My planted system at work...

[xerxeswasachump]

Ok i work at a pet store and i'm in charge of the planted fish tank system. The thing was in shambled when i started working there and now it is starting to look pretty good. I do have a few problems though...

1. I put RO water in the system when i do water changes (and fertilize with trace and flourish regularly), yet the pH of the system is always around 8! This is a big problem because i am trying to stock discus and rams in the tanks. The fish are surviving but they don't really show their true colors until they are comfortable. The pH of the RO water i put in the tanks is around 6, and the system always ends up at 7.8-8. Also, the water out of the tap is 7.6. What could be cause such a crazy spike in the ph?

2. As i said, i am trying to keep discus in the tanks. Most of them are doing fine but the other day one started pigeon blood started turning black. It slowly engulfed his body starting at his fins. Eventually he died. What was this? Is it contagious? Or is it just stress?

[Damon]

There is something wrong with your R.O. unit if the ph of the water being produced is 6. Pure water is 7...................
There is something in your tank that is buffering the KH and GH of your tank. What is the substrate?
I have heard of that happening to discus but I do not know the cause.

[xerxeswasachump]

The substrate is regular gravel...way too much of it. The substrate is about 4 or 5 inches thick, but if it were any thinner the plants wouldn't get enough of the already inadequate light (2, 36" PC bulbs that haven't been changed in 3 years).

Everywhere i have read states that water coming out of an RO unit is always less than 7. In my experience that has always been the case as well. My home RO unit spits out 6 pH water too.

I was cleaning out the system the other day (or trying to anyway) and i kept finding those lead plant weights. I must have pulls at least 50 from the gravel. I bet there are hundreds buried in the substrate that are very old. Would those be contributing to the increasing pH?

[Damon]

Possibly. The best thing to do is remove the plants. Remove the substrate. Add new substrate (a dusting of peat under it will help). Then replant and use fresh water and triple the dose initially.

[girth vader]

DW would also bring down PH to a certain degree, and discus love plants and wood. perhaps stocking it up with DW could help some.

[xerxeswasachump]

It is stocked with driftwood. Anyway, i understand that getting rid of everything and started over from scratch would be the best thing. Unfortunately, this a big store and taking down the planted system and getting rid of all of the fish in there is just not an option...the owners would have a fit. Also, we really dont have any place to put the discus that would meet their requirements.

If i could have my way the whole thing would be full of fluorite.

[HybridS130]

I would also make sure that nobody elses messes with the tanks while you aren't there. I think the best thing to do would be explaining the situation to the manager or owner and help them understand that what you want to do isn't just what you want to do but, what needs to be done. Im sure if you explain to them the loss of money due to the poor conditions they'd be more than happy for you to start over with the system. Maybe even prepare a temp home for the discus and use a large percentage of the old water for the time being.

[xerxeswasachump]

I think im gonna wait till i come back from this temporary job before i completely re-do the system. I talked to my boss about it and he said there was no way he could let me tear down the whole system. He'd get clobbered by the owner.
I think i could convince him to let me do it, i just dont have enough time left at this job for it to even be a priority.

[jwalker]

I am wondering about the gravel it might be crushed coral or a cichlid mix that would buffer the PH up.

[xerxeswasachump]

No, it is regular gravel that has been sitting there for about 3 years. It is between 4 and 8 inches thick in most places. I kno that is too thick, but without it, the plants wouldn't be close enough to the surface to get any light. Like i said, the whole system is screwed up. For lighting, it has 2, 36" power compact bulbs that use the square 4-pin setup. Old school.

[CaysE]

I really don't think 2-4" of water is going to affect the amount of light your plants get all that much. It is very possible that anaerobic bacteria is building up in that much substrate.

[Damon]

Lighting isn't affected (pc and better that is) until the depth is over 30 inches.

[xerxeswasachump]

ok, that is good to know. I'll re-do the systems when i start working there again in early november.

[dmarcus]

yo bstar why you takin time off from the job? ps ill be down for midevil times so get that ready.

[GumboJones]

Can we please keep the discussion relevant to the topic?

[dmarcus]

you gonna be there ; )

[GumboJones]

Well..for the record, I'll be at midevil times too....and to make this a fish related post, lets stop at Absolutly Fish on the way home

[xerxeswasachump]

Hair algae is completely destroying my tank. I made the mistake of putting in a few plants from my neglected grow-out tank. Everything is covered in it. I need a couple of SAEs. Also, i need to get rid of some fish.

[Damon]

Nutrients are way out of wack and probably in excess. Gold barbs eat hair algae as well as livebearers. Just don't feed them but every once every 3 days.

[xerxeswasachump]

I know the nutrients are out of wack. I haven't been able to change the water in ages because my sink has been broken. It has been fixed now so i can do that. I have been using EasyBalance from tetra, and and a nitrate sponge. The nitrates are still around a 100ppm. I added a bunch more plants to see if they'll help.
I finally got rid of all of the guppies and added 3 juvenile SAEs. I hope everything will work out now.

EDIT: before the hair algae i was fertilizing with flourish trace twice a week, discus trace once a week, and flourish once a week. I've stopped all that for the last few weeks. I plants look like they might be suffering a little from it.