report on the aquarium front. Although my wife is upset with me for messing with the tank at all. She sort of blames me for the death of the elephant nose fish - because she warned me not to add anything else to the tank after the clown loaches died.



I tested the sample of tank water taken yesterday before the water change:

Pre-Water Change Sample

Test	Results
NH3 (ammonia)	0 mg/L
NO2 (nitrite)	0 mg/L
NO3 (nitrate)	10 mg/L
CA (calcium)	3 drops = 3*20 = 60 mg/L
PO4 (phosphate)	0 mg/L
FE #1 (toxic iron)	0 mg/L
FE #2 (chelated iron)	0 mg/L
GH (general hardness)	7 drops = 7*20 = 140 ppm = 7.84 dH
KH (carbonate hardness)	11 drops = 11*10 = 110 ppm = 6.16 dCH
pH (high test)	7.8 pH

I'm bothered most by that pH reading. I've been trying to lower the pH (trying to get to somewhere around 7.4 pH) since it spiked a few weeks ago. To that end, I was performing partial water changes daily last week. I guess I stopped too soon. It also looks like the plants are taking ALL of the available nutrients but cannot utilize them well because of the high pH, high alkalinity causing a low CO2 availability.

I checked the 24-Hour water (water from 24 hours after the last water change):

"24-Hour" Water Sample

Test	Results
NH3 (ammonia)	0 mg/L
NO2 (nitrite)	0 mg/L
NO3 (nitrate)	0-5 mg/L
CA (calcium)	3 drops = 3*20 = 60 mg/L
PO4 (phosphate)	0 mg/L
FE #1 (toxic iron)	0 mg/L
FE #2 (chelated iron)	0 mg/L
GH (general hardness)	7 drops = 7*20 = 140 ppm = 7.84 dH
KH (carbonate hardness)	10 drops = 10*10 = 100 ppm = 5.60 dCH
pH (high test)	7.8 pH

The above pH reading caused me to do another partial water change - I removed 3 gallons and added back 3 gallons. This time I used replacement water dosed only with SeaChem Prime and SeaChem Acid Buffer. While doing the water change, I ended up removing the last of the temple - narrow leaf in the back right corner of the tank. It was decomposing and none of it was really alive.

After the water change, I went ahead and fed the killifish some frozen brine shrimp. I also noticed that the last japanese trapdoor snail was not moving too well. I'm afraid that that snail may not make it... Oh well, I guess that I can take solace in a statement that a friend of mine made (and this friend is the head of an Aquatic Science Department at the local college): "You're not a real aquarist hobbyist until you've killed a bunch of fish." Not that that makes me or my wife feel any better.