neverendingninja

I recently set up a tank to use as a breeding tank for my rams, and thought flourite would be a good substrate, since I was going to plant it quite thick. I also put in a few small "caves" made from clay pots, and I'm not sure which could have caused the problem.

So anyway, the water out of my tap has 30PPM TDS, but after filling the tank with flourite in it, the water is at least 180PPM(the top of the scale on my test kit). This is, as far as I understand, far to hard for blue rams, especially if I want them to spawn. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I rinsed the flourite thoroughly, and the water was running nearly clear. I would like to solve this problem, as I would like to eventually regravel my 55gal with flourite, so I can plant it better, but I really don't want the hardness to go off the charts in it.

Isabella

You should definitely read these 2 threads:

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=11991.0
http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=12274.0

Do they help you in any way?

neverendingninja

Not really. My pH has been quite stable, right around 6.2-6.8. The only thing I can think to do is the glass test. I'll put some dechlor'd tap water in a glass, let it set and test the hardness, then add some flourite and see what happens.

Thanks for the input, however!

Isabella

LOL that's OK hehe

Anyway, yes, it would be good if you tested your water with and without Fluorite. In one container put some fluorite and pour water over it, and in the other container just pour water alone in there. Wait 24 (or more) hours and see what happens. If the water with Fluorite will have higher pH, that means Fluorite is raising your pH, just like Eco-Complete is raising my pH. But, as long as my fish are fine, I'm not complaining

neverendingninja

Ok, this is just short term, but its looking like its not the flourite in my case.

I tested tap water, with chlorine in it, and got GH 30ppm, KH 15ppm, pH 6.8 and no nitrite/nitrate. I then dechlor'd with Prime and got the same parameters. I placed an airstone being pushed by a 10 gal airpump in 8 oz of the water, and let run for 2 hours. Everything was the same, except a pH of 6.5. I then added flourite to that same water, and nothing changed except for the KH, which jumped to 40ppm. This is described by Seachem. They say that Flourite could have a slight buffering quality to it. I'm going to test some water by adding a piece of clay pot to it now, and see what happens. I'll leave the current container to run for a while longer and see if anything else changes.

Isabella

I don't think you'll see any results immediately after the experiment. You should wait at least 24 hours

neverendingninja

Well, I'll have to run another I suppose, but I don't have everything I need right now. I'm going to need another airstone, and a refill for my test kit, but...after nearly an hour with just flourite, nothing changed. However, just a few minutes with clay pot pieces in the water, and the GH went from 30ppm to 120ppm. Carbonate hardness stayed at 40ppm, and the pH is still sitting at 6.5.

I understand, as you said, its most likely very inaccurate and should be done over a longer span of time in order to let everything stabilize, but it gives a good short term view as to what the most likely culprit is.

I'll post back tomorrow with 24 hour results. Its off to the store for another test kit now.