It was held at the LFS. The owner is a long-time aquarist (55 years) and a North America certified instructor and teaches courses for freshwater, marine and specialty fish keeping (eg: discus). The Beginner Freshwater course was free...and it was interesting. He talked about the importance of treating for chloramines, not using soap to clean, using buckets made of food-grade plastics (which I haven't done! ) , making sure hands are free of soaps, lotions, perfumes, etc when working in the tank, etc...all good stuff. He also talked about the importance of selecting fish that work best in the size of tank and in type of aquarium that you want to keep (eg: community vs. species), and being aware of the adult size of the fish when stocking a tank, etc...more good stuff. Best part of it is that, when it came to water parameters, he talked about our local water supply.
But I'm still left wondering about what I should do with my tank. This LFS keeps their water with a neutral/close to neutral pH. My pH is reading at 8.0-8.2. Apparently, treating the water for chloramines with AquaPlus should have the added benefit of leveling and maintaining pH at around 7.6. I've not had that experience. I've even tried adding sodium biphosphate and it would drop the pH by 0.2, but it would come back up again the next day. Soooo, I've been leaving the pH at a more stable 8.0-8.2 thinking "stable" pH is more important than "optimal" pH.
I talked with the instructor about what could be causing the rebounding pH...and he thinks that my gravel could be a culprit (it may have shell fragments or the gravel may be high in certain metals/minerals that are leaching into the water). I'm going to be taking a sample of my gravel in to test. If it is the culprit, then do I decide to change it out (and start cycling again! :thud: ) so I can adjust for a lower pH...or do I just keep going along with a stable, higher pH?
I wish I had taken this class before setting up this tank...at least I would have had a consistent place to start, rather than gathering info piecemeal!
Mishi8
But I'm still left wondering about what I should do with my tank. This LFS keeps their water with a neutral/close to neutral pH. My pH is reading at 8.0-8.2. Apparently, treating the water for chloramines with AquaPlus should have the added benefit of leveling and maintaining pH at around 7.6. I've not had that experience. I've even tried adding sodium biphosphate and it would drop the pH by 0.2, but it would come back up again the next day. Soooo, I've been leaving the pH at a more stable 8.0-8.2 thinking "stable" pH is more important than "optimal" pH.
I talked with the instructor about what could be causing the rebounding pH...and he thinks that my gravel could be a culprit (it may have shell fragments or the gravel may be high in certain metals/minerals that are leaching into the water). I'm going to be taking a sample of my gravel in to test. If it is the culprit, then do I decide to change it out (and start cycling again! :thud: ) so I can adjust for a lower pH...or do I just keep going along with a stable, higher pH?
I wish I had taken this class before setting up this tank...at least I would have had a consistent place to start, rather than gathering info piecemeal!
Mishi8