# New Nano help: rising ph (?) & dying plants...



## dansl (Apr 16, 2006)

Hello,

5 days ago I set up a little 2.5 g Eclipse tank, hoping to make it nice little plant tank with a few fish. Probably not an ideal nano tank, but i had it lying around and decided to use it.... It has a 6w flourescent light. I never installed the biowheel, and removed the carbon from the filter. 

I put down 1-2" of Eco-complete as substrate, added a piece of driftwood, and transferred some vals, crypts, & anubias barteri from a 20g I've had running ok for years (DIY CO2, 40w CF). and added some Ludwigia from the lfs. Also added some Kent FW ferts (Freshwater plant, Blackwater expert, pro-plant) at or below reccommended levels (I think), and Flourish Excel.

Also 2 days ago threw in 3 fancy guppies & 3 black neons from the LFS (the latter meant for 20g, using this as a quaranteen).

problems:
the ludwigia has totally collapsed into mush. the leaves on the vals are turning clear and then rotting, probably all will be gone in another few days unless something turns around. the anubias is fine, but probably too early to tell for that one. the crypts are perhaps hanging on - losing some leaves to mush, but i know they are always sensitive to changes so was expecting some issues.

All the fish seemed to be fine, until one of the guppies dropped dead unexpectedly today. he was not gasping this AM. Tested the water: ammonia/nitrite very low or 0; GH ~ 150, KH ~ 90; and the pH was 8! It was maybe 7.2 or 7.4 when i put in the fish 2 days ago and havent tested it since. The 20g pH is usually around 7.3 or so - tap water is a bit alkaline here. I'm somewhat assuming the rising ph did in the guppy, but perhaps not.

So, several questions:

Is there any obvious reason why the pH might be increasing? the substrate? thought eco-complete would make it more acid if anything... i'm debating moving all the fish to the 20g as i'm afraid a rising ph might be the end of them by morning, although they all appear fine at the moment. good appetites in any case (as did the dead guppy this AM).

Does the mushified ludwigia & vals indicate any obvious deficiency or problem? not enough light? Iron? (one of the kent products has iron in it). i also initially put some of the ludwigia in the 20g, and it is doing just fine.

Less immediate:
Is the 6w flourescent light going to be enough on this tank? I dont want to deal with injecting CO2, but am wondering if the 6w is enough even for a low-growth tank., even if only 2.5g. 

Anything else i should be aware of, for a nano tank?

any advice much appreciated!


----------



## Jubs (Mar 24, 2006)

Did you seed the tank with bacteria from an established tank before hand ? I have always had a question as to how Eco complete is claimed to already have the bacteria in there as its sealed in a plastic bag and bacteria needs oxygen to live ... I don't know I have never used the stuff personally just always wondered that fact... 

I would assume it's just do to the tank cycling as the pH cycles as well... I am sure you know this so I won't go into detail. I am also assuming its 150ppm and 90ppm for your gH and kH readings ( or at least I am hoping ).


----------



## dansl (Apr 16, 2006)

Yep, should have mentioned that- I put some filter material from the 20g into the 2.5g's filter, and the plants were mostly from my 20g, so figured that should have seeded the bacteria. And yes the eco-complete claims to have bacteria...if true. I have been checking Ammonia/Nitrite to make sure, and havent seen anything really detectable. 

maybe that one guppy was just weak or susceptible. unless more fish die, i'm more concerned about the plants going to mush for no apparent (to me) reason.


----------



## mrbelvedere138 (Jan 18, 2006)

6 watts isn't enough to grow anything. 6 fish in a 2.5 gallon is severely overstocked.


----------

