oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Can anyone tell me if the PH Shock symptoms for fish would be slow breathing and laying on the side at the surface ? i recently setup my pressurized co2 on my discus tank and today i noticed that my 2 discus were both at the top (all other fish swimming about happily) so i shut down the co2 and did about a 60% water change to try and bring things back in order - so far my big discus that was affected the most appears to be doing a bit better - no longer on his side but still slow breathing... edit is a large water change the right thing to do - is there anything else i can do to help matters. I just tested my GH and KH levels at they are at 6 and 4 degrees respectively. im going to run to work to get my other test kit but is there anything else i should do? cheers Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 just let things be for atleast 3 days i reckon as anymore changes could shock them more just add some salt and they will hopefully recover well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Jusr checked he ph and its sitting at about 6.4 thats a bit on the low side i thought. But will leave at this stage. Any other suggestions? What can i do to stabilise my ph more when i want to switch the co2 back on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 That pH would be about expected for a CO2 system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 thanks for the reply - that test was about an 90 mins after i had found my discus almost dead, had changed the water, and left the light off for a while. at the worst point the boy had no buoyancy and was being pushed around in the current from my filter laying on his side - the girl wasnt that much better but was still upright, im worried that if i turn the co2 back on its going to kill them as that has been the only change to the tank. this morning all the fish look alot happier and seem to be swimming around normally. What would be my next step as far as trying to get the pressurized co2 back on again ? do i increase the hardness of the water to stop any ph swings ? i wasnt able to test the water before i did the change yesterday so i dont know if it had changed too much. cheers skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 u should add some crushed oyster shell at some point to combat the ph drops it will help alot and should keep it at a decent rate.ive had they same thing i just added the oyster shell and it worked for me but get other peoples opinions aswell is there anyway u can set the pressure low so it releases at a slower speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 yeah i have a needle valve on the regulator - where do you get oyster shell from ? not being an oyster fan i have no idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Maybe reduce the amount of CO2 going into the tank. and if needed put oxygen onto the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 you can get bags of crushed oyster shells in mitre 10 bunnings etc in the gardening section in big 10kg bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Maybe reduce the amount of CO2 going into the tank. and if needed put oxygen onto the tank. I've stopped the co2 now so the fish can recuperate and then will strat it at a low amount for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 you can get bags of crushed oyster shells in mitre 10 bunnings etc in the gardening section in big 10kg bags. Thanks will take a look at bunnings tomorrow night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 does anyone know how long it will take oyster shells to change the PH ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 There is nothing wrong with the pH. You will need to run an airline at night into the tank. That is the only way I can stop my discus doing the same thing. Even with having the CO2 turn off 2 hours before the lights go out my discus still come to the top for oxygen during the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 hmm - i agree that 6.4 is ok but my issue was it was about 3.30pm and the lights were still on when the fish decided lay on the side - i took the reading about 90 mins after i had turned the co2 off, and changed about 60% of the water so i dont actually know what the PH reading was when the fish were on deaths door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 update - On Saturday I had some time to have a look at the CO2 again - also because i didnt want to kill my fish in the mean time i waited for everything to settle back down again. * At about 9 am before the lights turned on I checked the PH - it was at 7.4 * Then I turned the co2 on - this time i tried to get about 1.5 to 2 bubbles per second coming out the end of the hose with no atomiser installed * Installed the atomiser and got everything back the way i wanted it. * Everything was looking good in the tank for several hours and the fish looked happy enough so I tested the ph again at about 3pm - this time it was at 7.2 I'm happier with that range of ph fluctuations than the previous possible 7.4 to 6.4 that may have happened the other week Now i need to get a fert regime in place so that i can grow plants rather than algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 You should leave the light on if it happens again, as plants will not use the co2 already in the tank and thus the ph will still fall. And like the others said, turn on an air pump at night and use limestone or oyster shells during the day while co2 is running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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