Help! New tank, new fish, pH probs

D

danas90

AC Members
Nov 6, 2005
77
0
0
Ok. So I got a 10 gallon tank, set it up, and have had it running for a few weeks now. My pH was off the scale of my test kit (>9), so I got "pH Down" buffer solution. That did the trick, bringing my pH down to ~7.9. However, I wasn't sure exactly what kind of fish I was going to get, until tonight when I went to the fish store spur-of-the-moment, so I wasn't sure exactly what pH I should set it to. So, I came home with three Glowlight tetras, aclimated them, and put them in. And then, realizing my mistake (That they like pH 6.5-7.5), I came online and now I'm here, trying to get help as to what I should do. And just so you know, the three tetras seem to be doing fine - I mean, they're not very active, but I'm guessing that that's just because of the whole new-tank situation.

Basically, my pH is currently between 7.7 and 8.0 (I never was good at comparing the color of the tested water to the colors on the cards...), and I need to get it down to <7.5.

Here's my idea: the water line in the tank is about three-quarters of an inch below the normal line since I used a quantity of it to aclimate the fish, and I have a gallon jug which I filled with my tap water and treated for chlorine, which I used to refill the evaporated water last week. Just a few minutes ago I decided to put a little bit of the pH Down solution in with the half-gallon of remaining water from last week (which I've kept sealed up), and I tested the pH... which got to be all the way down to about 6.8. My questions are: if I put that water in, approximitely 1/2 gallon into a 10-gallon tank, (1) would it change the pH enough, or (2) would it lower it too much, causing the fish shock?

And one other thing - regarding the florescent light in the hood - should I turn it on now, or just wait until tomorrow?

I appreciate any help regarding the above... and appologize for any spelling or gramatical errors, and anything that just doesn't make any sense... I'm extraordinarily tired right now...

Dana
 
Wow wow wow...before you go any farther, I'd suggest the following...do you have any idea why your pH was greater than 9? Do you add anything to the water? Test the water out of the tap to see what it is, considering I don't think pH rising that much or being that high can be a good thing.

Fish have a preference of pH, but you don't NEED to set it at a certain pH. I'm not familiar with glowlight tetras, but pH swings like that are far worse than a slightly high or slightly low pH. The most important thing is that it remains constant. I have zebra danios in a pH of about 8.0, even though they prefer 6.5 - 7.0. I'm not really sure about glowlight tetra's sensitivity towards pH, but I wouldn't try to overally manipulate it, especially through adjusting it with such extreme swings.

As for your water, I don't think adding a gallon of 6.8 water would drastically effect the pH, besides bringing it down a bit. I wouldn't imagine that would be a problem, but rapid extreme pH swings = bad.
 
MidnightPyro said:
Wow wow wow...before you go any farther, I'd suggest the following...do you have any idea why your pH was greater than 9? Do you add anything to the water? Test the water out of the tap to see what it is, considering I don't think pH rising that much or being that high can be a good thing.
Click to expand...

Well actually... it may be 8.8, it may be 9.0, or it may be abve 9.0 (thus showing 9.0 on the scale), since its really hard to tell the exact color of the tested water... but its somewhere around there. And I'm guessing that the reason is that we have well water, that's even the first thing that the employee of the fish store asked me when I mentioned the high pH.

Thanks for the input, I guess I'll add the extra water in the morning - time for sleep! hehe :duh:
 
As a general rule fish will acclimate to any PH. Depending on what you KH and GH numbers actally are you may be pushing the limits for a tetra. Without GH and Kh numbers both it is hard to say. The best way to soften water would be to mix some RO or DI water with your tap water to dillute it to a desireable level. What that desireable level is will be hard to say before we get your KH numbers. Either way you probably won't want to go much below 7.6 IMO.

PH down products generally cause nothing but headache, heartache, and a draining of the wallet. Try reading these posts for some additional information:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61415
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35281

The second one is extremely informative, but may be information overload. Read the KH GH PH informatin primarily for now, but I do highly reccomend the entire article at some point.
dave
 
Thanks for the help - I really appreciate it!

Now about that other question, regarding the aquarium light - can I turn it on now, or should I give the fish some more time to adapt before I brighten their world?
 
I'd go ahead and use the light when you are in the room to see the fish. fish aren't big fans of light anyhow, so unless you have plants many folks only turn on their lights for viewing purposes. The less light the easier it is to keep algae in control.
Dave
 
Uh-oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

daveedka said:
I'd go ahead and use the light when you are in the room to see the fish. fish aren't big fans of light anyhow, so unless you have plants many folks only turn on their lights for viewing purposes. The less light the easier it is to keep algae in control.
Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks - I read this and turned the light on several hours ago, and after a moment or two of shock, my tetras kept swimming around.

However, after a while the three of them stayed on one side of the aquarium, hardly moving around. They'd dart back and forth once or twice across the aquarium, but they'd always go right back to that corner. Now, that corner is on the far side, away from the heater... could the temperature have anything to do with it? My exterior strip thermometer says that the temp. is currently at 76 degrees, though, so I'm not exactly sure why that would have any effect on them.

Also, I did end up putting in that half-gallon of water with a lower pH, after dilluting it by filling the gallon-jug up the rest of the way with water. After another pH test of that gallon (which came out to be ~7.4), I calculated and figured that the overall change in pH with the adition of that water would be only about .5, but even with that I only put in half of that water (so that there is still a bit of water that needs to be put into the tank - I didn't want to risk any kind of shock). So, my question is - Why are my fish basically sitting still against the side of the tank? They appear to be shaking slightly, but I'm quite sure that that is simply them moving their fins so as to stay afloat - they've been doing that since I put them in last night.

One more thing - should I feed them? I read in a couple places to wait a day or two for the fish to settle in before feeding them, but should I just sprinkle a few flakes in there now?
 
danas90 said:
One more thing - should I feed them? I read in a couple places to wait a day or two for the fish to settle in before feeding them, but should I just sprinkle a few flakes in there now?
Click to expand...

hmmmmmmm - I was just observing them, and some kind of particle came near one and he/she got it in its mouth, spit it out, sucked it in again, and finally spit it out and let it float away... could this be a sign that they need food?
 
could this be a sign that they need food?
Click to expand...

There is slim chance that they actually "need" food, there is a good chance they would eat a little bit if they had the opportunity. Feed very lightly at best, everyone likes to feed their new fish but resist the urge as much as you can. Overfeeding is the biggest issue with most fishkeepers. it's easy to do. If they do not go after the food remove it in a few minutes. if they are eating it's a sign that they are doing O.K. at least for the moment. It may take a few days to get over all of the shocks they have been through.
Dave
 
Cool - thanks Dave

yea and just a minute ago, I turned the light off (i kinda didn't think about turning it off when I went downstairs - oops!) and they seem to be a bit more active now, but they're still sticking to that corner. I guess they're just settling in... But considering that they had a light over their heads all day in the store, I'm a bit suprised on how they're acting when its on. Hey! I just looked over at them, and they have made the absolutely humongous journey across the 10-gallon fish tank... lol. Yesss they're definitely much more active now!

Thanks again for all the help... time to give them a miniscule dinner :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom