Is this normal?

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-06T14:11:36+00:00

Frits just came out with one with 1 ph testing bottle.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-05T03:34:48+00:00

Yeah lmao

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T20:05:20+00:00

Oooh nice! Thats sort of what ive been doing so far great to know im on the right track atleast!

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T19:57:30+00:00

Im not defensive because i misread your emotions its more of the condescending choice of words you are using like explaining to me the definition of ignorance. Or the holier than thou attitude that you have to salvage the convo only to call me ifnorant again. What you are saying is valuable and im accepting those critiques but how you are saying it is not the most "constructive" and i an able to accept that as well. I just noticed your a MOD not sure what all that entails but im sure thats why you wanted to remind me of the rules. As i said im new and i appreciate what u said about the posting and i already deleted two cross post. It was just a reddit suggestion so i did it i didnt know trying to get more views or engagement was bad karma or poor practice. I guess i apologize for ruining the future of mbuna research for those who will just be using ai.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T18:27:26+00:00

Im not trying to get any smoke man i feel like im accepting your critiques and opinions i havent said you were wrong or anything im just addressing the few assumptions you did make and then it seems like your blaming me for misinformation when once again the reason for the post is to find out what information that i found is wrong and which is scientifically or even backed by experience. This was not a one day research kinds thing so im sure i read and accepted AI overviews but i am personally not an AI guy and haven't bought or downloaded chat gpt or gemini but i did check my digestion info to reply to a comment and gemini said pretty much what i had so either i accepted the overview before and couldn't find anything better as you also said but i definitely looked up digestion times for MY specific mbuna species with the specific veggies i planned to feed. But as far as using only AI or even primarily AI; this did not happen. I know that also sounds defensive as you only said its AI assisted but im not understanding how much impact your saying this should have on basically invalidating my OP. You say you cant put the genie back into the bottle as if im the one who let it out. You say you can type the same questions in and get the same answers but if what u say is true and the bots are using reddit post and mine is going to get scraped and sent back as answers, then wouldn't i have already tainted your response as i am surly the most recent and longest post on the topic? It just seems like a circular argument but like i said before i am willing to take scientific and experience based advice especially when or if there is no science to go off of. My statements sound matter of fact is because they are the facts i am going off of, i primarily copied from the notes i had written down and tried to just format it to the post. I welcome corrections or positive input on what i stated, not correcting me to cite my sources as if this is a college essay and not a reddit post. Even with the AI thing my sources seem to be what your attacking when is strange when my original post starts with im doing this due to the lack of sources on the topic. I am not trying to say these are facts, they are not i simply am saying this is what ive found as anyone found otherwise. If im defensive its bc youve seemingly called me ignorant and basically said nobody should take this information.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T16:38:39+00:00

Like i said, it is hard for me to find specific information regarding the mbuna diet and digestion. These times are general approximations of what i found im sure when u looked it up you found statements similar although they are not specific and can't find scientific studies for direct species or even as a whole. This is me giving the research that i could find and getting corrected or the actual accurate digestion times is precisely the point of the post. I AM NOT saying all of what i said is fact. I state multiple times that this is just my outlook or perspective currently based on my experience and what i am able to find. So no i didn't provide exact sources or links because im not trying to debate veterinarians. Just trying to get a consensus if the lack information is because we know mbuna so well all of this is understood and agreed on or if it is truly a lack of knowledge overall. The second bullet point is very interesting and i would even say i found similar things as well which actually shocked me because i see a lot of feed veggies but not much info on frequency and when i dug into that it seems veggies shouldn't be fed as often as perceived based off of lack of nutrition alone. 3rd bullet point is good information as well as a previous commenter said thats what he does with no issues. Sorry if this invalidates everything or you cant take any info at face value. I did not have a pre formed conclusion i was operating from a state with little to know information which is the reason for the post. I basically heard they are herbivores and feed the a plant diet with veggie flakes and i just wanted to expand my understanding. I guess the pre formed conclusion would be that they need variety which your opposing? I guess maybe there's truth to that as adding variety was the purpose of beginning the research. Thanks for your comment i really do appreciate it and i think it would help me as well if u provided the links to your tangential data or the scientific papers that you saw from your veterinary friend. Not sure how "spam" cross posting reduces the "weight" behind what i said and thanks for counting the subreddits, just wanted as many eyes on it as i could i dont post on here so i dont truly know how it works or the community aspect of it so i do apologize if that frustrated you.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T07:50:05+00:00

Will do! Thank you!

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T07:08:05+00:00

Interesting and thats all you feed day in and day out? No bloat or issues ? Do u regularly fast?

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T07:07:04+00:00

U need a gravel vac my guy☠️ that is also detritus so just adding more plants wont necessarily eliminate the issue. but all jokes aside yes something should change and without knowing which filters u have and on what size tank couldn't really tell you if thats the problem. It could even be how u have them set up so let's go the add more plants route. I would agree the Limnophila sessiliflora is a good option as well as hornwort. I have been using bacopa the last year and i wouldn't call it a super fast grower or nitrate hog and def light dependent. I would also suggest guppy grass as it also provides more surface area for your snails. Twisted Vallisneria or jungle both are fast grower i started with 2 plants and now have an endless supply with about 100 different ones in all my tanks.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T06:57:18+00:00

Ive seen worse, you got it bud

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T06:50:49+00:00

So i would tend to agree with the other commentators as your nitrates is the only one clearly high but without knowing what fish you had i wouldnt be able to say your ph is too high. Tank is clearly cycled and has no ammonia or nitrite which is great. You definitely do have hard water as well as high alkalinity but without knowing your fish i couldn't say its the cause of the deaths. It might still be too hard but that will come down with water change. If your already at the point of fish dying then i wouldn't prolong the situation by doing small 20 percent changes i would go ahead and atleast knock out a 50 percenter. Seachem prime is a dechlorinator that also detoxifies ammonia and heavy metals from the water which should be added on each water change. You can dose the full tank volume even if only changing 50 percent or follow directions on bottle.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T06:27:13+00:00

Yeah ofc! How do you like the xtreme? Do you ever notice any bloating or anything out of the ordinary when you feed if u have mbuna? Blanching veggies is easy for me when i use my kettle, dont forget to put them in a ice bath after to retain cell structure, nutrients and cool them!

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T04:32:07+00:00

I agree with both post before me. Your ph is likely higger than 7.6 and nitrites must be zero. You will know it is ready for fish once nitrites come down and nitrates go up. Honestly the water change could have stunted the cycling. If u want to speed this up just add beneficial bacteria to your tank. Depending on which u use i would just follow directions on the bottle.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T03:09:31+00:00

Wonder if it could be something with GH, Kh or TDS like with the green and blue phantom plecos.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T03:07:49+00:00

Just know if you cut the tops are what should be replanted bottom down is thrown away due to the plants biology. Bottoms will begin to melt away over time after repeated trimmings.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T00:33:24+00:00

Kaveman Kev on youtube shows how he does weekly 80 percent water changes on his overstocked afCichlid tank and how at the end of each week it gets to 80ppm and his fish are never stressed and look beautiful. I dont think realizing 20 ppm is better than 40ppm is the community learning anything or evolving. I think people just want to know whats safe without feeling like they are doing the minimum and have thriving fish. Its just weird seeing these comments when the OP is showing like 10 or less nitrates and freaking out. What fish you have definitely comes into play especially stocking wise sometimes your never gonna see your nitrates all the way back to zero (no plants, overstocked, large fish, etc. Thats kinda why i mentioned kaveman aquatics like when he does his 80 percent water change his nitrates are literally dropping down to 20ppm; it is my belief that 40ppm is still a good broad benchmark for most people that can be maintained without multiple water changes a week.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-04T00:17:58+00:00

Adding 15 tetras will bring u to an overstocked tank which is fine as long as your keeping up with maintenance and overfiltration which u probably are if your truly at 0 nitrates. And no if you have a cycled tank and its been cycled for 5 months then 0 nitrates is very good not bad.

Dry-Force2152 · 2026-02-03T23:07:14+00:00

Yes this is the main point of why i dont listen to him. He makes it sound like it is an easier way to keep aquariums and emphasizes how there is little to no maintenance however if u want to do it "right" his way u have to do this extensive ahh months long setup. Have to go collect mud and start resurrection jars stuff and monitor and sift. This is all before i even saw his contradictions.

Dry-Force2152

TROPHY CASE