What is this a symptom of?

[asincero]

Test your tap water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Take a cup of it and let it sit out over night (at least 12 hours) and test it in the morning for KH, pH and GH (if you have a GH test kit). Post the results here.

Roan

Ask and you shall receive!

ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 5ppm to 10ppm exclusive*
pH: 7.5
KH: 3 dh
GH: 4.48 dH

* The color of the water in the test tube indicated that nitrates were definately greater than 5, but less than 10. Since the test kit's color scale didn't indicate any color values for values between 5 and 10, I have to say it's between 5 and 10 exclusive.

 

[Hurley]

did you do anything different with your CO2? If it is DIY, did just replenish the bottles? If it is a canister, is there anyway you accidently hit one of the valve?

 

[Abilor]

I have experienced dramatic swings in my pH after turning off my bubble walls. I have nearly identical carbonate and general hardness readings. With my bubble walls going, my pH hung around 7.6, but when I turned it off, it went down to 6.8 - 7.0 overnight. I think it freaked me out more than the fish, but I've read elsewhere on the site that using the bubbles will drive out CO2, and has an overall effect on the pH. I could rummage around for the post, but someone more experienced will probably know immediately what I;m talking about.

 

[Roan Art]

I have experienced dramatic swings in my pH after turning off my bubble walls. I have nearly identical carbonate and general hardness readings. With my bubble walls going, my pH hung around 7.6, but when I turned it off, it went down to 6.8 - 7.0 overnight. I think it freaked me out more than the fish, but I've read elsewhere on the site that using the bubbles will drive out CO2, and has an overall effect on the pH. I could rummage around for the post, but someone more experienced will probably know immediately what I;m talking about.

Bubble walls will gas off the CO2 quickly. It's pretty much the same effect as leaving the cup of water sitting out overnight. The resulting pH measurement is your true pH.

Roan

 

[happychem]

Tap water often has elevated CO2 levels. It's possible that the water straight from the tap had high CO2, low O2. When this was added to the tank, combined with overnight plant respiration and the lack of aeration resulted in low O2 levels. One way to prevent this happening in the future is to keep the return flow from the python a short distance above the water surface so that the new water is aerated. CO2 equilibrium is slow, but agitation on the return helps a great deal.