# GBR's



## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

anyone in the area raising or breeding german blue rams? i am a bit concerned with the water in arlington, 7.5ph...i will have ada amazonia in the tank so that should drop the ph. ill also have co2. the biggest worry is the water changes. the EI method of dosing calls for a 50% change at the end of each week. let say at the end of the week i have a ph of 6.8 (i dont know if this is accurate but i am guessing it could be because of the substrate im using and i hear co2 drops the ph but is that right?) and then i do a 50% and put in new water from the tap. wont that come out to 7.15 ph? wont that swing in ph be tough on the fish? any help is appreciated.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

stuckintexas said:


> anyone in the area raising or breeding german blue rams? i am a bit concerned with the water in arlington, 7.5ph...i will have ada amazonia in the tank so that should drop the ph. ill also have co2. the biggest worry is the water changes. the EI method of dosing calls for a 50% change at the end of each week. let say at the end of the week i have a ph of 6.8 (i dont know if this is accurate but i am guessing it could be because of the substrate im using and i hear co2 drops the ph but is that right?) and then i do a 50% and put in new water from the tap. wont that come out to 7.15 ph? wont that swing in ph be tough on the fish? any help is appreciated.


You don't have to worry about the pH changes due to CO2. It doesn't change the osmolarity of the water. It's the dissolved solids that are so hard for the fish to adjust to. So when you change the water they will do fine. Mine do and I have Amazonia and do 50% water changes all the time - including on my shrimp tank.


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

thanks. is there a way to measure my tds?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

TDS meter. About $10 from ebay. Or "only a million billion dollars" at Dallas North Aquarium.

Turn on, stick in the water, read the number.










--Nikolay


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

cool. thanks niko! but is this really important to measure? i mean my tds are what they are, i cant really change it unless i want to go with ro water...which i want to avoid due to cost. how about a co2 measure/checker thing? is that important when you are using DIY co2 fermentation? I was told by the guy at the LFS that if im using DIY co2 then i probably dont need to worry about putting in too much for the fish. what do you think?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I wouldn't buy any gizmo that monitors/test the CO2. Observing the plants and the fish is the best way.

As long as you have normal flow in the tank (and a little bit of ripples on the surface for gas exchange) the CO2 will be fine. 

The issue with DIY CO2 is that it can easily be inconsistent. Best practice is to renew the yeast/sugar mix before it stops working. Like every 4 days or so, just to be consistent. Inconsistency in planted tank leads to beautiful, highly educating, issues.


--Nikolay


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

i am going to run 2 jugs for co2, they will be staggered by 1 week so i should have a consistent flow. the one issue im having right now is i dont know what my flow will be like. as of now i am going to use the hagen filter as a diffuser that you suggested and i will have my rena xp2 jet nozzle rippling the surface. i was thinking of using a koralia 1 but i dont want to have too much flow in my tank. my tank is the hex and it is narrow and tall. i suppose i can wait to see how the co2 bubbles disperse through the tank before i decide that i need more flow. what do you think?


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

okay, flow seems to be good with the xp2 can filter. also, i have a feeling that staggering the co2 jugs by 7 days wont be enough and will lead to inconsistency as you mention niko. instead i may try a 4 day stagger. i will just wait to see when my bubble counter starts slowing down.


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