Any ideas? Low pH, on tank water from metal roof....

[Ang&Vicky]

When we moved in to our new place about 2 months ago, tested the pH (7.2) etc of the water here and it was fine. At the time we knew that the roof was fairly new, but silly me, didn't really think anything of it as the water from the house supply tank seemed fine.

Been doing water changes and gravel cleaning at the same time, regularly clean the filter (fluval internal with double sponges so only one sponge at a time so I don't murder all the good bacteria).

In the past week we've had 3 neon tetras go belly up within minutes of each other which we put down to the tank being too hot. Now we're losing bumble bee gobies, and the kuhli loach has been zapping around the surface of the tank acting like he wants to climb out!!!

In this tank we have 2 cory, 1 adult and 3 young bristlenose, 1 kuhli loach, 3-4 bumble bee gobies, 3 neon tetras, 1 black whiptail, and 2 port hoplo.

Did a pH test on the fish tank and the water from the house supply tank and it's around 6.3.

Apart from finding somewhere to buy water from tomorrow, what can we do to raise and keep the pH up? I have used liquid and powder agents in the past with no success on my part, but then I sometimes think you need a PHD in chemistry or at least lots of brains to figure out how to use that stuff :lol:

The catfish tank (2 choccy talking catfish, 1 brown tiger whiptail, a herd of kuhli loaches, 1 bristlenose, and 1 golden barb), and the big tank (1 bristlenose, 1 golden bristlenose, 1 chinese algae eater, 1 still growing pleco, 1 breeding pair of angel fish, 1 pearl gourami, and a herd of platys) is doing fine even though the pH is pretty low due to all the driftwood in the tank.

Any help or ideas would be awesome

Thanks in advance.... Vicky

Forgot to add, the crypt plant is doing amazing well, the water sprite is sulking, and the val is slowly picking up again. We have a mild problem with hair algae which we pick out when we see it, but otherwise everything looks a-ok

[myfishybuisness]

you can use crushed oster shell in you tank orr marble chip to raise the p.h

[Ang&Vicky]

Cheers for that, how much do you add per litre of water please?

[myfishybuisness]

um not sure i just add enough that it doesnt raise the p.h to much , mointer it when u put it in

[Ang&Vicky]

Ok... will be way easier to crushed oyster shell then marble chip... at least that gives me another reason to head to Auckland tomorrow

[myfishybuisness]

hahaha , yeah you can hang it in a stocking in the back of the tank or put it in the filter

[Ang&Vicky]

:-? I refuse to buy a stocking for the fish tank :lol: so into the filter it will go.

~wanders off wondering if anywhere sells single stockings.... in Auckland, ya just never know~

[myfishybuisness]

lol ok yeah you could just buy a pair they come in handy for putting charcoal or media in

[Ang&Vicky]

I've never used charcoal in any of my tanks, and the only filter we have with media is the turtle's external canister filter. Call me lazy but I prefer boring old filters with sponges inside.

Ah well, time to go feed the fish.

Cheers

[DennisP]

Really don't think the pH is killing the fish.

Most fish would handle a ph of 6 without any problems. Test your water for all parameters before you go changing your pH.

It will just stress your fish more, and possibly kill off any weak ones.

[Snowman]

Hi, it doesn't sound like a ph problem to me, 6.3 shouldn't be killing fish, how long has the tank been setup and how often do you do the gravel vac/ water changes and what percentage of water do you change?

How big is the tank vs what size filter?

You say you regularly clean the filter but how often? ie weekly, monthly etc

Ive found my kuhli loaches race around the tank after water changes which i have put down to chlorine/low oxygen etc in the water from the hose, the bigger the change the longer they freak out for. They also dont seem to like the water being stirred up to much from gravel vacs so i only vac every 4th water change.

They seem to be the most sensitive of the loaches as the other loach tanks get no reaction from water changes.

Have you checked Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate levels?

[Ira]

I think 6.3 is about perfect for neons. But, yeah a handful of bird grit, oyster shells, coral, etc in the filter should keep the PH up. That's what I do. Though, I haven't tested the PH in about...Hmmm...5 years?

[waterlogged]

my personal experence with neons is they will just decide to go when they feel like it. they get so inbred these days. and my kulhi loach always does dashed after the light turns off. my Panda cories used to do a similar thing when i had them in a 90L but know in the 160L they don't.

Bumble bee gobies need a littlle salt from time to time don't they? try using some rock salt, we used to use it to fix all sorts of things in our tanks

[Caryl]

Is the water coming off the new roof? Is it possible there is a coating or something on that being the problem? Was it coated with a mould inhibitor or something?

I agree with the others, a pH of 6.3 shouldn't kill those fish.