Aquarium Update

I'm still fighting the pH battle, so I injected approximately 175 ml of CO2 this morning using the modified nursery enclosure and the CO2 reaction chamber from the CO2 Fizz Factory. By the time I got home from church, the 175 ml of CO2 had already been absorbed into the water. I'm planning to inject this same amount into the tank every other day - as well as adding appropriate amounts of SeaChem Flourish Excel and SeaChem Flourish Iron.



I didn't get around to my normal Friday water change, so I did it today - Sunday. Before changing the water, I spent about thirty minutes killing snails. It looks like they are going to be a bigger pain than I thought that they would be: I found another egg sack - even though the largest of the snails is very small - less than a quarter of an inch in length. Anyway, I killed snail after snail after snail before finally removing water for a water change. I removed approximately 3.5 gallons of water and added back in approximately 3.80 gallons of replacement water. I used the same mix as I did last time (with the reduced amount of SeaChem Equilibrium and reduced amount of SeaChem Acid Buffer). After the water change, I cleaned up around the tank and then replaced the hood. After replacing the hood, I was able to see more snails and so I ended killing at least eight more of the suckers.



I then tested both the existing aquarium water and the replacement water with the following results:

Pre-Water Change 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)	8 drops = 8*20 = 160 ppm = 8.96 dH
KH (carbonate hardness)	8 drops = 8*10 = 80 ppm = 4.48 dCH
pH (high test)	8.0 pH

I can only hope that that pH doesn't represent a mid-low due to the addition of CO2 this morning (meaning that the pH was running much higher.

Replacement 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)	0.1-0.25 mg/L
GH (general hardness)	8 drops = 8*20 = 1600 ppm = 8.96 dH
KH (carbonate hardness)	8 drops = 8*10 = 80 ppm = 4.48 dCH
pH (high test)	7.6 pH

That pH is still high on the replacement water. I think that I will go back to adding more SeaChem Acid Buffer to the next replacement water