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  1. regani

    What pH does TO filtration give?

    Darrel's got it. Anything that gives away a proton (H+) is an acid, anything that captures a proton is a base. There is an important difference between strong and weak acids. Strong acids, like hydrochloric acid (HCl) will completely 'fall apart' in water, that is they give away all their...
  2. regani

    What pH does TO filtration give?

    "resíduo seco" is the same as TDS, that is residue left after evaporating the water - conductivity is just a shortcut way of measuring TDS. So the water in that bottle would have a TDS of 19. The tap water will likely be different because it generally would be treated before it goes into the...
  3. regani

    Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis care & personality, any info?

    Good point, Mike. The tank I bred them in was indeed a well established tank. I add leaves to my tanks and add new ones over time as the old ones fall apart. I never completely clear out the mulm that that generates. If it gets too much I just clear out some areas, maybe half in total. All...
  4. regani

    Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis care & personality, any info?

    I have kept and bred them a few years ago. I kept them I pairs with some pencil fish in a fairly densely planted/decorated tank the same dimension as yours. They were not particularly aggressive (for an apisto) and tended well to their fry. I am not sure if the tetras will pose a thread because...
  5. regani

    Blackwater extract by boiling

    There are small amounts of salts and organic substances in the leaves that dissociate into ions in the water, like the humic acids. And don't forget that you are trying to make a concentrate so you will have higher concentrations of 'stuff' in there. This raises the conductivity of the solution...
  6. regani

    Blackwater extract by boiling

    if you want to make a concentrated extract you will need a lot more leaves. for an example of recipe see here http://www.bettawan.com/blackwater_mix.html as abrooks12376 pointed out, you can also get humic acid as a granulate, it is used in agriculture as a soil improver I have used 1 tbsp. of...
  7. regani

    Humboldt University, Berlin - The importance of humic substances

    Great find, Darrel Just a brief summary of that radio interview: humic acids are found in most aquatic bodies, even in the oceans. The ratio of soluble humic substances to living biomass is about 10:1 (by weight) in fresh water and 100:1 in salt water. Beneficial effects are measurable before...
  8. regani

    Help with my water

    I had a look at the link with your TDS meter. It is one of the higher range ones intended for use in hydroponics. There the concentrations are much higher than in your regular fish tank, this is probably the reason why it doesn't pick up a reading when your TDS is low. If your pH goes up there...
  9. regani

    Help with my water

    There are different TDS meters around for different purposes and some of the ones for hydroponics applications are high range so you may not get a reading for low TDS water as Darrel pointed out. What TDS value does the calibration solution have? and is that at the high or low end of the...
  10. regani

    peat granules to lower PH and soften water?

    The addition of citric acid gave a reduction in pH, KH and conductivity, no change in measured GH. Yes, citric acid degrades over time, that is why I use a mix of hydrochloric and citric acid. The job of the hydrochloric acid is to bring down the pH, the citric acid brings down conductivity by...
  11. regani

    peat granules to lower PH and soften water?

    It gets a bit complicated with those organic acids and conductivity and TDS. When you add some of those organic acids to water the KH and pH will drop and measured GH won't change (although bioavailability may). The conductivity will drop because they mask the Ca and Mg ions and the actual TDS...
  12. regani

    peat granules to lower PH and soften water?

    Gerald is correct, only Ca and Mg ions that get adsorbed to the surface of the peat or resin get actually removed from the water column. There is an additional issue with GH measurements in water containing tannins, humic/fulvic acids etc. for example as in water treated with peat. Those...
  13. regani

    Shrimp-compatible dwarf cichlids

    I have kept shrimp with borellii, they seemed to largely ignore the adult shrimp. But there was also a lot of cover for the shrimp (plants) so that some shrimp lets would survive to continue the population
  14. regani

    Apistogramma Baenschi

    A way of quickly sexing younger A. baenschi that works well for me is to catch them and have a closer look at the colouration - generally colour doesn't mean that much, but for baenschi the young males show a blue sheen when out of the water and the females a yellow/light green sheen. This...
  15. regani

    Glutaraldehyde and Carbon in planted tanks!

    It has nothing to do with cleaning the plants. As we all know plants harvest light to generate energy. They then use this energy in chemical reactions to build 'stuff'. Most of these things they build are materials for building more cells and cell walls and storing energy for when there is no...
  16. regani

    bacterial infection need help please

    Should be safe for the plants. I've never been a big fan of melafix, don't think it actually helps much and may cause problems in some cases, but I know some people swear by it. Up to you
  17. regani

    bacterial infection need help please

    The plants should be fine. I have kept Java moss, Java fern and anubias in tanks that got up above 90 degrees in summer. Rams are found in waters with temps around 86 degrees. More important than the temperature is the water quality. If a small sore hasn't healed in a couple of weeks it is...
  18. regani

    bacterial infection need help please

    Skin lacerations in soft water fish often come from unsuitable water conditions, unless they are an injury from a fight, of course. So medication would be a short term fix only. If you don't want to medicate and don't want to use a hospital tank you will have to keep the water conditions...
  19. regani

    Setting up a new tank :)

    I'd go with the A. baenschi - the panduros don't always pair up easily and the trifasciata are a more polygamous species. With sufficient decoration the tank is large enough to house most apistos so you have more options. For some of the true black water species the water values will be a...
  20. regani

    Hello from Brisbane

    Welcome to the forum. Good to see you here
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