PH emmergency Please help

[mcrudd]

My hubby has been looking after my tank since I am recovering from an operation. My Ph is 6.0 and I have lost my one bristlenose female she was white as snow when i removed her, that was a first they usually look normal so I did my tests, all other tests are normal. Will adding more driftwood let the ph go up or down I can't remember right now Please someon tell me asap :tears:

[Joshlikesfish]

It will. But its not a sudden decrease in pH, its slow as the tannins leak out

[mcrudd]

It will. But its not a sudden decrease in pH, its slow as the tannins leak out

so it lowers it :facepalm: I need to get it up, I am doing a 50% waterchange now and hopefully that will help. Well Hubby is doing it with my instructions :tears:

[ryanjury]

A PH of 6 shouldn't harm a bristlenose? Especially if it was lowered gradually by adding driftwood. Doing massive water changes and trying to manipulate the PH will probably cause more harm than good..

[mcrudd]

A PH of 6 shouldn't harm a bristlenose? Especially if it was lowered gradually by adding driftwood. Doing massive water changes and trying to manipulate the PH will probably cause more harm than good..

There is only a small piece of driftwood, but I used to do waterchanges with the filtered tap although it took longer and hubby used the normal tap and there is a deffinete ph difference with the two so I think he gradually lowered it. She was snow white and just died today cause I saw her last night. do you suggest a 30% change and then a littlel ph up. I am so stuck right now feel useless as it is :facepalm:

[alanmin4304]

Agree with above. I have bistlenoses living happily in a planted tank, with injected CO2, which varies between about pH 6 and 7.2 each day.

[mcrudd]

Agree with above. I have bistlenoses living happily in a planted tank which varies between about pH 6 and 7.2 each day.

Should I then just do a normal waterchange and hope for the best that none of my other fish will die

[BikBok]

sorry to hear about your bristlenose

I have one tank that consistently has lower pH than my other tanks. Have no idea why, i use the same water etc.

It was reading a round 6.2- 6.4 . I try to avoid those pH adjuster chemicals but I tried adding some cuttlefish to the water and increasing the filter flow. (I did have it set to low for my my betta, and now it's medium low)

My pH sits around 6.6-6.8 now. I would rather it pH7.0 but at least it's stable.

[mcrudd]

sorry to hear about your bristlenose

I have one tank that consistently has lower pH than my other tanks. Have no idea why, i use the same water etc.

It was reading a round 6.2- 6.4 . I try to avoid those pH adjuster chemicals but I tried adding some cuttlefish to the water and increasing the filter flow. (I did have it set to low for my my betta, and now it's medium low)

My pH sits around 6.6-6.8 now. I would rather it pH7.0 but at least it's stable.

My ph is usually very stable, I have a tank full of babies, hope they will be ok

[ichthus]

It's not certain that a PH of 6 killed the pleco. It could have been a number of other things. If the rest of the fish look happy enough, it may just have been "one of those things".

Perhaps just a 20% water change?

[mcrudd]

It's not certain that a PH of 6 killed the pleco. It could have been a number of other things. If the rest of the fish look happy enough, it may just have been "one of those things".

Perhaps just a 20% water change?

Did a 25% change, fish all seem happy even my big bristlenose came out to see what all the fuss was about I will test the ph daily. I have added a few drops of ph up just to try and get it up slowly, will add some more over the next few days. I was very suprised by her being snow white, wonder what caused that. Thanks so much for evereyones quick replies in my time of need, it was and is very much appreciated

[ally07]

Sorry for your loss..

I'm not sure if you should really be adding pH up to be honest.. pH 6 is perfectly fine (actually preferred) for bristlenoses, so it's highly unlikely that the low pH killed it. Adding chemicals which alter pH is rarely good for the fish. The less chemicals you add to the water, the better IMO.

Don't get too worried over one fish dying if the others look fine and your water tests check out alright. If you get over-zealous with the water changes thinking that bad water killed the fish, you might cause a bacteria crash in your tank and THEN you've got problems! If you must do a big water change, do 10-20% everyday over a few days instead of 60-70% change on one day. You never know, the bristlenose might have had an internal parasite or been stressed/ attacked by the other fish or any number of reasons so don't CSI it haha..

PS The fish is snow white because it's dead, no reason for it. I've had dead bristlenoses before as well, all turned white. I suppose it might be the same as us when we become worm food.. :sick:

[mcrudd]

Sorry for your loss..

I'm not sure if you should really be adding pH up to be honest.. pH 6 is perfectly fine (actually preferred) for bristlenoses, so it's highly unlikely that the low pH killed it. Adding chemicals which alter pH is rarely good for the fish. The less chemicals you add to the water, the better IMO.

Don't get too worried over one fish dying if the others look fine and your water tests check out alright. If you get over-zealous with the water changes thinking that bad water killed the fish, you might cause a bacteria crash in your tank and THEN you've got problems! If you must do a big water change, do 10-20% everyday over a few days instead of 60-70% change on one day. You never know, the bristlenose might have had an internal parasite or been stressed/ attacked by the other fish or any number of reasons so don't CSI it haha..

PS The fish is snow white because it's dead, no reason for it. I've had dead bristlenoses before as well, all turned white. I suppose it might be the same as us when we become worm food.. :sick:

Thanks for your lovely post I think I am kinda csi-ing it a bit LOL. Well I allready added some ph up but only half of what was recommended (thankful for that now) I will stop adding more and do the small waterchanges you suggest. I did a 25% just now and then sat and watched my fish very closely, everyone seemed happy and accounted for. I gave them some brine shirmp since it was dinner time and they all munched away. Perhaps my mommy bristlenose just died of something else, its a pitty though she was so young only three years old :tears: When I say I did it, I mean I directed my hubby to do it :nilly: I can't wait to feel better and do my own aquarium care again

[Caryl]

I agree with the others. I doubt it was the pH and don't add the chemical stuff as it may make things worse.

She could have died for any number of reasons.

[Adrienne]

I suspect it was an ammonia spike. I have lost fish and bn overnight to an ammonia spike and when I pulled them out it was as if they had been bleached.

Waterchanges should sort it out.

[mcrudd]

I agree with the others. I doubt it was the pH and don't add the chemical stuff as it may make things worse.

She could have died for any number of reasons.

Thanks Caryl, the ph however is a bit worrying for me, how will I get it back up to 7.0 without chemicals then?

I suspect it was an ammonia spike. I have lost fish and bn overnight to an ammonia spike and when I pulled them out it was as if they had been bleached.

Waterchanges should sort it out.

Could be the Amonia was on the level just above 0 can't remember what exactly but it was the darker yellow colour. After the waterchange it was back to normal again but the ph is still stuck at 6.0 and my fish have always had a 7.0ph. I think I will start getting rid of all my babies, maybe they are causing my tank to be overstocked :facepalm:

[ally07]

I really would not worry about the pH level, 6.0 is perfectly acceptable for most fish. That's why if you read up on fish profiles, they rarely write strictly 7.0, it's usually 6.0-7.0. Some types of cichlids require hard water pH 8.0-9.0, but even they won't die if the pH is 7.0 - they won't be as comfortable as they'd like to be, but it's not fatal. You only encounter problems if you put a fish in significantly harder/ softer water than it needs to be, eg putting a bristlenose in pH 9.0 is not recommended.

I actually prefer my water at around pH 6.0 with tannins in the water because tannins help some fish feel like they're in their natural habitat and most plecos need to rasp on driftwood as part of a healthy diet. In addition, waste build up sends the pH upwards, so by maintaining a slightly lower pH, you give the fish more pH buffer in the event you don't get a chance to do a water change that week.

If the pH tends to gravitate towards 6.0 because of driftwood or tap water, I would say that there's nothing to worry about unless you have fish which require harder water - trying to meddle with the pH to bring it up to 7.0 might do more harm because you're subjecting the fish to a pH see-saw.

Hope this helps!