ewolfe315

This is probably a dumb question but I have noticed that when I go out to the local pet centers that all the plastic plants have plastic bottoms that you just place gravel in to hold them down. Does anybody here use the plants that have a ceramic base?

Only reason I ask is because I got these ones off Ebay and was just wondering how I can tell if there ceramic or some other material unknown to man,lol..

It just seems to me that I can't get my nitrite level down and was thinking that this may be the problem. Trust me I have been doing water changes every day,sometimes up to 50 per cent in this 55 gallon tank. I had 2 bunches of live plants(no clue on type) in there,but forget them as they just keep getting uprooted and what not by the locals in the tank.

I have been getting these same readings here for over a week:

ammonia 0
pH 6.6
Nitrite 1.0
nitrate 10

I started this tank without doing the proper cycleing with an over populated tank to boot, which I Now know was incorrect. I have lost alot of fish at the beginning and for the past 2 weeks it has calmed down til this morning when I lost my Discus,the first fish in a while.

What can be causing this ?? Is it those so called ceramic plant bases?? All the other fish are doing quite well. How do I figure out whether there ceramic or not ?? Thanks John

spandex

have you got access to nitro-zorb?

here in AUS i got a sack which i put in my filter and i get 0 readings...
and went i do get a reading i just soak it in salt over night and its recharged and reinstall it
here is a picture of it. its bloody great i overloaded my tank at the start also and lost alot of nice fish along with my very large discus as well, i no use this product and do not get a reading AT ALL...
and my tank is still overloaded to this day

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nitra-Zorb-3-...QQcmdZViewItem

Butterfly

How long has your tank been running? and what fish do you have in there? Really don't want to use any chemicals at this point as it will skew your water readings and you won't know whats going on.
Carol

Tumbleweed

I agree with Carol. We need to know the size and habitants of your take. I don't believe in using special patches and chemicals to change the water conditions, IMOP it just makes it worse in the long run. Also really the only affect that the pots for your fake plants could have in your tank is to lower your Ph. If you are that worried about them tank one of the plants out of the tank and place it into a spare tank or large bowl with water, and leave it there for a minimum of 2 weeks and do regular water tests on that water to see if it changes. If it is OK you should have no water changes, if it is not you should notice a change in your PH

Butterfly

If the artificial plants were made for the aquarium they shouldn't affect your tank in any way. We really need answers the those questions so we can help you figure out whats going on
Carol

ewolfe315

Carol,

My tank has been running now for 43 days. 55 gallon tank

6 neons
7 mollies (3 are dalmations)
2 Angels
4 fancy tail guppies
4 swordtails
2 algae eaters
2 small catfish (1 albino,the other unknown)
2 clown loaches

all of the above fish are still quite small.. The largest are the Angels at 1 1/2 inches body width.The loaches are 2 and 3 inches long. All those plastic plants are aquarium safe plants, but the bases of them have me thinking otherwise. The bases are suppose to be ceramic, but I can't tell if they are. The packaging stated safe for aquariums but you never know(ebay expierience).. As for the live plants,( which are creating a mess by being uprooted and leaves being ripped off on a daily basis) I just took them out.

It's just the Nitrite level I'm trying to drop here to zero.

I'll be doing another water change in a few minutes here. 25 or 30 gallon.

Last night I looked in one of the filters(have 2 of them) and the one filter had ammonia/carbon blend in it, so I removed it and it still had the blue carbon pads in it. Each filter has 4 slots in it, one for media and one for the regular cartridge. All together there are 8 of these,4 per filter. Thanks for the help

John

chipster55

For what it's worth, I have been using plastic plants from the beginning and have had no problems with them. They all have plastic bottoms that you cover with gravel to keep them down..

Butterfly

At 43 days your cycle may not be finished. If not then you would have Nitrites still. Just keep doing the water changes and watch your water test readings. Usually takes 6-8 weeks for a cycle to completely finish. Your Clown Loaches will bemost sensitive of all the fish you have. when ammonia is 0, Nitrites are ) and Nitrates are 10-20 consistently your cycle will be finished. Hope that helps.
Carol

ewolfe315

O. K. I think the cycle has been completed. Right after my last post on this topic,I did a 30 gallon water change. Immediately on Sunday morning I did another water change of 30 gallons. As of right now(Monday)morning I have these readings here:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate anywhere from 0-5
Ph 6.0

1) Why did the Ph drop so much and is it a real concern being this low?
2) Could it have been that it took so much longer for the cycle to complete because I had that ammonia/carbon blend in 1 of the filters?? This blend removes the ammonia from the tank.
3) Could Discus survive in in this tank with such a low PH
4) I ended up leaving 3 real plants in the aquarium along with about 30 artificial ones. The only thing that has been added is one of those Lok - Rocks formations which are aquaria safe.

Please tell me it's over. The pet shop owner will have to close down with all the Start Right I bought there. I cleaned him out of it,lol..

If this is finally over, onto a 180 gallon, which will be done by the rules(nitrogen cycle)..

John

Timesdragonfly

You should check the pH straight from your tap. If your tap water is very different from your tank it could throw your tank's pH off when you do large frequent water changes. And that may explain the pH shift.
~J~

ewolfe315

Checked the PH from the tap and it's right on.. 7.0