Filter Producing Air Bubbles

[joannes]

Hi,
I would appreciate some advice on a couple of problems I have at the moment.

Tank is 30"x15"x12"
Filter: Tetratec BF 400/600 plus
It has been set up for a couple of yrs
Current fish stock: 2x white cloud minnows, 1x silver black tip chark, 3x harlequin tetra's
Large piece of bogwood, some barnacle pieces and one plastic plant. No live plants currently.

Recently lost 6 fish (2x Corry 4X neon Tetra's - having spoken to a guy who appears quite knowledgable at the aquarium centre he suggested that my Ph could be unstable, apparently quite common in this area due to the soft water. I tested the Kh and it is low so am starting to build this up slowly, testing each day and adding required dose etc.
Have tested the Nitrite, Ammonia both 0, Ph is now 7.6 which is the highest end of the range for this testing kit.

Question 1: Should I get a wider ranging test kit for the Ph to obtain more accurate result?
Question 2: Once my Kh is high enough to create a buffer should I reduce the Ph of my water to 7.0?
Question 3: My water filter keeps producing bubbles which I know can have an effect on filtration, I have cleaned out the various parts fo the fileter including the impeller - any ideas (apart form getting a new one)?

Jo

 

[shelaghfishface]

if you get a API freshwater master testing kit ( widley availible from pets shops and lfs) this test has over 800 tests for all the important test ( ammonia, nitrites,nitrates. ph) and also has a high range PH test in it

best test kits on the market, and most widely used by forum memebers

 

[england]

what do you mean producing bubble's, have you checked for an air block? is this one the internal?
have you moved around the green thing on top, what i do is remove the little plastic tube ontop and ensure the green bit's fully underwater, this stop's the air bubble's...however there not a problem, if it is the internal there ment to do this

 

[Bignose]

Question 1: Should I get a wider ranging test kit for the Ph to obtain more accurate result?

yes. if you are at the top of one test, you should try to verify the number with another different test when the range covers the value you suspect your pH to be. Tests are most accurate right in the middle of the range. In this case, try to get a high pH test and see what the results from that are.

Question 2: Once my Kh is high enough to create a buffer should I reduce the Ph of my water to 7.0?

No. 1) once you build up the buffer, the water will resist changes -- that is the point of the buffer! So, you won't be able to just "reduce" the pH to 7.0. You;d have to break the buffer again, move the pH, then build up the buffer at 7.0. 2) Again, these changes in pH can be pretty stressful, though changes in pH aren't nearly as hard on fish as changes in hardness. Unless your fish were also making extraodinary amounts of waste, a pH that changes slightly is exactly the same situation as what occurs in nature. In nature, bodies of water will often fluctuate 1 full pH unit in a day's time, and sometimes much more. And the fish don't die from these events. Fish can adapt 4 full pH units in a span of about 90 minutes. All this leads me to think that you may want to consider pursuing an alternative theory as to why the fish may have passed.

Was is all 6 in the same night or same week? The fact that your tank may have been up for "a few years" indicates to me that if the tetras passed over a span of several weeks that it might just have been old age -- tetras aren't a very long lived fish and if you bought them as adults they may have just lived out their lifespan. If the cory catfish were also bought as adults, it could be the same thing, though they are a little longer lived than neon tetras.

Conversely, if it was a sudden event, then they all should have passed withing a day or so. If it was pH crash related, they all should have passed is a pretty small period of time.

The big moral of the story here is that it is very tough to play with water's parameters. Something seems amiss to me that if the tank was fine for "a few years" and no something is going wrong that unless your water company changes practices recently, I'd be looking at something else as the root cause for the issue.

 

[joannes]

what do you mean producing bubble's, have you checked for an air block? is this one the internal?
have you moved around the green thing on top, what i do is remove the little plastic tube ontop and ensure the green bit's fully underwater, this stop's the air bubble's...however there not a problem, if it is the internal there ment to do this

It doesn't have an internal air block its just intermittently producing air bubbles after the tank has had a water change. I do take it out of the tank to clean the filter media in some old tank water then fit it all back to gether again. Sometimes its fine and doesn't produce any but other times it does. I have tried to put it back together in the tank so i can see and release any trapped air bubbles in the filter but it still appears to have some somewhere. I will have a check of the green thing and check its all under water although it usually is... just v. annoying!!

The reason I am concerned about it is the filter won't work as efficiently if the air bubbles are trapped in the filter - and I appear to have enough problems at the moment with fish dying

 

[joannes]

Question 1: Should I get a wider ranging test kit for the Ph to obtain more accurate result?

yes. if you are at the top of one test, you should try to verify the number with another different test when the range covers the value you suspect your pH to be. Tests are most accurate right in the middle of the range. In this case, try to get a high pH test and see what the results from that are.

Question 2: Once my Kh is high enough to create a buffer should I reduce the Ph of my water to 7.0?

No. 1) once you build up the buffer, the water will resist changes -- that is the point of the buffer! So, you won't be able to just "reduce" the pH to 7.0. You;d have to break the buffer again, move the pH, then build up the buffer at 7.0. 2) Again, these changes in pH can be pretty stressful, though changes in pH aren't nearly as hard on fish as changes in hardness. Unless your fish were also making extraodinary amounts of waste, a pH that changes slightly is exactly the same situation as what occurs in nature. In nature, bodies of water will often fluctuate 1 full pH unit in a day's time, and sometimes much more. And the fish don't die from these events. Fish can adapt 4 full pH units in a span of about 90 minutes. All this leads me to think that you may want to consider pursuing an alternative theory as to why the fish may have passed.

Was is all 6 in the same night or same week? The fact that your tank may have been up for "a few years" indicates to me that if the tetras passed over a span of several weeks that it might just have been old age -- tetras aren't a very long lived fish and if you bought them as adults they may have just lived out their lifespan. If the cory catfish were also bought as adults, it could be the same thing, though they are a little longer lived than neon tetras.

Conversely, if it was a sudden event, then they all should have passed withing a day or so. If it was pH crash related, they all should have passed is a pretty small period of time.

The big moral of the story here is that it is very tough to play with water's parameters. Something seems amiss to me that if the tank was fine for "a few years" and no something is going wrong that unless your water company changes practices recently, I'd be looking at something else as the root cause for the issue.

The six were over a few weeks - 4 looked healthy and swimming well etc, 2 (1x cory & 1x neon) werebn't well and I tretated the tank with for bacterial infection. I have treated again since these deaths as one of the minnows has what looks like a lifted scale near its gill (it doesn't look cotton woolly and there are no other white spots on any other fish). The tetras weren't very old, I bought them recently.
Do you think it would still be better to raise the buffer and keep the water at a higher Ph?

if you get a API freshwater master testing kit ( widley availible from pets shops and lfs) this test has over 800 tests for all the important test ( ammonia, nitrites,nitrates. ph) and also has a high range PH test in it

best test kits on the market, and most widely used by forum memebers

Thanks - will purchase.

 

[Bignose]

Sounds a lot like disease issues much more than water issues. Even if your water is soft, typically it will have at least some buffering capabilities. What is the KH out of the tap? Unless is it below 2 or 3 degrees, all you should need to do is more frequent water changes to replenish the buffering. I wouldn't worry about changing the pH or anything like that unless you need to leave the tank unattended for extended periods of time.

 

[joannes]

Sounds a lot like disease issues much more than water issues. Even if your water is soft, typically it will have at least some buffering capabilities. What is the KH out of the tap? Unless is it below 2 or 3 degrees, all you should need to do is more frequent water changes to replenish the buffering. I wouldn't worry about changing the pH or anything like that unless you need to leave the tank unattended for extended periods of time.

yes I am startijng to think this might be the issue - it seems to take a lot to get rid of disease. Will carry on and keep fingers crossed.
Thanks for thoughts and advice
jo

 

[england]

no what i ment is.....is it like this
http/www.zooplus.co.uk/bilder/tetratec/i...00/4660_n_1.jpg

 

[joannes]

no what i ment is.....is it like this
<a href="http/www.zooplus.co.uk/bilder/tetratec/i...00/4660_n_1.jpg" target="_blank">http/www.zooplus.co.uk/bilder/tetratec/i...00/4660_n_1.jpg</a>

Hi Nelly,
Sorry for long response to yr question - yes this is the same filter as mine. As far as I was aware there was no internal air block - am I wrong?
Jo

 

[england]

ok jo, um i have three of these filter's,the green disc on top is for the bubble's so dont worry, it does tend to break leaving it to produce bubble's,there is a little peice of plastic tubing on top,pull it of and fully submerge filter,this should stop the bubbling, but the bubbling is not a prob,its ment for extra ariation..

 

[joannes]

ok jo, um i have three of these filter's,the green disc on top is for the bubble's so dont worry, it does tend to break leaving it to produce bubble's,there is a little peice of plastic tubing on top,pull it of and fully submerge filter,this should stop the bubbling, but the bubbling is not a prob,its ment for extra ariation..

Ok will see how I go. Thanks for response - all adds to my knowledge!