Sampah Nonsense

Aquarium Update #20050814

- Trashed by SampahMan @ 11:44 PM

This weekend, I took my tank setup to newer levels, and this is all thanks to 3ric again. He let me have this DIY CO₂ bottle, and his yeast and sugar.
Ok, reason for needing some CO₂ in the tank is so that my plants can grow healthier, and also be able to carry out photosynthesis.
So this weekend, I could say I've taken my knowledge slightly further, for the long term betterment of my tank.

First off, here's what I've done this weekend:
1. Get the carbon dioxide tubed into the tank. I'm not entirely sure how effective it would be when the bubbles of gas go up to the surface immediately, but I am pretty sure my water has now trace amounts of CO₂. How come? pH levels, that's my guess.
2. I also bought a pH tester to measure the acidity in the tank, and the results didn't seem great at all. The tests indicated that my tank's pH level was more than 7.6, and I can't really tell how much more. The manual indicated that a high pH might be due to ammonia in the tank, which also means that its toxic to the fish, reduces immunity levels and exposes fish to sickness. Well, this might explain why my fish die unexplainable deaths, with the sudden loss of appetite being the main symptom. Manual stated that ammonia at pH 8.0 is 10x more toxic than at 7.0. Well, the CO₂ kicked in, and the next morning, the tanks pH was down to an optimum 7.0 - 7.1, which would be a good pH to be at since I have a community tank. Despite this, I still need to test the tank for levels of ammonia, and hope that I can at least finally get to the root of unexplained fish deaths.
3. Not all my fish died of bad care. A total of 4 commited suicide by jumping to their deaths. Therefore, I finally invested in a cheap cover for the tank, and at RM5.50, quite a bargain considering the fact that I won't lose any more fish that way.
4. Ok, I've handled the pH levels and gas levels of the aquarium water, which leaves me with other parameters like water hardness, ammonia, and temperature (I'm sure there are other things to test, and I'll probably find out about them sooner than later). With the cover, I figured I could also fit in a DIY fan blowing at the surface of the water. Benefits of this would be to increase agitation of the water surface, which would in turn aerate the water thus providing oxygen to the water (To be noted that I have already disconnected the air pump I used to have). Another benefit of the fan would be for the reduction of temperature of the water. I figure my tank already has a decent enough temperature (room temperature) for the tropical fish, but there are some plants that would need a lower temperature, probably around 27 Celcius. I don't have a thermometer to measure this yet, but will be measuring this parameter soon.
Oh, thanks KY for explaining the DIY fan setup:
1 AC/DC adaptor - RM11.90
1 Internal Casing PC Fan - RM0, had a couple lying around

Connect wires together, plug on the power, voila. Easiest thing to do.

Well, I think I took a big step this weekend towards a better tank. I find this a very satisfying hobby, it's a diversion from all the other stuff I do.

And Ee Soon, no, you cannot be my fish, I don't love you that much ;)

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