Ph Level

[fishymate]

g'day every1 just some questions my ph level is 6.5(acidic)i put in the correct amount of PH up in yesterday then i tested it again today but it just keeps saying its 6.5? i also have d wood in my tank and i've heard this affects the ph is this ture?


And also i recently lost all my fish due to some unkown reasons , i tested my water when the fish had died and the ammonia nitrite and nitrate was fine and the ph was acidic so could of this of cuased them to die? The day before they died the fish were pale and breathing heavily and not eating and when they had died they died with there mouth wide open and there gills spread out i am stumbled as to what cuased it? (they were aussie bass only 2 at 10-15cm) (4 and a half foot tank 1500lph canister).



thanks guys hopefully some1 can tell me what happened

 

[Mowbz]

6.5 certainly is acidic, but its not severe, and there are many fish that would actually prefer that to something over 7.5.

I dont have any experience with "Aussie Bass", but if you want to know why they died, i would research them and see what conditions they need to thrive. If thats not what you had in your tank, you have the start of an answer.

Also, you say the Ammonia and Nitrite readins were "fine". 0 for both is fine, nothing else, and even 0.25ppm (lowest possible reading on my API kit after 0) of ammonia at or around pH6.0 can be lethal.

Are you able to post the exact readings at time of death? This would help us diagnose this particular tank moving forward.

and

 

[the_lock_man]

Large fluctuations in pH are worse for fish than living in a pH that is not its ideal.

I suspect that the problem is down to the use of the pH adjusting product - if it did its job for a short period, then it plunged back again to your 6.5, that would account for the death of the fish, I'm sure. Driftwood would tend to lower a pH, but not quickly enough to cause a death.

What pH does the adjuster take the water to?

 

[fishymate]

It takes it to 7.6 then two days later it jumps right back down. But listen to this boys before i had the 4 and a half footer i had a 2ft filled with cichlids which lucky enough i got them to have fry and that had no dwood in the tank? (this is pissing me off now becuase anything i put intothe 4fter doesnt last longer then 2weeks)

Could the dwood(there tree roots)be. Casuing it?

 

[the_lock_man]

From 6.5 -> 7.6 -> 6.5 again in two days. I would say that this is probably what's causing the problem.

Am I right in thinking that there are no fish at all in the tank right now?

 

[fishymate]

Correct no fish in the tank, but im goin to take out 1 of the dwood becuase they are givin off a bad smell plus when i touch bits crumble off so thats what i have narrowed it down to if that doesnt work i will take out all of the dwood


Cheers guys if i have any problems ill let u know, any1 got any ideas for what fish i should get?

 

[Geoff-]

driftwood lowers pH.

Don't fight your water chemistry unless you're keeping expensive and/or sensitive fish and really know what you're doing. Most fish will happily live outside their natural pH zone as long as the other parameters are correct, I have kept German Blue Rams in pH 8 water and their ideal is 6.5.. they do great as long as the water is kept clean!

 

[the_lock_man]

Funny, I'd ben put off GBRs because I had read that they were very sensitive to pH.

I believe that it's easier to keep softwater fish in hardwater than vice versa, due to osmoregulation within the bodies of the fish. KittyKat is the expert on that one, I'm pretty much quoting her.

But there are so many softwater fish, you're spoilt for choice - cories, SA Cichlids, tetras, betta spp, in fact most types of fish except the common livebearers.

If your driftwood is rotten, perhaps it was leaching some other sort of toxin into the water and that's what the problem was. I'm not sure what such a toxin might be, and still reckon it was the pH fluctuation, but it is another possibility.