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changing water


stargazer

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My ph is 8.4 ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10

Your Ph is a bit high, but that may be due to your tap water being that way and it depends on what fish you have wether it's a problem. What is the Ph of your tap water? Some species prefer Acid water, Ph below 7. But only play with that if you HAVE to.

The other parameters are perfect so I would say your 10% changes have been fine. 10% per week should be OK unless you have a lot of big messy fish. If you get more fish and your nitrates start increasing then you can increase the size and frequency of the water changes to contol that.

Cheers

Ian

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Clown loaches grow far too big for your tank. They need double what you have.

What is the pH of your tap water? Do you have any live plants in the tank?

Most recommend 10% a week or 20% a fortnight (which is 2 weeks. I understand 'fortnight' is not a term used in the USA :wink: )

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The tap water varies between 7.4 thru 7.8 on ph as for the tank I am looking to get a 55 gal or bigger this fall . The size of the clown loachs about 1 1/2 in or 3.5 cm(sorry metric is not my speciality), also forgot to mention water has a lot of iron in it , I do filter the water b4 putting it in the tank , using a pur filter on the tap

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Are you having any specific problems with the fish?

Is there anything in the tank that could be raising the pH? Limestone, some types of sand or shells can leach into the water and cause the pH to rise.

Bogwood should have the opposite effect and lower the pH.

Also it may be possible to catch rain water from a roof. Sometimes you just need a big plastic barrel under a downpipe. If you are in a rural area chances are your rain water is fairly clean and it should be very soft and slightly acidic.

Cheers

Ian

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Iron in the water supply is usually caused by the water being acid with dissolved CO2. Generally this is from groundwater being drawn from areas of peat or old swamp country. The iron is in solution in the ferrous state which is soluble. The easiest way to get rid of it is to aerate the water which drives off the CO2 and changes the iron to the ferric state which is virtually insoluble and if left standing will settle out. Iron is not toxic in water it just makes the water taste bloody awful and leaves brown stains on your bath and WC. Chlorinating the water does the same thing--oxidises the iron to ferric.

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