Hi everyone, - Long post here -
I had a learning experience today that cost the life of every fish in my tank (4 ft). Relating it might help some people who are relatively new to the pastime not making the same mistake.
There are probably other better warnings about similar problems,
Some background:
The ph was as steady as a rock at around 7.2 - 7.3 in my planted tank. Most other signs were good, in particular the fish colours, and behaviours. (I had 18 assorted tetas, 2 catfish and 2 algae eaters).
I did a bit of reading to see if I could lower the ph .. GRADUALLY next time, boo hoo
. Anyway, I learnt that the naturally occurring buffers in the water would obstruct changes in the PH, and was having no success with getting the PH down ( I tried boiling the tap water prior to a change, andI tried DIY Co2) I wanted to lower the PH as I understood the tetras prefer that. So I added approx 1 cup of strong Hydrochlorlic acid to about 10 litres of water in a bucket. This changed the ph of that water from its tap value of 7.3 to a bright yellow 6.4.
I weakened this solution a little bit more and then thought - as I poured it into the tank-
1) a 1- in- 10 dilution of this acid solution as I add it to the tank might only change the PH a couple of points - WRONG. Wrong, - of course the tank should end up still at around 1 tenth / twentieth the rate of the bucket (as it's a log scale) - so actually the tank would finish at 6.6 at the most, not around 7.0 as I had thought.
2) I thought the buffer ions in the tank would also protect tank. If this happened, it only saved a point or two. Not enough to fix my blunder.
So when I added the bucket of acid solution, the tank went from 7.2 to 6.5 in about 5 minutes.
Every fish dead in 10 minutes.
So, enjoy your fish, do research and DON'T ADD ACID or any other chemical haphazardly to your tank.
cheers
Peter
I had a learning experience today that cost the life of every fish in my tank (4 ft). Relating it might help some people who are relatively new to the pastime not making the same mistake.
There are probably other better warnings about similar problems,
Some background:
The ph was as steady as a rock at around 7.2 - 7.3 in my planted tank. Most other signs were good, in particular the fish colours, and behaviours. (I had 18 assorted tetas, 2 catfish and 2 algae eaters).
I did a bit of reading to see if I could lower the ph .. GRADUALLY next time, boo hoo
. Anyway, I learnt that the naturally occurring buffers in the water would obstruct changes in the PH, and was having no success with getting the PH down ( I tried boiling the tap water prior to a change, andI tried DIY Co2) I wanted to lower the PH as I understood the tetras prefer that. So I added approx 1 cup of strong Hydrochlorlic acid to about 10 litres of water in a bucket. This changed the ph of that water from its tap value of 7.3 to a bright yellow 6.4. I weakened this solution a little bit more and then thought - as I poured it into the tank-
1) a 1- in- 10 dilution of this acid solution as I add it to the tank might only change the PH a couple of points - WRONG. Wrong, - of course the tank should end up still at around 1 tenth / twentieth the rate of the bucket (as it's a log scale) - so actually the tank would finish at 6.6 at the most, not around 7.0 as I had thought.
2) I thought the buffer ions in the tank would also protect tank. If this happened, it only saved a point or two. Not enough to fix my blunder.
So when I added the bucket of acid solution, the tank went from 7.2 to 6.5 in about 5 minutes.
Every fish dead in 10 minutes.
So, enjoy your fish, do research and DON'T ADD ACID or any other chemical haphazardly to your tank.
cheers
Peter
I am sure you will find all the help you need here
