Ammonia Up,ph Down

[jimmyringo]

Just popped home at lunchtime.The gourami and cories are still there but one of my serpae tetras has died.This is getting harder every day.

 

[jimmyringo]

I was planning on cleaning my filter this weekend but i might have time to do it tonight.Is it safe enough to give it a bit of a clean while all this is going on?

 

[rabbut]

If the ammonia has gone, go for it If you still have ammonia or nitrite spiking, leave it be unless th eflow has dropped of

Do you have your own liquid drop test kit yet? It would be useful to see where the waterstats are at now...

Sorry to here you have lost another fish I hope the deaths stop now for you

All the best
Rabbut

 

[jimmyringo]

Hoping the test kit will arrive tomorrow,so have no way of checking stats at the minute.I'll leave the cleaning til the weekend to be sure.I should have all the stats by then.Thanks Rabbut.

 

[jimmyringo]

Ok,i lost my gourami overnight.Seems to be one a day dying at the minute!!! If test kit doesn't arrive today,i'll have to go back to LFS to have my water tested again.Trying to keep my chin up over all this,but its getting difficult.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jimmy,

In the absence of a test kit, if your fish are dying one by one anyway, I suggest that maybe the big water change wouldn't do any more harm than the current conditions.

It appears only a matter of time before you lose all your fish, so i'd go for maybe a 50% water change tonight. You could always add the replacement water back in slowly for damage limitation, say over a few hours.

Usually i would never recommend large water changes with suspected Old Tank Syndrome (but it doesn't usually cause a string of deaths of established tank inhabitants), but weighing up the pros and cons in your case, i reckon it might be worth a try.

Either that or buy some Ammo-Lock. I reckon its probably the ammonia killing them rather than the pH, so Ammo-Lock would definitely be worth a try if you don't want to risk the water change. Your LFS should stock it if you decide to go with that option.

Either way, the sooner you can get some up-to-date test results, the better.

Good luck!

BTT

 

[jimmyringo]

Just been told the test kit is in my Post Office so i'll pick it up after work,and should have some results later tonight.

 

[backtotropical]

Just been told the test kit is in my Post Office so i'll pick it up after work,and should have some results later tonight.

Look forward to it, Jimmy.

We'll be able to give you much more tailored advice when we know exactly what is going on in the tank.

BTT

 

[jimmyringo]

Ok,Got the test kit (API Master £15 on ebay ). Heres the results;

pH 6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20

And just for good measure my tap waters pH is 7.2.

So is it keep going with the small water changes.


And by the way,i lost an albino cory this evening

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jimmy,

I'm surprised to see no ammonia or nitrite. In the absence of these, I don't have any reasonable explanation for why your fish are dying.

I would suggest doing the 50% water change i suggested earlier. At worst, this will move your pH by 0.6 which isn't too bad if you spread out adding the replacement water over several hours.

If the water change is successful (which i see no reason it won't be), repeat the next day.

I can only suggest that there is something unidentified in the water which is killing your fish, and the water change is going to be the best chance of saving them.

Cheers

BTT

 

[jimmyringo]

I've been assuming it was something to do with the pH being so low.

 

[backtotropical]

A low pH in itself won't kill your fish. Fish are far more sensitive to pH fluctuations than the actual pH value, and from what I can see your pH seems to be reasonably stable at around pH 6.

The problems which a pH of that value can bring are with the filter bacteria. Often they will stop working at pH 6, which will result in an ammonia spike. This appears not to have happened in your tank, as no detectable ammonia is present.

This all but rules out the pH being the cause of the fatalities, and therefore points to some other unknown factor. Do the fish appear ill at all? Do they have white spots or cotton wool-like growths? Any other unusual symptoms?

If not, I suggest that the water change is your best option.

As an after-thought, am I right to say all the fish started dying when you added the new corys?

Some species of corys have been known to release powerful toxins when stressed. It can be quite common to buy some corys at the LFS, only to find they've all died in the bag on the way home. It may be possible that they have done this in your tank when they were introduced to a huge pH difference. Again, this is just speculation, but in the absence of ammonia and the pH being reasonably stable, there must be some other factor killing your fish.

BTT

 

[jimmyringo]

The only sympoms are that they become lethargic for a while before dying.With the exception of the albino cory tonight.I thought he was getting a bit of cotton growth today.But he became very active this evening for about 20 minutes and then just died!!!Very strange.None of the other fish have had any cotton-wool like symptoms although they definately aren't themselves.

And yes,i added 4 corys and 2 died within hours,the other 2 were gone by the next morning.

It looks like a big water change tomorrow(a filter clean if i've time) and see where that takes us

 

[jimmyringo]

Ok.Did a 50% water change last night.Since then i've lost my last 2 Serpae Tetras.Having said that , it wasn't a surprise.I've notice in the last couple of days that they're looking slightly 'burned' for want of a better word.They looked like how they would if they were suffering from being in mild acid(the low pH,i presume?).
Today my Cardinals are definitely looking more active.


However,i've just tested the pH.......and it's still 6!!!I know that a pH reading off the low end of the scale will read as 6,so am i to presume that my pH was way off the scale,and if so what would cause this?Anyway ,it still looks like more water changes.

 

[jimmyringo]

pH 6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5