High GH, KH and pH, but KH and pH drops

[Shark86x]

Hello, new old guy here. I haven't had a fish tank since I was 8 years old, and after 60 years I'm sure I've forgotten anything I might have known at that age! So I've been reading this forum and elsewhere to make sure I'm doing things right.

We have a one and a half month new 10 gallon tank. Wifey brought it home unexpected and has it stocked with 2 green corys, a platy, a harlequin rasbora, a dwarf neon blue gourami, a fancy guppy, a variatus, 2 mystery snails and 2 amano shrimp. I understand it's close to or is overstocked, but you know the saying about a happy wife... Plants include 2 types of java ferns, an annubis and something called Glossostigma Elatinoides that looks like a chia pet.

Our tap water is very hard - both GH and KH. pH is on the high side but not horrible. Picture attached of tap water test strip. The filter seems to finally be cycled, nitrites are low and finally dropping, nitrates are reasonable.

I've been doing regular water changes, about 40-50% every other day or every few days, at first to keep ammonia down, then for nitrites when we cycled that far.

What is happening now is the KH suddenly drops and then the pH follows. The GH stays high. It may actually be a gradual change, but it suddenly becomes noticeable and then drops quicker. test strip results attached.

Per a few posts here I tried adding a half teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate once to boost the KH, but the water turned brown and I did an immediate water change.

My questions are: is the N cycle using up the KH? or is something else responsible? Is there any way to stabilize the KH? I don't want to add coral or anything like that since my GH is so high. Or do I just have to resign myself to doing water changes often?

I appreciate any thoughts/advice.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yes, the cycling process will use up carbon so that is most likely your issue. Until your tank stabilizes and finishes cycling, you are going to be doing a lot of water changes with your stock list. The fact of the matter is that you have a combination of fish that are not the best kept together or in the quantities you have. Harliquin rasboras will do better in schools than as individuals. Your livebearers ( Guppy, platy, variatus) should be males only or else you will find your tank overloaded with fry. In a small 10 gallon tank, that can be a problem. With females, since they can hold sperm for a later pregnancy, they just had to have been in a tank with a male to start the process. With males only, no reproductive issues. Unlike in the old days ( I'm a fish keeper for over 50 years. ) the new color forms of the old dwarf gourami are not the healthiest. Sadly, when the farms were creating all these new dwarf gourami colors, they also created a virus ( The iridovirus) which to date is not curable. It's believed that more than 30-40% of all dwarf gourami colors have this virus in them. While not all fish succumb to the virus, it can be contagious if healthy fish eat dead fish that have the virus. ( This is just an FYI so if you see anything developing on the gourami, remove it from the tank so your other fish don't get it. )

Lastly, unlike the old days of litmus paper ( I told you I've been keeping fish a long time. LOL ) test strips can often give out false readings and need to be stored properly. Liquid tests are still the better option so when you run out of the test strips, I suggest you switch to a liquid test kit. There is a master kit from API and now also Fritz Aquatics that are the " go to" ones for the average hobbyist. There are other brands that cost more and are more specialized but they are not for everyone. The other 2 are. Until then, you might want to occasionally have your local fish store check your readings to confirm them.

Welcome to the site and I hope this helps.

 

[Shark86x]

Yes, the cycling process will use up carbon so that is most likely your issue. Until your tank stabilizes and finishes cycling, you are going to be doing a lot of water changes with your stock list. The fact of the matter is that you have a combination of fish that are not the best kept together or in the quantities you have. Harliquin rasboras will do better in schools than as individuals. Your livebearers ( Guppy, platy, variatus) should be males only or else you will find your tank overloaded with fry. In a small 10 gallon tank, that can be a problem. With females, since they can hold sperm for a later pregnancy, they just had to have been in a tank with a male to start the process. With males only, no reproductive issues. Unlike in the old days ( I'm a fish keeper for over 50 years. ) the new color forms of the old dwarf gourami are not the healthiest. Sadly, when the farms were creating all these new dwarf gourami colors, they also created a virus ( The iridovirus) which to date is not curable. It's believed that more than 30-40% of all dwarf gourami colors have this virus in them. While not all fish succumb to the virus, it can be contagious if healthy fish eat dead fish that have the virus. ( This is just an FYI so if you see anything developing on the gourami, remove it from the tank so your other fish don't get it. )

Lastly, unlike the old days of litmus paper ( I told you I've been keeping fish a long time. LOL ) test strips can often give out false readings and need to be stored properly. Liquid tests are still the better option so when you run out of the test strips, I suggest you switch to a liquid test kit. There is a master kit from API and now also Fritz Aquatics that are the " go to" ones for the average hobbyist. There are other brands that cost more and are more specialized but they are not for everyone. The other 2 are. Until then, you might want to occasionally have your local fish store check your readings to confirm them.

Welcome to the site and I hope this helps.

Yes, that helps greatly, thank you! I do have the API liquid tests, it's just easier to take a picture of a test strip, and they've been pretty accurate so far. I do have some difficulty discerning the various colors, on both the strips and the liquids. I'm not color blind at all, but color matching isn't always that easy! thanks again!

 

[Andy Sager]