Hello all,
I’m in the planning stages of my first softwater, low pH aquarium. What I’m looking to do is very specific, and I have a much bigger project later on for which this will serve as a test run. I have some questions I’d love some experienced help with, to help take some of the experimentation out of this project.
This will be a very low tech system, with no filter, no CO2 injection, no water movement (except for a DIY rain system), tons of Anubias grown both submerged and emersed, and a light fish load with species adapted for low oxygen settings.
1. I'm planning on using deionized water as the base for this system. If, hypothetically, I added NOTHING to remineralize the deionized water, is it true that fish will suffer due to osmotic imbalance?
2. If I only added enough potassium bicarbonate to raise the KH by 1-2 degrees, would this solve the osmotic imbalance issue?
3. I’ve read of people keeping planted tanks with 0 KH. I assume that pH would trend toward more acidic over time. In this scenario, should small amounts of KHCO3 be added periodically to help “absorb” some of the acidity, or would it be better to just let the pH continue to drop?
4. If the pH continues to drop, what is the best way to stabilize it at a desired value (hypothetically, 5.9)?
5. In systems with CO2 injection, it is common for pH to swing a full point between when CO2 is on and when its not. In a system with no injection and water movement only occurring during simulated rain, how much could I expect the pH to swing over the course of a day?
6. If my long-term goal is to breed wild-caught species originating in area with pH 4.9, would it be possible to keep farm-raised dither fish in such a low pH? Is it simply a matter of gradual acclimation (over hours/days/weeks)?
7. Even though Anubias is usually considered a plant that thrives in hard, alkaline water, I have read research suggesting that Anubias also lives in the same locale with pH 4.9 that my fish species are from. Do you foresee any issues with this?
8. Having read Walstad’s chapters on plant nutritional requirements, I would love to experiment with using ONLY fish food/fish waste to fertilize plants. No dosing, no aquasoil, etc. Have any of you experimented with this? What were the results?
9. I assume there would be quite a lag between when nutrients enter the water as fish food (where they are consumed by fish) and when the nutrients eventually arrive back into the water column and/or substrate to be used by plants. Could this be compensated for simply by adding “a little extra” at the beginning to help kick-start the mulmification process?
10. What would be the short-term and long-term prognosis for using deionized water and remineralizing ONLY with potassium bicarbonate and fish food?
11. Is there any information out there about the critical concentration of nutrients for Anubias? (I’m aware of the one for Elodea, but I’m not sure how similar they might be)
12. Are calcium ions the only common white substance that precipitates on glass, filters, etc., or is there something else I’m missing?
Thanks for your time,
MH
I’m in the planning stages of my first softwater, low pH aquarium. What I’m looking to do is very specific, and I have a much bigger project later on for which this will serve as a test run. I have some questions I’d love some experienced help with, to help take some of the experimentation out of this project.
This will be a very low tech system, with no filter, no CO2 injection, no water movement (except for a DIY rain system), tons of Anubias grown both submerged and emersed, and a light fish load with species adapted for low oxygen settings.
1. I'm planning on using deionized water as the base for this system. If, hypothetically, I added NOTHING to remineralize the deionized water, is it true that fish will suffer due to osmotic imbalance?
2. If I only added enough potassium bicarbonate to raise the KH by 1-2 degrees, would this solve the osmotic imbalance issue?
3. I’ve read of people keeping planted tanks with 0 KH. I assume that pH would trend toward more acidic over time. In this scenario, should small amounts of KHCO3 be added periodically to help “absorb” some of the acidity, or would it be better to just let the pH continue to drop?
4. If the pH continues to drop, what is the best way to stabilize it at a desired value (hypothetically, 5.9)?
5. In systems with CO2 injection, it is common for pH to swing a full point between when CO2 is on and when its not. In a system with no injection and water movement only occurring during simulated rain, how much could I expect the pH to swing over the course of a day?
6. If my long-term goal is to breed wild-caught species originating in area with pH 4.9, would it be possible to keep farm-raised dither fish in such a low pH? Is it simply a matter of gradual acclimation (over hours/days/weeks)?
7. Even though Anubias is usually considered a plant that thrives in hard, alkaline water, I have read research suggesting that Anubias also lives in the same locale with pH 4.9 that my fish species are from. Do you foresee any issues with this?
8. Having read Walstad’s chapters on plant nutritional requirements, I would love to experiment with using ONLY fish food/fish waste to fertilize plants. No dosing, no aquasoil, etc. Have any of you experimented with this? What were the results?
9. I assume there would be quite a lag between when nutrients enter the water as fish food (where they are consumed by fish) and when the nutrients eventually arrive back into the water column and/or substrate to be used by plants. Could this be compensated for simply by adding “a little extra” at the beginning to help kick-start the mulmification process?
10. What would be the short-term and long-term prognosis for using deionized water and remineralizing ONLY with potassium bicarbonate and fish food?
11. Is there any information out there about the critical concentration of nutrients for Anubias? (I’m aware of the one for Elodea, but I’m not sure how similar they might be)
12. Are calcium ions the only common white substance that precipitates on glass, filters, etc., or is there something else I’m missing?
Thanks for your time,
MH
