Newbie Question

[tank]

Hi all
My tank is only 2.5 foot samll i know but thats what i got
running a fluval 204 and a internal filter with sponge
Is this ok to have both running next Q
I got 3 little discus yesterday and they hid all day behind filter is this ok
Next Q I have about 20 kilos of black gravel should i get rid of it
Fish look happy starting to venture out but its day two and they havent eaten yet
levels where great on day 1 ph 6.4 day two up 7.4 what happened there
sorry about all the questions but i got loads

[DiscusMan]

Hi all
My tank is only 2.5 foot samll i know but thats what i got
running a fluval 204 and a internal filter with sponge
Is this ok to have both running next Q
I got 3 little discus yesterday and they hid all day behind filter is this ok
Next Q I have about 20 kilos of black gravel should i get rid of it
Fish look happy starting to venture out but its day two and they havent eaten yet
levels where great on day 1 ph 6.4 day two up 7.4 what happened there
sorry about all the questions but i got loads

OK

1. BOth filters - Yes running more than one filter is ok as long as the flow of the water isnt to great in teh tank. We can spend ages discussing this.

2. New Discus will hide and be scared, its only normal and with a couple of days all will be well and they should venture out. They can go a fair number of days without eating and again when they settle in they should eat.

3. Decorate your tank how you like it. Gravel makes it harder to clean in my opinion but it dont realyl matter plants or not, gravel or not you choose.

4. Ph drifting - what did you use to change the ph of the water when you put it in the tank. was the tank cycled etc. water chemistry is hard to answer. the PH values you said are both fine so dont fear anyway. large changes over very short times can be bad but over a day isnt to bad but it would be nice to get it stable at least so mroe info is need on how you get your water in your tank etc.

Hope this helps

Wayne

[tank]

Thank u Wayne
How did i get my water in by bucket ( tank has been cycled for about 5 weeks ) the day i got em i did a 50% water change and again to nite a 10% change I freaked out when ph raised so i used ph down again tonite
threw in some geo and thats it
thanks for the quick reply

[DiscusMan]

I was wondering what PH down you use.

powder, liquid, geo liquid stuff.

I found that the PH down you use can effect the PH stabillity but stable PH is more a problem of one of the hardness thingies. Really soft water can be unstable. Do i a quick search on google if you are looking for a quick answer or i see the KevKoi is online and should know the answer for this straight away.

Wayne

[kalebjarrod]

you should try to wean yourself of PH buffers. :? they are hard to control and if you every get a little lazy and the water crashes your screwd

if the gravel has been in the tank and cycled with the tank leave it thier, it will contain some good bacteria and to remove it might cause a ammonia spike

what is the pH and parameters of your water out of the tap, you may find it easier to age some water in a drum or container and add some peat to bring the ph down. safer and the pH won't crash. :lol:

the eating is not a problem, they will over the next day or two, just give them some time to settle. don't stick anything in or take anything out for a week. :wink:

your filters are fine, just be careful that the flow is not to much. :lol:

[tank]

thanks all
ph down is a powder not sure of the brand as it was given to me
geo liquid is made by flex
water from tap is only 7.0 ph
and the gravel bugs me wahed the bejesus out of it and it still is quite dirty when i do a water change but settles later and you can see through it
should i stop testing the levels every 5 min will this compulsion go away.
thanks all
ps the little buggers are cute

[weird]

Bucket of water, airstone, pump, heater and add your prime (or water ager / conditioner of your choice) ... leave for 24 hours ... no ph buffers ... and your fish will love you. Constant ph is better than bouncing ph.

water from tap is only 7.0 ph

That is good, it is much higher donw here in Sydney. I just use tap water, no buffers ... fish happy.

Becareful when asking your LFS, like asking a hairdresser if you need a haircut. However I hear G & S in Gold Coast are awesome.

[kalebjarrod]

go down and talk to george @ G & S he will agree with me in saying,

age the water, heat her up a bit, run an airstone thorugh it, then add it to your tank

thats all i do, our water is great. :lol: