3 Things to know (and a tip) why your plants struggle when you top off your fish tank
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2024
- topping off or Refilling the fish tank is something we all do but what could be going wrong? What could be causing my plants not to grow or look stunted? Check this out and see the 3 most important things to know and what you can do about it, as well as a bonus tip on helping plants thrive. Even a Hang on back ( HOB ) filter trick!
0:00 Intro
0:14 Tip 1
1:06 Tip 2
3:24 WARNING
3:49 What to do
5:13 Tip 3
7:40 BONUS TIP
8:25 LET IT FLOW
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So many people need to see this video! I use aquasoil in a lot of my tanks to keep ph low.
Share away! 😁
I hope to help others so they don't have to struggle like I did.
Great information your sharing, evaporation and topping off is the main reason my custom tank has sliding glass lids and a nice wooden top cover. Driftwood is a must to help lower ph too however those interested in Lake Tanganyikan fish the best plants that thrive in high PH, GH and KH Java Fern and Anubis..
Thanks, Bill! This is fantastic information and something I've been struggling with. Keep 'em comin'! ~Ron
Great tips! Thanks!
this video is so good. great being able to understand from a personal experience
Great info, well explained, and I never thought about adapting to city water changes! 🙈
Thanks for the info! Great advice! Subscribed
My first time watching one of your videos. You explained everything very well and to the point which makes it so much easier for me (and others) to understand. Great tips. Thank you
Thank you so very much. I have to edit a lot of my rambling out of it 😂
I'm happy you liked it.
Great tips but my tanks are all natural soil sand and lots of plants. I don’t need to buy any chemicals or meters. Sometimes hobbyists go overboard in buying things. My best advice. Leave your tanks alone stop messing with it and it’ll be fine.
For anyone new to the hobby, this video is the exact reason why aquasoil should oftentimes be capped. By capping it you still get the nutrients for root feeders, but stop anything from leeching into your water. You also avoid messing with your GH, pH, and KH
Yeah and then you don't get any oxygen in your soil and create an anoxic zone, then all your stem plants start sprouting roots in the water column and don't grow any roots in the soil, the stems become thinner and thinner until they break off in an attempt to propagate else where
all your Anubis and java fern don't get any nutrient,
Not to mention the people that cap it with aragonite sand or mineral heavy substrate that's not inert sending the gh and ph through the roof,
I don't thing so tbh. You just need to make more waterchanges at the beginning and you are fine.
Father fish method only way to go imo.
The beauty of this hobby is that there isn't one right way. It's about the right way for you. What you want from your tank. What makes you enjoy it and just lose time in it. As long as it's thriving how can anyone say it's wrong?
Do what you love
This isn't even remotely true. Anoxic conditions in substrates are virtually impossible. What you are reffering to stems from a common myth surrounding "anaerobic substrates for denitrification". Aerobic activity doesn't require gravel sized clay balls with visible spaces in-between just so dissolved oxygen can get through.
Look up the brownian movement. Water molecules do not sit motionless in water, they are constantly moving and colliding with one another. This naturally takes oxygen down to the bottom of any deep sand bed or dirt layer. Roots don't have to wait for this to happen either, they are much stronger than sand and can still absorb nutrients from the sand due to this process. Sand itself is inert but is able to integrate itself as a soil overtime, which doesn't take much time at all when provided the necessary amount of organics that will naturally decay within.
This isn't even mentioning the research behind aerobic microbial activity that is observed throughout deep sand beds. Or the symbiotic relationship between plant root structures providing oxygen as a byproduct to those aerobic bacteria (phylosymbiosis). Or even simpler is the CO2 being produced as a byproduct in those same environments (soil respiration)
Lets not forget, aquasoils have their own deep substrates that mimic conditions surrounding "anaerobic/anoxic substrates". As they too can compact and "prevent roots from growing".
I keep three 5 gallon buckets full of tap water at all times. I also date each bucket and won't use it until it's been sitting at least 3 days in order for the chlorine and other stuff the city puts in our water time to gas off. Doing this, my bucket parameters are always very close to the same as my aquarium parameters. I also keep an air stone and a heater in my buckets in order that the water I add will be aerated, and at the same temperature as my tank. Actually, I don't mind if a little algae grows in the tank, because it's free food for my hillstream loaches, snails, shrimp, and pompom crabs. They keep the algae down to practically nothing, and need to have their food supplemented with algae wafers and with other protein foods for the hillstream loaches.
I agree with you completely that that the chemistry of what is in the water is of highest importance. I am lucky in that at present I am living in a town where the water doesn't vary to much. The well field which the city pulls from are artesian wells and about all they do to it is add chlorine. It's a little on the hard side, but not as bad as most well water. We don't have much calcium either at the surface, or below for a very long way down. Most of the way it's just the sandstone of the Ogallala aquafer.
I still test my water regularly, probably just as a matter of habit from years of living other places, and I think it's a good thing to do anyway. You never know when you might mess up, or when something might happen that you would not be aware of if you are not testing your water frequently. As the presenter stated, knowing your water chemistry will help you to know what plants and animals you can keep successfully in your aquarium, and will also let you know what changes you need to make in order to bring the parameters to the point where you can keep other species and plants in a different tank.
This is a super video, which I would recommend to any new or budding aquarist. I wish I had seen this a few years ago, but a few years ago it had not yet been made.
You definitely have a solid grip on your fishkeeping. Unfortunately many don't want to wait or simply don't have the space but if you do this is a free way of removing chlorine from the water and then you are temp marching and that isn't something I brought up but is a very good point so as not to shock the fish.
I hope you enjoyed this video 😁
@@AquaLust I'm enjoying them very much! I even subscribed.
good job!
Just subscribed
I've always staged my water...! Even when I only had one tank(70+now), I used a five gallon bucket and dosed for that amount of water and let it sit overnight before doing my water change/ top-off... Nowadays, I have an old 350 gallon tank that stores my staged water with two air stones in it...! I never had an air stone in my five gallon bucket, but it would've helped... Thanks, have a great day...!!!
That is an ideal situation but many don't have the space for it. When I first started I would prep 1 gal containers because my dog thought a bucket of water was his personal oversize water bowl 😂 it was very convenient but also took up room. (That I eventually removed that water rack for another tank. 😊)
Have an amazing day as well.
I should check my shrimp tank. Ive had it over a year and only ever topped off. My tap is 19GH and kh is 12. Might be why my shrimp arent breeding like they use to
Depending on the shrimp they might like it and I know keepers that have shrimp tanks that acclimate to the tap water they have.
Any changes make them slowly,
In the background you can see a rimless UNS tank I'll be making a shrimp tank out of in the near future 😊
Video suggestion, you could discuss hob filter mods and relate to that overall tank current and how to optimize it. You mention this at the very end of this video and I was hoping you would expound a bit further on both things.
Also I'm surprised you have so few subs. Based on video quality and knowledge I thought this was a larger channel that TH-cam just hadn't shown to me yet. 👍
Thank you for such a flattering compliment. I am doing my best to try and bring you the best content I can.
Your idea of going deeper into the flow is a good one and I'll definitely add that to my list of things to make in the near future.
Thank you so much for the feedback
Thanks for the tips! did the light clamps come with your tank ? Do you know the make of them , thank you
The riser (I call it that) is for the lighting kit I have on the tank. It's an add on to the kit.
Here is a link to it.
Current USA Orbit LED Adjustable Universal Tank Mount Lighting Bracket (4193) | Aquarium Light Tank Mounting Aluminum Arm for Fish Tanks | Works with a Variety of Strip Lighting a.co/d/3AH9INU
@@AquaLust ah ok, I like it a lot, ill check it out and see if it can be used for mine... thanks for getting back and for the link, much appreciated
Pause it at one second and you can see the bracket is slotted. I'm sure you can make it work.
Wow! Double hardness from topups only. How long did that take and did you change any water during that period?
This was when I was first getting into keeping fish. I was probably doing water changes every 4-6 weeks. The tank has no top and I live in South West Florida so the AC runs nearly all the time. Evaporation is a major issue as it will probably take 3-5 gals a week so in a month that is half of the tanks water. Starting out with a GH around 12ish (it's been a while since I tested my tap because I no longer use tap water all RODI) if I remember correctly I was in the mid 20s when I tested the GH of the tank. So that makes sense it had doubled the harness with top off water
I like your tank lights! Where did you get it?
It's a serene LED light kit from Current USA. The riser is an add on. The kit comes with the back light and frost like backing as well as speakers and play 4 relaxing tracks. It has all sorts of lighting effects and my personality favorite is the lighting storm. I have a video on the works that will showcase the light and it's features so keep an eye out for it 😊
What’s the brackets holding your light up ?
The bracket is an add in for the lighting kit in the tank from Current USA (Serene LED)
I wanted it to be a bit higher so I could control the amount it shines in the backdrop and also for coverage
Here is a link to what I used
a.co/d/5StXLEY
My local tap water has high GH, low KH, a PH 6.8, low chlorine. I do fight to keep a KH buffer and keep my PH from crashing with Seachem alkaline buffer.
This is very similar to the water structure I have at my home. This is what I did.
Now keep in mind it all depends on what you are keeping. For the most part fish can adapt as long as it's not way off of the ideal situation. I have fish that prefer hard to medium harness water but I had very low kh as well so that means a low pH too.
Crushed Coral mixed in to the substrate was a perfect answer. I would start with 1 cup per gallon of water. This way you didn't want to be constantly adding buffer to your water. The coral can be added to the filter in a mesh bag but sometimes this isn't the best option because of room especially with a hang on back filter and not possible if you use only a sponge filter.
The coral will keep you about 7.4 pH with water changes and hold it there giving you stability.
It melts away over time but over a very long time and it slows as it reaches 7.4. the reaction won't stop till 7.8 but water changes keep that in check. This makes it a simple option vs having to add a buffer to the water all the time.
Other options are stones that will buffer the water. They will have the same effect of slowly adding buffer when the pH is low. Avoiding pH swings is what you are looking for.
so what is the ideal PH for aquarium plants?
That can vary depending on the plants. Some plants can thrive in high pH. Epiphyte plants like Anubias, Bucephalandra, and Java Fern are some examples.
While others can be on the other extreme where a pH closer to 6.4 or even lower like Dwarf baby tears and Alternanthera Reineckii mini. Some will even require CO2 injection for them to thrive and bring out the colors they are known for.
So the answer isn't that simple as there isn't one general rule for all plants. But rather find the plants that will thrive in the water structure and pH that you can keep.
Do fish need minerals iodine and electrolytes? I usually use distilled water until it dawned on me we don't drink distilled water. I got some water additives that include minerals and iodine, of course my KH shot up. I try to keep my ph between 6.5-7.
Yes fish need minerals and depending on the fish some need a lot and some need very little. This is why it is important to research the fish you keep and know what the right levels of general harness are for them.
Kh is calcium and magnesium. Because we can't easily test for magnesium you would test kh and then test calcium. The remainder of the content of the KH value would be the magnesium.
Invertebrates need calcium for their shells so keep that in mind when setting KH levels if you have any in your tank.
Topping off with distilled or RODI water will not change the mineral content of your tank this is why it's recommended. If using distilled or RODI water when doing a water change then you will need to add minerals back into the water to the levels you require.
Because I use RODI water I use Seachem products to set the GH and KH levels of the water used to perform a water change. Remember the only time you reduce the mineral content is when you remove water, none is removed by evaporation.
@AquaLust i always thought GH was calcium and magnesium. I have snails, so I use crushed oyster shells. I tested the water for the first time in 2 months everything is where I want it, since I eased up on the additives. I have gouramis and tetras, which like bettas live in acidic water, so i was adding crystal pro aquatics betta minerals. It's a riparium tank so I've never had to do water changes, and I'm sure the plants like the extra minerals. It just shoots up my kh and ph. I'm just a worried fish parent sometimes, gouramis are happy building nests all day. I have been getting die offs of new neon tetras, only 6/16 have survived. Like I said everything is perfect. Makes no sense.
Yes you are correct. It's late here and I mixed up the 2. Calcium is part of GH not KH.
Bicarbonate (HCO3)and carbonate (CO3) (it's literally in the name idk how I mixed them up) Is what makes you KH
Shells do work but they are slow to dissolve and that can be a good thing as rapid changes are not what you are looking for
If none of this works when you are trying to reduce the Gh levels, check the stones you have in the tank. Seiryu rock does that, and it's normally sold as dragon stone or grey mountain stone.
I didn't go in to reducing the mineral content and maybe I should have. Removing the water and adding water with a lower mineral harness will reduce the water's overall harness. Changes should be made slowly as not to cause osmotic shock.
Yes you are correct some stones will bring up your water harness over time so that also has to be noted.
The tipping off with to or RODI/distilled water will at least not make it continue to rise. If you do have to use water that has minerals in it just keep an eye on it and the only way to bring it back down are a water change or by using products like a water softener pillow. While the pillow does work it personally wouldn't be my first option but is a safe option if needed.
Thank you for bringing that up. Very good point
@AquaLust I only mentioned it because it not always happens over time. It can happen in a couple of days. That sudden change might spook some beginners. Sorry if my comment was actually off topic. Your video reminded me of what I'm going through with a Betta and a shrimp tanks.
I'm doing some tests right now. Pillow didn't work. Distilled water didn't work (it does, temporarily). What might work permanently is the addition of almond leaves. Most impressive thing is that Ph is firm at 7 and Kh is unaffected.
That is very interesting. No worries I love learning and sharing your experience with me and others is how we learn how to overcome issues.
Drift wood will also help bring it down but is very slow and might take more wood then you can realistically fit. Definitely keep us updated if the almond leaves work for you
I use 50/50 water 50%rodi rest city water
That's a great tip when you have hard water and then can use the tap water to keep your minerals content up. Everyone's needs are different because every take is an individual eco system.
Yo don't dose the size of the tank you dose the amount you put in.
If you are not treating the water you are putting in treat the volume of the tank.
@AquaLust if it's a 250 litre tank and you do a 50% water change you declorinate 125 litre worth of water ...simple
Really how it works is you should be testing the water for chlorine after adding the water. Because everyone's water supply is different and can change like I pointed out in the video then you can't really go by a blanket measurement. I advise to follow the manufacturer to recommend process.
Testing is truly the most accurate method. Also at it's cost, so little is needed and the overdose limit is so far away from manufacturer suggestions it's not a big concern. Just be sure to add airation. For a 65 gal tank like you described that's 6.5 ml. Just a bit more than a cap full.
Also, some bacteria colonies on inert items will change the ph up or down & keep spiking your tank that way.
I had that happen with some lava rock, so I took it out, boiled it & let it sit in some ph raising colonies & my soft water issues in 1 tank were no longer a problem.
yes, all sorts of things can happen and impossible to cover them all in one video. The comments help everyone and someone might just be going through what you did and the information you shared helps them. Thats what its all about.
Thank you for contributing