Hi, wife and I going nuts! Recently, we are losing fish on a weekly basis, sometimes two a week. We took water to be tested to two different outlets. Both reckoned low Ph. We change water frequently - 1/2 Tank per month and filter every 3 months. After last water change (last weekend), we tested water and Ph still as low as before water change. Water perfect in every other way! There are no outward signs of disease and fish appear happy?? We are at a loss. We have a 4 inch red tailed shark and wonder if it could be harassing small fish (all that die are small - neons - guppies etc) during lights out?
Ph
- Thread starter Trugmaker
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Two things jump out at me.
First, you have spotted the prime suspect. If you have an extra territorial red tailed shark, it will kill. And it does kill in darkness. They can be bad tempered fish that want no other fish to live in the tank. I would it expect it to kill one or more neon sized fish a week, simply because they drift too close to it at night. So rehoming the redtail would be a start. I worked in a pet shop in my teens and the owner wouldn't sell them, because customers always brought them back, and he felt it would be unethical to resell a tank wrecking fish like that.
I eventually bought one and found out for myself. He was right.
Second, once a month water changes aren't good. Wastes will build up in the tank, and one big water change a month will change your water chemistry every time. I would strongly recommend a weekly 25% change, or at the least 3 25% or more changes a month. It makes the tank a little more work, but it is far less in a month than I spend on my dog over a weekend.
And a tip. If you have low pH water (it'd help to know the number) you probably have low mineral content in your water. This is what the water I have is like, and I love it. But I have to choose rainforest fish (there are hundreds in the hobby) and avoid fish that need high mineral levels, like guppies, platys or mollies.
First, you have spotted the prime suspect. If you have an extra territorial red tailed shark, it will kill. And it does kill in darkness. They can be bad tempered fish that want no other fish to live in the tank. I would it expect it to kill one or more neon sized fish a week, simply because they drift too close to it at night. So rehoming the redtail would be a start. I worked in a pet shop in my teens and the owner wouldn't sell them, because customers always brought them back, and he felt it would be unethical to resell a tank wrecking fish like that.
I eventually bought one and found out for myself. He was right.
Second, once a month water changes aren't good. Wastes will build up in the tank, and one big water change a month will change your water chemistry every time. I would strongly recommend a weekly 25% change, or at the least 3 25% or more changes a month. It makes the tank a little more work, but it is far less in a month than I spend on my dog over a weekend.
And a tip. If you have low pH water (it'd help to know the number) you probably have low mineral content in your water. This is what the water I have is like, and I love it. But I have to choose rainforest fish (there are hundreds in the hobby) and avoid fish that need high mineral levels, like guppies, platys or mollies.
Pictures of the fish so we can check them for diseases?
And a picture showing the entire aquarium would be helpful too.
What fishes do you have in the aquarium?
What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
What is the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate in numbers?
What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).
Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.
Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.
Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.
If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.
If the pH is dropping it could be low KH and that will affect guppies and certain other fishes. There are ways to remedy this but doing water changes every week (as mentioned by Gary) would go a long way to help slow or stop the pH dropping. However, if you have a low KH, the pH will drop.
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You mention doing something to the filter every 3 months. I'm assuming you clean it every 3 months.
How do you clean the filter?
And a picture showing the entire aquarium would be helpful too.
What fishes do you have in the aquarium?
What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
What is the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate in numbers?
What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).
Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.
Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.
Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.
If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.
If the pH is dropping it could be low KH and that will affect guppies and certain other fishes. There are ways to remedy this but doing water changes every week (as mentioned by Gary) would go a long way to help slow or stop the pH dropping. However, if you have a low KH, the pH will drop.
--------------------
You mention doing something to the filter every 3 months. I'm assuming you clean it every 3 months.
How do you clean the filter?
If the tank is suitably sized, it might not be the redtail shark. And the shark has nothing to do with the pH dropping, which could be why the guppies die.
CaptainBarnicles
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Doing large regular water changes (I do 50%) every week will keep your water chemistry stable...as mentioned above, knowing what your GH is would be helpful too as Colin has explained a little about the requirements of certain fish. I recommend keeping fish that are suited to your local water rather than trying to alter the water to suit the fish
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