My Tank PARAMS are going crazy...

[futurecanadian]

I noticed my copperband swimming in the top 1/4 of the tank only and the maroon in in the far bottom corner and breathing irregularly, so I tested the water. I also had medicated the tank with Myracin a week ago, so now the skimmer is pulling the rest of that out. I did a 20% water change on Sunday too... so it has been 4 days since the last change...The params were as follow:

PH 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10.0
Nitrite 0.25
SG 1.024

Tonight I did another 20% H2O change and the fish are still acting odd. I also emptied my skimmer. If I lose any more fish I might have to drink heavily... Im just saying... So whats my next step?

 

[futurecanadian]

Sorry that my sentance structure is so poor above. I was just really freaked out when I was typing it. P.S. fish are still acting odd...

 

[nycsicktank]

i would take your fish back to lfs and start all over man..sorry

 

[salty420]

hmm i'll have to look back your other threads real quick... has your ph always been this low?

 

[futurecanadian]

My PH has always been 7.8-8.0. Either the actual PH or my test kit varies on that one. I am so lost right now. I just tested the water again after the h2o change and the params were:

PH 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5-10 ppm

Could the high nitrates be making my fish act odd?

 

[salty420]

ok so in your other thread as far as i see it said your lfs was testing your water after the other fish died and told you it tested perfect? so this drop in ph and rise in nitrites is new?

 

[salty420]

well ph does drop at night, im not sure how much tho... that seems really low. no, the nitrates wouldn't be affecting your fish at all.

 

[futurecanadian]

Yes, but they also tested after I had just done a water change (not sure if that would affect anything)

 

[salty420]

how is the hawkfish acting? did the clown and butterfly just start acting wierd? did anything else change? have you checked all the basics, tank temp, power heads are running, etc?

 

[WoodRight]

I have to ask this just because I have done it. When you do your tests do you rinse the test tube in the tank before you do the test? I ask because I have done a test on one tank then rinsed the tubes with tap water then done test on one of our other tanks and the test were all nuts. Someone told me to rinse the tests in the tank after the tap to make sure you are only testing the tank water and not even a little bit of the tap. It has stop me from getting false readings.