Mysterious Deaths in my Aquarium.

In my Walstad setup, whenever there is a large 50% water change, my snails use to die in next 24-48 hrs. These death use to be mystery for me, but finally I found the problem. It’s the ‘Old Tank Syndrome’.

Old Tank  Syndrome is a series of events. First, the nitrate cycle converts ammonia into nitrate. This is good, but in doing that it releases acid. This 

consumes carbonate buffer, just like mixing vinegar and baking soda. Slowly, but surely, this leaves your tank ever more acid in pH.

At some point, the water becomes acid enough to start shutting down the bacteria. This starts at around pH 6.5 and "all" conversion stops below pH 6. Ammonia starts to form, but it's "ok" because acid water converts the deadly Ammonia form to the far less deadly Ammonium form.

This state of Lower Ph (acidic water) and high Ammonium is called the ‘Old Tank Syndrome’. Most of the fishes by now have got adjusted to this acidic environment.

All seems fine, until you change the water in a tank with Old Tank Syndrome (OTS). Adding new fresh water cause the pH to bumps up. This instantly 

converts all of the Ammonium back to Ammonia, and your fish suffocate and die due to ammonia burst.

Plants consume ammonia directly, But if your pH is 6, or below, you must be careful – no matter how old your tank is. Plants, continue to work as long 

as they are in their pH ranges.

Warning signs for OTS: Persistent pH 6, or below is a classic sign of OTS. 

Remedy:

-        Gradually Raise the Water Ph by increasing the Buffering (KH).

-        Make smaller 10-15% water change every 3 days instead of large 50% water change.

To take care of this acidic water, one can add some carbonate or bi-carbonates into the aquarium.

Eg:  Sodium bi-corbonate (Baking soda) for instant relief.

Crushed coral, sea shells in all its forms, is Calcium Carbonate. It dissolves slowly, and is a fine source of both KH and GH.

By slowly  adding bicarbonates, the acid will be neutralized and the ph will be raised gradually. Any more acid created by the bacteria will be absorbed (neutralized) by dissolved bicarbonates in water.

Also remember if you have snails, then these folks are also gradually depleting the water of carbonates/bicarbonates to make their shell.

Buffering helps you to maintain your PH levels. 

Build your own Aquarium.

5-Feet Aquarium.

So finally I am done building my own 5-feet aquarium.

Here are a few links that will help you out building your own.

Link 1:

http://www.austinglass.com.au/aquariums.html

Link 2: Glass Thickness Calculator.

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

See to it that you are well through with the whole process. Here are a tips that may be helpful for you.

  

11. I preferred the method 2 presented in Link1. The only difference was the side glasses are placed on the bottom glass instead of side glass sticking to the edge of the bottom glass. See figure below.

22. You can use a the normal general purpose silicon sealant instead of getting some costly aquarium sealant. I have good experience with china made brand “GP” and “Resibond”. The sealant glue costs you around Rs 125 and the silicon gun cost you around Rs 80.

33. My bottom glass had cracked when I had placed the aquarium for drying in hot sun. Note Acetic glue cures via air moisture not via heat. I had to replace the bottom glass. To remove the glass you need to use a Topaz Razor blade and a pen knife.  The razor blade is used to cut open the sealant and the pen knife is used to widen the insertion created by the blade. Once the blade and pen knife is in, just drag the blade to cut open the selant and then drag the pen knife to widen the cut. See pics below.

44. See to it that you are present at the glass vendor while cutting the glass. The vendor may dupe you by providing a normal glass instead of a 'float glass'. A normal glass has lot more irregularities due to which it may break easily in pressure. 

Fresh Water Aquascaping.

Nano Aquariums.

Half and Half Aquariums

Garden Ponds - St Louis Butterfly House.

Garden Pond I came across.

Relationship between Light and CO2 levels for Aquatic Plant Growth.

Aquatic Plants use a process known as photosynthesis to produce the carbohydrates they need for life. Photosynthesis requires light for energy and CO2 to drive the chemical reactions. 


The process of photosynthesis requires a specific light energy threshold. In other words, there is a point where light has reached a specific intensity to start photosynthesis in Aquatic Plants. If the light is not bright enough, photosynthesis will not occur. Beyond that threshold and up to some high light level, photosynthesis will run faster and faster. 


According to known practice, when light levels exceed two watts per gallon, supplementary CO2 is required for most aquariums.


The relationship between light and CO2 levels is important. The diagram (Fig1) below explains it conceptually. 

Fig1: Relationship between Light and CO2 levels for Aquatic Plant Growth.

Aquatic Plants have a limited amount of stored energy at their disposal for 
1. CO2 Assimilation.
2. Light Utilization.


At low light and low CO2 there is not much energy to play around with for up or down-regulation of the pools of Chlorophyll or enzymes contained in the plant. 


If we then add a little more CO2 to the system the plant can afford to invest less energy and resources in CO2 uptake and that leaves more energy for optimizing the light utilization - Chlorophyll can be produced without fatal consequences for the energy. Hence, although we have not raised the
light, the plant can now utilize the available light more efficiently. 


Exactly the same explanation can be used to explain why increased light can stimulate growth even at very low CO2 concentrations. With more light available, less investment in the light utilization system is necessary and the free energy can be invested into a more efficient CO2 uptake system so that the CO2, which is present in the water, can be more efficiently extracted.




Courtesy: John LeVasseur