# Leaching root tabs?



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

In the past week, the GH in my tank has gone from 7 to 12!
The only additions to my tank that I think could possibly be the culprit are Seachem root tabs. Does anyone have a similar experience?
I only added 4 to a 10 gallon, and I pushed them into the gravel (estes clown pukeuke: ) as far as they would go, but I can't imagine anything else in the tank ADDING Ca or Mg.


----------



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I never noticed anything like that, but I'm assuming it's possible. 

But did you happen to also do a water change when you noticed the sudden increase? If so, maybe the water company changed their water parameters a bit.

-John N.


----------



## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Do you top your tank off as it evaporates?

Unless you are topping it off with RO water, your GH and KH will slowly creep up over time, even with water changes.

You can see why- the minerals are left behind when the water evaporates so the GH and KH both go up. You add more tap water and they go back down but still above their original levels. This process happens over and over and eventually those values will creep up to where you notice the change in your test kits.


----------



## JoeHoetzl (Feb 23, 2005)

How long has that tank been going? Something else in there might be a culprit...any rockscape?


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

The tank in question has been up and running for 8 months, but only in the past couple weeks have I gotten serious about turning it into a real planted tank.

Right now I'm trying to work out my fert schedule to make this a low tech, no water change, excel powered tank.
I started by doing two 50% water changes to get my nutrient levels where I wanted them, adding the root tabs, and adding all the plants I had in quarantine.

Here is what my journal says:
6/21 pH 7.4, KH 2-3, GH 7 (34 ppm Ca, 9 ppm Mg), NO3 10, PO4 1.5+
6/22 Added .5 ml Seachem Fe, 5 ml KNO3 solution (5.25 ppm NO3, 3.3 ppm K) NO3 15
6/24 Added 1 ml flourish. Distorted growth on val, yellowing on anubias
6/25 NO3 10-12, PO4 1
6/26 Added 5 ml KNO3 solution (5.25 NO3, 3.3 K), added 10 ml KH2PO4 solution (1.25 PO4)
6/29 KH 2-3, GH 12, PO4 2+, NO3 20. Val looks better, transparent patches in red temple, started dosing excel (2-3 ml), root tabs leaching? added 3 ml Seachem K
6/30 Added .5 ml Seachem Fe. Green spot algae still growing, black beard becoming an issue.

So, no water changes, no topping off, no rocks.... Maybe about 3/4 gallon has evaporated. The only hardscape I have is 3 pieces of driftwood, two of which were added recently.

Any and all comments/suggestions/critisisms accepted and appreciated


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

How are you measuring the GH? I ask because in your first measurement you give the mg/l of Ca and Mg... are you measuring those and then calculating the GH from that?

Given the info you given, I'd first suspect test kit/testing methods.


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

I'm using a crappy tetra GH test. While not my favorite product, it has always seemed accurate before, it's not old, and I did the most recent test twice, testing with a different bottle of reagent each time (it comes with two )

The mg/l calculations are aproximations based on what I added to the water
(CaSO4, MgSO4) and what was listed in my water report.
All the numbers add up pretty well, so I doubt I'm off by much.

I'll be testing all the numbers again tomorrow, as long as nothing is still rising, I may just leave it alone.


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Well, here's the composition of Seachem's Flourish Tabs:

Total Nitrogen 0.28%
Available Phosphate 0.17%
Soluble Potash 0.16%
*Calcium 14.9%*
Magnesium 0.06%
Sulfur 12.2%
Boron 0.029%
Chlorine 0.55%
Cobalt 0.001%
Copper 0.001%
Iron 2.2%
Manganese 0.23%
Molybdenum 0.0009%
Sodium 0.14%
Zinc 0.0024%

Anyone want to do the calculation of what 14.9% Ca in a Seachem Flourish Tab equals in mg/l of Ca? 

If four Flourish Tabs add 36mg/l of Calcium (equal to about your increase of 5 degrees GH), then that could be the culprit...


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

So far my fish seem unaffected, I really appreciate how they refrain from dying on me when I mess with their water 

I'm wondering if having approx. 70 ppm Ca to only 9 ppm Mg will affect my plants?


----------



## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

tetra is a good kit for gh. it has always been accurate for me and the lfs I trust most use them. Could be expired though.


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

Well, it looks as if my GH may still be going up, as well as my NO3 and PO4.
Everything is getting to levels I really don't want it at, so I'm thinking my only option is to pull the root tabs out, do a couple water changes and see if everything stabilizes from there.

[sigh] Anyone want 6 root tabs?


----------



## Rich M (Mar 6, 2004)

<Anyone want 6 root tabs?>

Sure! My crypts love em, I have a rather deep substrate that helps prevent leaching. Can I send you a SASE? :^)


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

Well, my wife is allowing me to replace this tank with a 15 tall using eco-complete for my birthday come October 
I'm thinking with the new substrate, I may want to try these again.

Sorry, I normally wouldn't take back an offer, but I've spent so much money on useless junk this first year of fishkeeping, I'm just not ready to write this off as a loss as well!


----------



## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

To update the situation: My GH got up to 14 before I could dig these things out and do a water change. Now, I had placed the tabs specifically underneath certain plants, so I'm sure I was looking in the right place, but I only found 
one half of one tab. 

Two more days of small water changes, and hopefully all is back to normal...


----------

