jc360 Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 i have a large tank. The town supply of water in Tauranga is around 7.0 however my tank has ph has been dropping below 6.0!!! i know that some fish like Discus appreciate this level but i introduced a school of Danios and lost the majority of them. The remaining seem stuffed, they have inconsistent white marks, as well as some pinkness in areas. Don't care much for the danios but i have noticed the same white marks on the head of my Severum. Two questions... Is the cause of my dilemma the low Ph? How can i maintain a nice and neutral Ph? please note drift wood is a feature of the aquarium I have just added a pot full of crushed shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 6ph is 100 x more acidic than 7 which is the preferred ph for danios so my opinion is yes this is your problem. The pinkness will be acid burn. You need to find cause of ph drop. How long has the tank been set up and how often do you do water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 What ornaments are in your tank? do you use peat or have driftwood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 tank has been up and running nearly 1 year with low mortality rates, i have reduced reduced water changes during winter to 10% once every 3/4 weeks. And yes two large pieces of drift wood are in the tank apart from that i have recently added some rocks that i have got from the beach, as well as a smallish chunk of lime? found on the shore of Lake Te Anau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 You really should be doing far more than that, aleast 30% or more a week. is that 3 quarters or 3 or 4 weeks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 What are the measurements of your tank, how many cm's of fish did you have in it and what filtration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Like everyone says, do bigger water changes. Just having fish lowers the PH of the water. Especially big fish like severums...Sounds to me like you have a relatively small tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 big fish, i have a big fish, cheers guys, tank is 6 foot, which primarily houses a huge fire eel (65+cm) two large severum, school of lacy gouramis (8), i have done a 20% change tonight and have observed a noticeable improvement in fish behaviour. Tana the fire eel eats around a handful of defrosted shrimp a night (a lot of waste) but hasn't eaten consistently for a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 I would say the danios that died were probably eaten by the fire eel... And the PH of 6 would not be affecting the severum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 how are you heating the room the tank is in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Dixon, would you believe Tana is so tame that tetras die of old age in that tank, he wont even eat anything that isn't fed to him by hand, if i drop a shrimp once it floats past his head he wont go near it. Heating is a Gas burner. Thinking that ph could be lower than 6 but that is the limit of my tester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 the gas may be part of the problem. i had a gas heater in my lounge for a while and all 8 of my tanks Ph dropped to below 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 thats really interesting about the gas heater. a part of the gaseous exchange process going on the water surface, so what's the gas heater putting into the air? if in fact this can have an impact on the ph level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 I read somewhere that shells raise the ph level. one of my tanks is at 6.5 I'm going to add a couple of shells to raise it as I have guppys and platys in it and they like over 7.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Newfisher what is the PH out of your tap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 thats really interesting about the gas heater. a part of the gaseous exchange process going on the water surface, so what's the gas heater putting into the air? if in fact this can have an impact on the ph level? Carbon dioxide among other things, that being the one that matters in this case. It lowers PH. Whether it's significant I'm skeptical. I think it's probably just a contributing factor in this case exaggerated by your insufficient water changes. Get a handful of bird grit and throw that in your cannister filter. Throw another one in if you need more in a week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 tank has been up and running nearly 1 year with low mortality rates, i have reduced reduced water changes during winter to 10% once every 3/4 weeks. This answers the question, go back to what you were doing. High bioload with not much water being changed = low ph. i introduced a school of Danios and lost the majority of them. I would think this would be because of a ph shock, not introducing them quite right. Dainos will take that ph but need to adapt to it slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Newfisher what is the PH out of your tap? I'm not too sure never tested straight from the tap will test tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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