Some of my white gravel and fake plants are turning yellow.. Why ?

[Joe]

Anyone have the answer for this one ?

[Mbuna]

I'd never recommend bleaching your gravel. I assume you either
drained the tank, or removed the gravel to bleach it. Both are
horrific on the beneficial bacteria needed to break down fish
wastes.

You need to determine why any algae is surviving. This typically
means one of a few things.

1: Too much light. Lights too intense, or on too long. Too much
natural sunlight.
2: Too heavy feedings. Excess fish food becomes plant food.
3: High nitrates/phosphates in water. Could be tap water problem.
4: Too infrequent water changes. Need partial water changes to keep
nitrates low.

Stop by FishGeeks to learn more. http://FishGeeks.com
__________________________________________________
Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info

[ManWorld42]

(Mbuna) wrote in message >...
> I'd never recommend bleaching your gravel. I assume you either
> drained the tank, or removed the gravel to bleach it. Both are
> horrific on the beneficial bacteria needed to break down fish
> wastes.

When people recommend bleaching the gravel, they are no longer
interested in preserving the beneficial bacteria. I also don't
recommend bleaching gravel, but for a different reason. Once the
gravel have been bleach, you are faced with the problem of removing
all traces of bleach. That can be a pain. I recommend that you sun
bleach the gravel, leave it in the sun for a couple of weeks.
>
> You need to determine why any algae is surviving. This typically
> means one of a few things.
>
> 1: Too much light. Lights too intense, or on too long. Too much
> natural sunlight.
> 2: Too heavy feedings. Excess fish food becomes plant food.
> 3: High nitrates/phosphates in water. Could be tap water problem.

Things are not that simple. I read a good discussion of this on a
website. They recommend a stable Nitrate to Phosphate ratio.
Removing all traces of nitrate and phosphate only works if you have no
plants.

> 4: Too infrequent water changes. Need partial water changes to keep
> nitrates low.

See above.

My nitrate is VERY low. It won't even register in my tests. Any
nitrate produced is immediately consumed by the plants and algae.
Water change is not the solution. If I implement the suggestion I
read on that website, I need to add some nitrate to my water. I am
not doing that yet.
>
> Stop by FishGeeks to learn more. http://FishGeeks.com
> __________________________________________________
> Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info