ph and plants.

And by wildly we mean more than 2 points in 24 days. Less than that is in and of itself harmless, despite lots of commonly propogated myths to the contrary.
 
Seems like a logical answer!
I went trough it also, by using the grave vac too much.
Photos help if you can post, so the guys can see what is going on.
 
Ok, i figured it wasnt enough nitrates. Atm my tank is well under stocked, 18 fish in 50g, however im in the middle of cycling a new tank so i will not be adding more. ( would cutting back on my weekly water change fix my problem? those plecos make my gravel look so bad, dam poop machinces)

As for the ph, i wanted to raise it so i may add c02 to my new tank without making the ph even lower. i did my gh/kh tests and these are the results for both my tanks.

50gal (one i was disscussing throughout this thread) kh: 60 GH: 30

my new tank ph:6.0 kh:40 gh:40

The person at the LPS thinks i should buy a couple of bags of a gravel that contains bits of shell, which would increase my buffer aswell as ph. Thoughts on this ?

(guess im need to buy a nitrate additive :) for that problem)
How much is needed again 10-20?

Oh i nearly forgot to add, i checked iron for 1st time today, and in my old tank it says i need to change the water, ive got 1.0ppm chelated iron. the test booklet says ideal levels should be 0.25-0.5. I also tested my new tank that is filled wit eco complete, which i was under the impresstion contained health amount of iron. Test says there was none. Im i wrong about eco complete containing iron? or is it more like laterite, and is made to just hold in the irons that the tank contain? bag says iron-enriched :P
Maybe i mixed up the test tubes and the new tank had the high amount, im gonna retest.
 
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The shells would help indeed
 
Now that was a lot of questions in a single post. I didn't have time to get to it until today. Good thing I took off work early.

Deneault said:
Ok, i figured it wasnt enough nitrates. Atm my tank is well under stocked, 18 fish in 50g, however im in the middle of cycling a new tank so i will not be adding more. ( would cutting back on my weekly water change fix my problem? those plecos make my gravel look so bad, dam poop machinces)
Click to expand...

Cutting back on the % of water removed and the amount of gravel vacuuming will help. I have goldfish and a pleco in a tank together and they do make a lot of waste. A key that I've found to keeping the yuck factor of the poop view to a minimum is the timing of when I feed. I generally feed right before I go to bed and right before I go to work. Since my fish generally start pooping about an hour after I feed them, I very rarely have a disgusting tank. Leaving the feces in the tank also allows the bacteria the degrade it to increase in numbers so it sticks around for less time.

As for the ph, i wanted to raise it so i may add c02 to my new tank without making the ph even lower. i did my gh/kh tests and these are the results for both my tanks.

50gal (one i was disscussing throughout this thread) kh: 60 GH: 30

my new tank ph:6.0 kh:40 gh:40
Click to expand...
You may wish to read this article to better understand what those numbers actually mean. It is a little technical, so take your time with it. I suggest in the morning after several cups of coffee with a notepad nearby to take notes on.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85207
The person at the LPS thinks i should buy a couple of bags of a gravel that contains bits of shell, which would increase my buffer aswell as ph. Thoughts on this ?
Click to expand...
Since you plants are already showing signs of nutrient deficiency it might be a good idea on holding off on CO2 until you get the fertilizing bit down. CO2 will just compound the issue as the plants try to grow faster without the necessary nutrients.
(guess im need to buy a nitrate additive :) for that problem)
How much is needed again 10-20?
Click to expand...
Most plants need a minimum of 10ppm to grow well so shooting for 20-40ppm when you fertilize will be best.

Oh i nearly forgot to add, i checked iron for 1st time today, and in my old tank it says i need to change the water, ive got 1.0ppm chelated iron. the test booklet says ideal levels should be 0.25-0.5. I also tested my new tank that is filled wit eco complete, which i was under the impresstion contained health amount of iron. Test says there was none. Im i wrong about eco complete containing iron? or is it more like laterite, and is made to just hold in the irons that the tank contain? bag says iron-enriched :P
Maybe i mixed up the test tubes and the new tank had the high amount, im gonna retest.
Click to expand...
The test is only sampling the chelated iron. Chelated iron has a whole bunch of molecules surrounding it that make is soluble in water. It also blocks it from reacting with other chemicals (non-toxic). This means that chelated iron is floating around in the water. This is probably from liquid fertilizer that you have been using. Because the plants are low in Nitrogen the plants are not using up the other nutrients like Iron so it is building up.

The Eco-complete has iron in a different chemical form. If I remember correctly it is in iron oxide form (ferrous or ferric oxide i can't remember right now which one is red colored). This does not dissolve in water and precipitates out of the water. Any plants with roots can generally use this form of iron.
 
Sweet, tanks tons for the informantion. final question on the nitrates. I told the person at my LSP that i need to add nitrates and she looked at me a little funky. She then advised using flourish for my problems, this is what i have been using. I don't think she understold. Anyways i looked myself through all the additives in the store and found none that increases nitrates. What product should i use?
 
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