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Well done "Warren". Your new nickname :lol: Frenchy

:lol: You can make these from the long ice containers that dairies or ice cream stores use. Dairy, wow ...haven't used that word in years :lol: Frenchy

May as well wait. Unless you plan on doing another little water change. Raising the ph should only be done when doing a water change. Frenchy

The change in ph has more than likely burned their gills. Does your lfs test the water for free? Some here do, some don't. At least we will all know straight away. Frenchy

Will someone test it please :lol: Frenchy

heres a pic of one that I prepared earlier, like 4-5 years ago :lol: Still works, just... :roll: Frenchy

I have a type of lava rock in my tanks. A guy collects it in the tablelands in the tropics{inland Cairns} He drills holes in it etc. It is not light like pumice, so is used by most as part of there display in tanks. He basically supplies the whole of QLD with this. He has had people do set ups with marine fish where this lava rock is the sole bacterial filtration. I have used these in my tanks as display. Once while doing a change around I took a few big pieces out of one of the tanks, guess what, ammonia spike. I use these now to help cycle new tanks. No change to tank ph etc. Point being sorry, pumice is way more porous, if you can get a hold of some of that cheaply that will go good in filters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumice Ceramic noodles are good, the rough ones are better than the smooth ones. I use these with a mixture of matrix. I know of people who use onion bags in their sumps, scourer pads & the like. They all work well. If you are using a sump, dacron is better than filter wool. Holds shape better, easier to replace & holds more waste too, therefore changing less. Tip for canister filters is to use coarse foam instead of the fine stuff{dacron, filter wool} that way they act as bacteria growers as well & still catches most particles. Lasts longer too & you don't have to clean as much being the main advantage. Frenchy

What unnatural chemicals have been mentioned? You are right the most important reason is why the ph is crashing? That was the point of my question at the start, what are the gh, kh readings out of the tap? kh of 70 ppm and less will initiate the pH crash. & Alans idea is good, if you can do it. But the water is dropping quickly too, you are still shocking the fish once a week, especially at 50%. Remember tank has dropped from 7.2 to 6.2 in one week. Maybe needed every 3 days. Could always try taking the wood out for a couple of weeks and see what happens. You have to look at what is different between the 2 tanks, as other tank in the house is fine. Is it just the wood? Is the spray bar set upon the cannister so the top of the water is disturbed? If it just the wood & it is not wanted to be removed, then you only need a short term fix. Frenchy

The gh is the hardness of the water. Which is more important with the Rift lake cichlids. I don't check my ph etc. But someone that is new, or has varying factors with their tank should check their ph etc no matter what they do, especially in this case. Frenchy

Thats all that it is :lol: The sechem product is very good, has different mix of chems. Frenchy

The problem with grit & calcium carb.... is when will you know it is not buffering anymore?{ I do know the answer too lol} How often do you replace? Buffer with powders will have slight variances. Each way has a slight hassle, Get your water tested first see what all the levels are. Remember epsoms raises the gh, bicarb kh. 1 tablespoon epsom, 1 teaspoon bicarb 1 teaspoon marine salt per 20litres of water Will raise RO water from 6.6ph, 1gh, 1kh to 7.6ph, 32gh, 8kh. Frenchy

I think they will all get along. The tank will be to small to use long term. Frenchy

Whats wrong with my good old cheap & nasty bicarb & epsom :lol: The product Brad mentioned is a made by Seachem{high quality} & does do chlorine & chloramine. Where I used to work we sold a similar product to those in the redland shire. Frenchy

Just a question; what do you feed your fish? Well this site comes up with sporozoa or tb http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/physical_changes.html My med book says FishMB or bad nutrition. S shape horizontally = scolisis S shape vertically = lordosis Cause; FishMB, injury, malnutrition, genetic defect....... Therefore if your diet is fine, then your fish more than likely have FishMB. If that is the case, I would re-start the tank from start.{Sterilization} Kull the fish remaining. Freezing does not kill the bacteria either. Few drugs work & they aren't cheap. FishMB is gram positive bacteria, most drugs treat gram negative bacteria. Doxycycline & similar.{Usually work best in initial stagesonly} Kanamycine is reported to work too. I would say no point, your fish will be to far gone. FishMB is very contagious, as in fish to humans. Don't touch water if you have open wounds. Fish contract the disease..... Most common way is oral; Eating contaminated food {especially mosquito larvae}, by eating other fish or faeces infected with fishMB. Also by external parasites or open wounds. Frenchy

What is your water reading out if the tap. ph, gh & kh. Redland Bay water in brissie does what yours is doing & that is because they have soft water. Maybe just a simple case of adding a little bicarb soda or epsom salts when you do water changes. Frenchy

:roll: :lol: Daniel, Daniel, Daniel... :lol: Thats it guys. you can only call them what you have bought them as. Once again, you have bought the old school name, thats all that they are. Frenchy

One or two :lol: but I will say it is more than likely that they are just ex pat Kiwis, or stole the ideas from a Kiwi. :lol: Frenchy

Congrats & well done. Must be good water there Mekhaela. Frenchy

I have a floating container made from an icecream container, mesh & poly... Heres a link, hope it helps http://www.sydneycichlid.com/content/?page_id=16 Frenchy

Well said Mike. 8) Frenchy

Very highly Frenchy

Good point Brad, about if labidochromis being legal imports in NZ. If an importer has good sources in Europe or USA, its possible. I say they be a pretty dollar too. Frenchy

Some pretty cool pics there. 8) Frenchy

Just a thought. I am more thinking that with all the plants in there, the bacteria have nothing to feed off. Frenchy

The slate wouldn't of caused the ph spike. The cloudy eyes are more than likely caused by the sharp increase of ph. A big change in ph is classed as bad water. You can do a water change while still treating with melafix. No wories there what so ever. Do one before you do a treatment. Frenchy