Martina's Aquarium

Name: Martina La Trobe-Bateman.

Tank Details: Juwel Rio 180l 101*41*50cm.

The Fish: 2 bristle nosed catfish,10 Tiger Barbs of which 3 are plain, 5 green and 2 albinos , 8 Harlequin Rasboras, 20 Cardinal Tetras.

Comments: Substrate is coarse river gravel, which doesn't seem particularly helpful for the plants.

Filtration: Just using the internal biological and carbon system that comes with the tank + aeration when using medication.

Plants: Java Fern and different tough leaved grasses.

Problems: We live in an area with particularly hard and alkaline water that is also high in nitrates. The fish got very stressed out living in pH9+ !! So I'm using partly RO water and lots of PH stabilizing buffer salt, but with an ongoing algea problem (which destroys the effectiveness of the buffer) the tank still hasn't settled down and I've had 3 deaths in as many months and Barbs struggeling to fight their internal infections (dropsy). I'll get there in the end.