whetu Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I just had an unfortunate incident with a male betta. Brought him home with several other new fish (barbs & cardinals), put him in my newly set up Q-tank, acclimatised them all over a couple of hours, added filter media from my established tank, then let them all out of their bags into the Q-tank before going to bed. Thought I had done everything right. 24 hours later the betta was dead. I took his poor little lifeless body and a sample of water from the Q-tank back to the shop for testing. They found no ammonia or nitrites, but the pH was off their scale - at least 7.6 maybe higher! Poor little fishie... I feel so bad that I didn't test the pH before putting him in. :oops: When I got home I tested everything again (my test kit only measures 6.0 - 7.6). Results: Q-tank 7.6 (or higher) Tap water 7.6 (or higher) Main tank 6.0 (or lower) My main tank has driftwood which I know lowers pH... but why such a drastic difference? Anyway I was feeling really sorry for the cardinals so I did a 10% water change on the Q-tank, using water from my main tank. Suddenly the pH of the Q-tank dropped to about 6.2! What's going on here?! How can a 10% water change make that much difference to the pH?! And how can I stabilise everything so the pH doesn't do these crazy swings from a tiny water change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 are you using a gas heater in the same room?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Put the cardinals in the 6.0 tank, they strees and die really quickly in high PHs, ive got mine at just under 6 now and they are looking real nice. The Q tank water will probably rise again as theres onthing to keep it low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Put the cardinals in the 6.0 tank, they strees and die really quickly in high PHs, ive got mine at just under 6 now and they are looking real nice. That would defy the purpose of the Q tank. I wonder whether your 6.0 tank has some natural buffers in it that has caused your Q tank to drop pH so dramatically. Personally I would be more concerned about the pH changes as opposed to the initial pH being so high (although I would adjust it to suit next time you bring fish home) Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogod Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 What is a Q-tank??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 What is a Q-tank??? Quarantine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakyfish Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 A PH of 7.6 isnt high though if a fish came a PH of 6 its a big jump How old is your test kit a 10% change shouldnt affect it that much straight away though how long after the water change did you restest the PH If it was straight away its possibel te water hadnt completely mixed and u got a sample of main tank water Think of mixing chocolate milk for the idea Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Now I have (unintentionally) brought the quarantine tank pH down to 6.0 I will keep it there by adding water from the main tank - that way when I transfer the new fish to the main tank I will know they have been living in identical conditions. Dixon, interesting you should mention the cardinals. I didn't transfer them to the main tank (as Matthew said, that rather defeats the purpose) but as soon as the pH went down to 6.0 they perked up. Their colour has gone WAY brighter. I thought they were dull because of the stress of bringing them home from the shop but now I realise what a difference the pH makes to them. Tsarmina, we don't have a gas heater anywhere, but the Q tank is in the kitchen and we do use gas for cooking. Do you think that could make a difference to pH? The main tank is in the living room where the only source of heat is the fireplace. Matthew, the main tank has driftwood which I guess is bringing the pH down and buffering it. I'm surprised it's doing such a good job though, because it's old wood that has been in the tank for many years and there is no visible tannin staining in the water. I suppose I was confused between pH and hardness. Somehow I thought... low pH = soft water = few dissolved minerals so not much buffering high pH = hard water = lots of dissolved minerals so lots of buffering But since changing 10% of the water resulted in such a dramatic pH drop, my 6.0 water must be way better buffered than my 7.something water. :-? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 A PH of 7.6 isnt high though if a fish came a PH of 6 its a big jump How old is your test kit a 10% change shouldnt affect it that much straight away though how long after the water change did you restest the PH If it was straight away its possibel te water hadnt completely mixed and u got a sample of main tank water Think of mixing chocolate milk for the idea Brad Brad, my test kit is pretty old so that might be an issue, but it got the same high reading as the one at the shop so I'm assuming it's pretty accurate. I have measured the pH in the Q tank again since then and it has stayed at 6.0 (according to my old test kit). I will do a small water change each day, using water from the main tank, to make sure everything stays the same. Then even if my test kit isn't particularly accurate, at least I will know the parameters are identical to the big tank where the fish will soon be living (all going well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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