Add few teaspoons of salt to aquarium one time? or add tspoon salt to water I'm adding to aquarium each change? could PH be affecting Nitrite consuming bacteria it seems to be dropping daily. PH of drinking water is 6.4
baby dps surviving newbie ignorance?
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Add one or two teaspoons to the water you're putting in--but not each time. This isn't a one teaspoon per gallon addition--so add 1-2 teaspoons now, another if you've changed out more than 75% of the tank's total volume. The reverse is true--the nitrogen consuming bacteria reduce the KH, which is what buffers the tank to a stable pH. Test your KH--it's likely fairly low.
Yes, the pH of the water affects the nitrification bacteria. They slow down at lower pH. You must have very low KH (alkalinity) in you tap water. You need to do more partials to keep the KH/pH up. It is possible to supplement for that, but you should not do so without testing both the the GH & KH of the tap and of the tank. Normal nitrification uses alkalinity.
dp's are very bad cycling fish,,dont use them next time,,use some guppys or danios for fishy cycle,,and if your lucky some neons (mine survived al the spikes)
Just a quick question? Is there any reason I can't use baking soda to increase the PH in my tank? Instead of doing a large partial water exchange today I got a 10 gallon tank and transferred everything to it. This should count as a 50% water change shouldn't it. Problem is I am still getting nitrites at 3.0 and doing twice to three times daily water changes. I was wondering if the water that I'm using from the neighborhood water machine is adding something to prevent bacterial growth. I know it says theres reverse osmosis and also ultraviolet filtration. Today when I added the extra water I added some mountain spring water 1 gallon and 3 1/2 gallon of the dringing water from the machine. I have never used water out of my tap, I won't drink It and certainly wouldn't give it to tiny dp fish. But back to PH, my PH continues to drop it is just barely measuring 6.4 So I 'd like to know how much baking soda if any I can put in the tank, Or would this just cause some hereto unforseen situation I have not yet considered.
RO Filtered water naturally has a very low KH--the molecules that make up KH are removed in the RO process. Adding baking soda will help--but shouldn't be a substitute for water changes. Experiment and see how much is need to create a stable level, and make additions to the water before adding it to the tank--alter the level in the tank very slowly, to avoid shocking the fish.
With anything other than DP's, seriously reduced feedings is great advice. IME, dwarf puffers don't have the reserves to go without food for very long, and so the effort to reduce ammonia in this case back fires, and the fish die anyway. Obviously removing uneaten food will help, but cutting feedings or reducing the amount fed is not a good idea.
Wow...sounds like not feeding the baby so you won't have to change the diapers , that's what I told my husband once when he told me he was feeding his oscars twice a week. It really upset me. Not to worry, I would never deny food to a growing baby. And they are growing! I am feeding bloodworms twice a day, I put 5 or 6 bloodworms in at 9am and 9pm and watch to see that each dp gets at least 2 bloodworms. I have tiny snails in the tank that are slowly disappearing so I assume they've been eaten I see only one or two of the six snails after 2 weeks. In addition I hatch bbs and feed every 3 days. My nitrites are 1.0 this morning after changing to the 10 gallon tank yesterday, 24 hours ago. Maybe the worst is over! But thanks OG I will start experimenting with the baking soda to bring up the PH.
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OrionGirl said:
Sorry :bowing: Maybe you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I knew we were talking about DP's and i thought what you said about DP's and their food was a given.(I was wrong, sorry for that) Maybe it would have sounded better if I had said dont overfeed them.I perhaps should have included feed them enough to to keep the fish healthy so as they could function properly and resist desease caused by the failing water quality.( Jmo but when I say bare minimum I thought that means give the fish their minimum food requirement) Like with any fish their needs have to be met, thankyou for pointing that out. I presume to much that people understand what i am trying to say.
