Brilliant, yeah I kinda realized that later. And that little bit of argument is now a couple weeks old. But if you have to bring it up again...
Brilliant said:
Whats your point? Different fish require different parameters? Yes I AGREE...to the fullest extent. Soft acidic water fish belong in soft acidic water likewise with the latter. Know your parameters. Dont keep 0-1KH with Africans...I dont think anyone is being ignorant of that. This is about co2, KH , plants and a myth thats lived too long.
No it wasnt about co2, kH and plants per-se, it was in response to fish living at very low ph. I was making a point, not saying what is correct or not. What I was refering to was this statement:
IME Fish don't die from low pH. If that were the case then the streams and lakes in South America that are loaded with fish and a pH of 4.5, would merely be a figment of our imagination.
It was pointed out that fish live at a ph of 4.5 at some particular place in the world. And by not keeping your KH up with co2, you ph could similarly get this low. And the point was made that this is just fine. But is it really? There was no mention that some fish and plants might not be able to tolerate such low ph. I do not know what all fish and plants can or can't live there fullest at 4.5ph, just pointing out that just because some do that doesnt mean all can, so caution may be advisable before subjecting your tank to extremely low ph without regard of the species of your fish and plants. It could very well be that most or all aquarium fish and plants can, I dont know, just advise some more research first.
The other point I brough up was that this whole topic of low kh, co2, and ph crash really could have been introduced hear a bit better, ideally in its own thread since this is a huge topic. You all just really springed it on us here at AC as if it was common knowledge, and couldnt beleive there was someone who didnt know about it. I honestly dont think it was ever even mentioned prior that the ph crash could be a myth, coral isnt good to buffer, etc., these things were commonly accepted as fact. To expect most people who have long beleived otherwise to simply accept what 1 or 2 new users say is silly, of course there will be a lot of opposition. I for one do beleive this concept has merit, and I am slowly reducing my bicarb dosing. It would be nice if I can eliminate dosing all together, I'll soon see if I can. Any less work I have to do the better
thadius65 - sounds good! Its always nice to see the plants pearling. Sorry to hear about the shrimp though. I have been debating shrimp too but have the same dilemma with the clown loaches. It must be a hit or miss thing, as one of the lfs's here have a large heavily planted tank with a few clowns in there (~5" each) and many many shrimps (even small ones ~1") in there with them. I am trying a pair of wood/bamboo/singapore/whatever shrimp that are pretty large (~2.5" currently). They are filter feeders though, and apparently dont eat much surface algea but supposed to eat suspended algea.
