||| I don't buy into that, because, my 10g, only has 2 kribs, 3 kuhlis,
||| and a bristlenose in it, planted, and it's got well over several
||| thousand MTS and I maintain a healthy 7.2pH and kH of 3 using ONLY
||| black onyx sand... hmmm
|||
||| We've never discussed what substrate you have.... what ARE you
||| using?
||
|| it's plain old gravel, roughly 1/4" in size. I recently (like two
|| weeks ago) removed half of it, so it is now about 1" deep. Less for
|| the snails to live in.
|| I siphon the gravel well every time i do a w/c (which is currently
|| weekly)

regular gravel is inert... and disturbing the gravel can lead to some
nasties getting into the water, which you already see/smell...

|| I have heard that bog wood can lower the ph, but i dont know how, or
|| how vigerous it is. There is a 9" long bit in there for the
|| bristlenoses(apparently there is a theory that munching on it is
|| essential to their diet - they do munch on it too, they also spawn
|| regularly under it) -could this be the trouble? It has been in the
|| tank since day one - 3 years now, never a problem before......

I think the driftwood/bogwood soften the water, not sure they actually lower
pH...

|| I have also heard that mature sword plants which grow vigerously
|| (again - i have one) can de-calcify the water, causing a kh drop, but
|| i dont know how serious it is.....

First time I've ever heard that....

|| The latest thing to happen in this tale of woe is a mild outbreak of
|| ich, i have spotted it early and am treting with a formaldahide based
|| product. I think the ph droips are ****ing the fish off somewhat!

I can see where you'd be frustrated.... Can I offer a totally off the wall
beginning step to a possible end result type of solution??

1. Identify what pH you'd like to target... Lets use 7.0 for starters..Make
your ritual waterchanges as normal, possibly adding baking soda to buffer up
to 7.6 or so...(btw, 7.0 is ok for 90% of fish), since your doing weely w/c,
it won't run out in a week. That should stabilize your buffer, and help
maintain a rock solid pH... if it does drop, try option 2.

2. Add some crushed coral to a used pair of pantyhose and drop it in the
back of your filter(after rinsing thoroughly). Double bagging might make it
too hard to leech, so maybe one single wrapping will suffice...

What that will aid in, is to release or dissolve a bit at a time and help
keep your pH more stable than sodium bicarb...and, btw, snails use calcium
bicarb, that's what their shells are made of, so they can't really 'rob' you
of anything.... you could take a look at them to see if the tips of their
shells are turning white, that would mean there is a shortage in the first
place...

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