Hello!
We have had a 60 gallon and a 55 gallon freshwater setup in our home for a few years now and have had very few issues that were quickly handled. However, we recently purchased a 75 gallon tank and stand, and have had countless issues with it that I can't seem to understand or fix. We read many forums about using pool filter sand, and decided to try it out. We washed it THOROUGHLY before placing it into the aquarium, and haven't had any issues with sand floating around or bothering our filter. We are running a Fluval 405 canister filter and have the following media in it:
Biomax
Peat Granules (to lower pH)
Zeo-Carb (carbon and ammonia remover)
ClearMax (absorbs phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate)
Also have foam filters and polishing pads.
The problems we are running across are an extremely high ph (8.2) and some weird mold/algae growth. We have an API water testing kit we are using to get our measurements. Our tap water is high in pH automatically, so that is why I went with the peat granules and also add an API pH-down chemical. I'm not sure why we are still having such a high reading with all of those measures in place - any ideas?? The mold/algae growth happened very fast after setting up the tank. The tank is near a window, so I tried keeping the blinds closed and using an API algae-gone chemical to no prevail. Someone please help me get this tank to a suitable condition for fish! I have attached images of the tank to show the growth we are having. Much thanks in advance!!
We have had a 60 gallon and a 55 gallon freshwater setup in our home for a few years now and have had very few issues that were quickly handled. However, we recently purchased a 75 gallon tank and stand, and have had countless issues with it that I can't seem to understand or fix. We read many forums about using pool filter sand, and decided to try it out. We washed it THOROUGHLY before placing it into the aquarium, and haven't had any issues with sand floating around or bothering our filter. We are running a Fluval 405 canister filter and have the following media in it:
Biomax
Peat Granules (to lower pH)
Zeo-Carb (carbon and ammonia remover)
ClearMax (absorbs phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate)
Also have foam filters and polishing pads.
The problems we are running across are an extremely high ph (8.2) and some weird mold/algae growth. We have an API water testing kit we are using to get our measurements. Our tap water is high in pH automatically, so that is why I went with the peat granules and also add an API pH-down chemical. I'm not sure why we are still having such a high reading with all of those measures in place - any ideas?? The mold/algae growth happened very fast after setting up the tank. The tank is near a window, so I tried keeping the blinds closed and using an API algae-gone chemical to no prevail. Someone please help me get this tank to a suitable condition for fish! I have attached images of the tank to show the growth we are having. Much thanks in advance!!