Plants yellowing and dying

I pulled out the trident fern and did some major pruning I also put the roots in a container with some tank water and put a few drops of the ferts in the water and let the fern soak.. Fingers crossed they live.

great pruning job

LOL thanks...they look naked and like toothpicks

but they will grow the fun of planted tanks the evolution of the plantscape LOL

Just went and got a new test kit and hate it..it's hard to read. I think I got no ammonia ph is bottomed out again GRRRRR

I'm still saying that low Ph is your killer. Either buy some boost or make your own. Until you get the Ph to a readable level I wouldn't do anything else. Sometimes the problem is just too obvious.

I've got crushed coral in the filter..was hopping it would raise the PH but I just bought a new test kit and the lowest it reads is 5 and my ph ain't registering

Most aquarium plants can withstand pH in the range of 6.5 to 7.4 without any problems. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 with 7 being neutral. The lower the number the more acidic the water is. The scale of measurement is logarithmic which means that a pH reading of 5 is 10 times more acidic than a reading of 6, and 100 times more acidic than a reading of 7. Your pH stability is probably the most important factor for your plants.

If you are below 5 you have acid rain in your tank.

It's crazy cause out of the tap it's well over 8 even with all the rain we have. I should test GH and KH in the tap I guess

zeketaz wrote:It's crazy cause out of the tap it's well over 8 even with all the rain we have. I should test GH and KH in the tap I guess

Yeah, a full test of all parameters whould be in order. Just so you kow my tap water is 8.0 -8.4 but it's RO water. After the water is in my tanks for a few hours it drops to 6.4 and wuld probably go lower but I boost it (this is due to low buffering capacity of RO water). My RO system has been both a blessing and a curse, the good thing is I can drink the water without getting sick but for tank use it is getting to be difficult.

I went for almost a month doing water changes with pure RO water before I noticed it was changing the parameters in my tanks. It seemed the water would remain almost the same even after RO water was added but now I guess enough of the original water has been removed by water changes that most of it is RO and the Ph is way lower than I like. I also had a nasty amonia spike in one tank not sure if it was related to the water or just a coincidence. That tank lost alot of leaves off the plants but has now been re-established and everything is getting new growth.

My next move is to mix RO and straight well water to see what ratio gets the parameters where I like them. I should get it narrowed down in a few weeks.

GH is 6.. KH is 2 ..PH 9.. Ammonia 1.5 ..Nitrite 0

Dump all that crushed coral in the tank. come over and I will give you a bag of beach shells.

Get those silly panty hose footys they have at shoe stores for when you try on new shoes. I will give you a bag of dirt. Make little dirt packs with them and tuck them under your gravel, the plant roots will make it through to the dirt.

Small pinch of baking soda each day to help bump it up will also help.

Your KH of 2 is the problem, it's too low and that means your buffering capacity is diminished. In direct relation, the nitrogen cycle will lower Ph because the KH is so low.

I talked her through the buffering over the phone, but an in depth would help!

Well added the 2nd filter and when I hooked up old filter again and turned it back on the crap that came out instantly clouded the tank so bad I can't see anything in it The current in the tank I think is to strong now so I have to turn it down as I have the fluval 305, 204 and UV light filter running lol

Did you clean it before putting it on the tank?

It was the 305 that had all the crap in the hose. The 204 was cleaned before I put it away

I got a PH reading!!!!!! Woooo Hoooooo lol it's around 6 now and all fish are still alive and the odessas seem perkier

Now you need a bunch more PH raising stuff when you come by I will hook you up

Should I do a big WC or wait a few days?

what's your ammonia and nitrites?

Ammonia was 3 did a 50% water change then tested an hour later and then again 3 hours after that and it was 0. Nitrites I will test when I get home

You did right anytime ammonia is showing do a water change. I think that is the best medicine for any aquarium problem. When in doubt do a water change is my motto.

LOL well nitrites are 0 as well

Ok Picked some brains and I will regurgitate what I learned;
When PH drops below 5 the beneficial bacteria goes dormant, after some time it will start to die off. The lower the PH the less harmful the ammonia is.

Come get a dirty sponge filter and some coral rock, that will get your cycle going and the coral rock will buffer your water to help prevent another PH crash.

The alkaline rocks and substances slow way down on dissolving once the PH hits 7.5 so its hard to naturally buffer up past that, but your tank wants along 7 so between the crushed coral and the few small alkaline rocks I will give you you should end up along 7ph.