ph and new fish

[Dog-eating Tetra]

hi. i went into animates papanui today to get a replacement male dwarf gourami(other one died of inability to control direction of swimming)to go with my female. i had the water tested and results were almost down to 6.the staff there told me i had to get this up and told me to buy ph up and cycle+aqua plus and that i should put cycle+aqua plus in everytime i changed the water. i haven't been using either cycle or aqua plus when i do my water changes and i think i'm a fair way from my fish limit. all other tests were fine but ph wa sa bit low. what action should i take to get this up as the shop have ph at 7 and i don't want new fish to die from the shock of the cange.

thanks

richard

[HaNs]

What PH is your tap water?

Tank size? Stocking? Filter?

You shouldn't need to add ph up or any chems

[Dog-eating Tetra]

tank size is aqua one ar-520(bout 75 liters) i have now 2 bristlenoses, 1 female dwarf gourami,1 guppy(other 5 died),3 glowlight tetras(a few died),4 neons-i want to get some more tetras when i get new dwarf gourami. my filter is just the one that came in the hood of the tank.

[dwalk]

If you introduce your new fish by first floating them in a bowl in the tank for 10 min, in the shops water, then adding some of your tank water tothe bowl, leaving for 10 min and repeating this again you should avoid giving the fish a PH shock.

Water conditioner (aqua plus etc) should only be used if your local water has chlorine added to it.

[mumzy50]

I keep my gouramis between 6.8 and 7.0 in this they are happy and breed well.They like a low ph but not that low.Im not sure what you could use to bring it up,some one on here will know.drift wood can lower your ph.I hope you did not get those fish till you have sorted it out.mumzy50

[spoon]

chch water is slighty alkaline so do heaps of water changes and posiibly dont feed the fish as much if it gets real acid real fast

[Dog-eating Tetra]

i also forgot to mention that the 6 ph reading was before my usual water change which i have done now. i will add in the ph down and test get water tested on monday.

[FreedingFrenzy]

ph down? you should be using ph up. the store was right though, for a community tank you need a ph of 7 or else there will be a resulting fish loss.. which as it sounds you have experienced

[HaNs]

But adding chems like ph up and down doesnt fix the cause does it?

How often do you water change?

[evilknieval69]

ph down? you should be using ph up. the store was right though, for a community tank you need a ph of 7 or else there will be a resulting fish loss.. which as it sounds you have experienced

NO! you dont NEED a ph of anything for any fish. fish are quite tolerant, and its better to have a low but STABLE pH, then put useless chemicals into the water and have it swinging back and forth. Dwarf gouramis are prone to disease, and always die anyway.

A pH of 6, is not a HUGE difference from 7. yes it is a bit, but should not harm your fish too much, unless of course you have africans or other such fish that need a higher pH

[Dog-eating Tetra]

But adding chems like ph up and down doesnt fix the cause does it?

How often do you water change?

i change about every 2 weeks but was away on holiday so hadn't been done for almost 3 weeks before the one i did today.

and i ment ph up sorry. i have had like 2-3 dead fish and a huge groth spurt from the plants recently(since last water change. the person at animate spretty much said he didn't ant to sell me the fish cause they'll die form shock of 1ph. i will monitor the ph levels more closely this week and next.

[Afrikan]

I agree with evil, our discus tank was around 6.2ph and they had various tetras and tank mates that thrived in the tank... there is no set rule that any such peaceful community tank needs to have a PH of 7, it's definately not set in concrete. It all comes down to individual fish requirements. However a sudden PH change can shock a fish and cause death, some fish are more sensitive than others.

[Dog-eating Tetra]

i was saying that the shp assistant didn't really want to sell me the fish cause he said the difference betwen my tnak and their tanks would kill the fist(2 neon tetras and 1 mature male dwarf gourami).

[Matthew]

It is refreshing to know that some people working in stores such as animates care enough to want to ensure the fish survive

However the reality is that there would not be too many tanks that are maintained at a pH of 7.0, as the fish wastes increase the pH level tends to lower ie tank water becomes more acidic. Water changes help to keep the pH from dropping too low.

Some fish breeders have been known to keep their pH around the 3-5 range to prevent disease outbreaks. These fish are then sold to the consumer who probably would not know that the pH was that low.

Slow transitioning from the bag to the tank is the best way to acclimatise fish. Float the bag, add a cup of tank water every 10 mins and then after 60mins you would have completed a 1.5L water change (roughly 100%)remove the fish from the bag and add to the tank - you shouldn't have any problems.

Alternatively you could do what I do - get home, float the bag while I sort other things out, and then pour the fish into the tank (prob takes 5 mins total). Not the best way, but most fish are hardy enough to tolerate the change.

Also be wary about adding chemicals such as pH 7.0 they act as a buffer in the water, but if your pH does decide to crash it will do it in a big way. Most people rely on water changes to keep the pH at an appropriate level