I Hate Watching My Fish Die...

[CBBP]

So I woke up this morning an done of my SAEs was on his back breathing hard. I check the water parameters and the PH was 8+. I am pretty sure he is going to be dead soon, though his color is not pale or anything. I am not sure where is is now though, he struggled off into the plants. I shall probably never seem him agian.. poor fish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you really think they're gonna go and there's nothing you can do for them then euthanasia i something to consider, put them out of they're misery as quickly and painlessly as possible.

 

[CBBP]

well I dunno if he is gonna die.. and I don't know why it would just be that one.. all the other fish seemed okay..

 

[Fat Boy]

Is your ph changing all the time ? or is it always around the 8 mark.

A ph of 8 is not all that bad, but if it's up and down and all over the place that's not good.

I found this regarding ph levels.

The best way to tell if you water is fish-friendly is to test for PH. In most cases, A steady pH is much more important than a "target" pH. A fluctuating pH can be very detrimental, whereas a fish can get used to a "higher" or "lower" pH with some time. A PH level of 7 or 8 is about the max you would want to see.

Chances are that the fish you buy are from your immediate area....from a fish store is likely to have the same (or similar) water source and have been acclimated to the water already. However, is is very important to follow the acclimation process below.

It is good information to read species profiles on the fish you are going to have to identify target PH values. However, remember these are for fish living in the wild. You will usually be purchasing fish who have been bound and captively bred.

Specific pH comes into play when trying to get certain species to breed (and even then, it can be questionable).

One thing that can be said on this topic is that it is not pH problems that kill fish.

 

[CBBP]

so youa re saying I should not worry about my PH as long as it does not jump suddenly? because I was going to change the substrat because of these problems.. are you saying that is not needed? anyway.. over the night it jumped form 7.0 to 8.0 so that effected that one fish.

 

[Fat Boy]

Ph jumping from 7.0 to 8.0 overnight is very strange and not good.

What test kit are you using ? Only asking because some of the kits that use strips can be a bit inacurate.

Have you test the ph of your tap water ? if so what is the reading.

How long did you have the SAE ?

Have you added/removed anything in your tank ? Adding bogwood can lower ph where as adding some types of rock can raise ph.

Have you tested your water for ammonia, nitrItes and nitraTes ? These are very often the cause of problems to fish.

What are your stocking levels, and what filtration are you using ?

Sorry for asking so many Q's but if we know the A's then maybe we can find out what's killed your SAE.

As I said ph levels are not often the cause of a sudden death and I'd guess it was something else

 

[CBBP]

!!! I am ahppy to find out (upon my arrive home form college) that all my SAEs are alive and eattign fine! the PH jump is a problem (espesically since i have co2 kicking into the tank at 4 BPS) My theory is.. that my SAE simply knocked himself out when I turned the lights on. normally my two light systesm come on at a differetn time. thus, there is a dim light from the sun.. then 64 watts of light kick on.. then the final 96 watts. I think when i turned them all on he ran into the glass wall or possibly a rock.

 

[SamUK]

why did your PH change so much overnight?


did you add something to the tank?

 

[voo]

Adding CO2 would make the water more acidic, not alkaline, so it cant be that. Are you ammonia levels ok?

 

[CBBP]

why did your PH change so much overnight?


did you add something to the tank?

the only thing I can think of is the rocks and gravel in it.. the co2 injection usually keeps it around 6.7-7.0 but I guess it slowed down last night and the levels that the rocks make over took it.