Hi, everybody. I joined AGA only a few weeks ago; I was wondering why everyone liked mosses so much until I received the new quarterly! Anyway, I'm confused about achieving equilibrium in my low-light plant tank, and I could really use your advice. Tank specs: Tank: 75 gallon Lighting: 4 28W T5 full-spectrum(2) and 6700K(2), 1 20W fluorescent, 1 15W fluorescent Filter: Fluval 304 Substrate: 2/3 Flourite, 1/3 Eco-Complete CO2: 2 Hagen Nutrafin DIY yeast reactors + 2 ladders Heating: 2 250W Stealth Set-up: 2 10lb. plus driftwood stumps Plants: 1 large Aponogeton boivinarius, 2 Aponogeton madagascarensis, 1 Aponogeton crispus, several odd smaller Aponogetons, 12+ Crypts, 1 large Kleiner Bar Sword, 1 Echinodorus major, 1 Echinodorus osiris, several large Anubias barteri tied to driftwood, mid-sized Anubias congensis, nana, azfeli, frazeri, Sagitarria subulata, many Sagittaria pusilla (Dwarf Sags), many Echinodorus tenellus and some java moss Fish: Five 4-5" Discus, five Roseline Barbs (denisoni), 3 spotted headstanders, 1 gold nugget plec (small), 1 rubbernose plec (small), 1 pair killifish (Nothobranchius kafuensis) and 4 emerald cories Tap water: 7.5 pH, 1 dH(17.8 ppm) carbonate hardness Tank temp: 81-82 degrees F Additives: Kent Freshwater Plant liquid fert. every water change, crushed coral in the filter bed to raised KH and GH Water Parameters: NH4=0, NO2=0, NO3=less than 12 ppm, pH 7.5 before turning off lights (haven't checked morning reading) I wish I had a picture. Things are fine other than I do a lot of water changes. But I want my plants to flourish, and the fish to enjoy water parameters similar to their natural habitat. The problem lies in that I can't get my pH down. I do so many water changes for the discus that the driftwood doesn't have a chance to release enough tannic acid fast enough, and I don't add enough C02 to lower the pH. Should I buffer? I want my pH under 7.0, for sure. Am I going about this correctly? I raised my discus in a species tank, bare-bottom, but they don't seem to mind the new additions. The killis look hilarious, but I don't have any where else to put them! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. _______________________________________________ AGA-Member mailing list AGA-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-member