What Are The Sypmtons Of Ph Shock?

[Dibbs123]

Hi,

I have done a couple of large water changes in the last three days to lower my Nitrates but since doing so I have lost 4 fish in the process. All parametters are ok but I am wondering if these deaths are casued by the lowering of PH.

Normally my tank is at 8-8.2ph tap water is 7. I am thinking that becasue I done 2 50% water changes in a day I dropped the ph to fast. I havent really seen any symptons as by the time I look in the tank the fish are already dead. I only saw one which was a Bol Ram that couldnt keep its balance in the water and it seems only the fins either side were working so he could propell but had no co ordination.

 

[saz326]

sorry to hear that.

Bov rams are definately one of the more sensitive fish you can keep in an aquarium so they do tend to show the first signs when things are going wrong.

UNless you did the water changes immediately after each other I doubt the pH would have changed enough to cause pH shock. A change from mildly alkaline to more neutral over 24 hours I wouldnt think would have done it.

It is more likely the temperature fluctuations caused by the large water changes would have effected the fish.

Let me check - did you use dechlorinator?
Were you able to slowly add the water or was it poured in fairly quickly?
did you try to temperature match the water?

 

[Dibbs123]

sorry to hear that.

Bov rams are definately one of the more sensitive fish you can keep in an aquarium so they do tend to show the first signs when things are going wrong.

UNless you did the water changes immediately after each other I doubt the pH would have changed enough to cause pH shock. A change from mildly alkaline to more neutral over 24 hours I wouldnt think would have done it.

It is more likely the temperature fluctuations caused by the large water changes would have effected the fish.

Let me check - did you use dechlorinator?
Were you able to slowly add the water or was it poured in fairly quickly?
did you try to temperature match the water?

Hi

I used Dechlorinator, I suppose it was poured in quite quickly, always try to match the tempreture. I have fish that have seemed to cope with everything including a cycle. I have chosen a new LFS as they seemed very knowldegable and their tanks looked clean and well stocked. Out of the 19 fish I have brought from them 9 have died within a week or so of adding to the tank where as the first fish I brought from P@H are all healthy and not one died as yet.

 

[WILDER]

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!
PH SHOCK LINK
http/groups.msn.com/FishHealth/phshock.msnw
http/puffernet.tripod.com/myxobacteriosis.html

 

[Truck]

a PH change of 1 in 3-6 hours is not going to affect fish, go over to ukaps, all of those running CO2 will tell you that their PH drops by 1 or maybe more each day! can sometimes be less dependant on KH

but in the wild their are PH changes all the time quite rapid fluctuations too along with temperature

 

[cooldude]

To prevent nitrate buildup, put live plants in the aquarium. These will consume the nitrates and you will have to do less frequent water changes with lesser percentage of change. If buying from LFS, check for snail outbreak.

http/aquarium-setup.blogspot.com/

 

[Ludwig Venter]

My personal opinion is that sudden pH changes is the underlaying contributor to "Dropsy" inasmuch as sudden temp changes is mainly responsible for ich.... (now don't go quoting me) I said it is in my opinion... It's just an observation I made in my own experience.....