PH Shock.. I think I need experts!!

[Kissofthegorami]

I think I have my first emergency on here. I went to do a water change today. I keep a bucket of water that I disolve my acid buffer in (so as not to burn the fish by putting it str8 into the tank). I accidently dumped the entire bucket into my aquarium instead of the bucket of correct PH water. My water is normally 6.5 in my aquarium. This water was 6.0 or less. Weird things happened. My cories basically keeled over, then they started to be covered in a cloudy coating and their eyes were cloudy. Its two hours later. My angel fish now have partially cloudy eyes and white shpots on their fins. My otos got cloudy eyes and one just died. Two of the cories have completly recovered, clear eyes, swimming, the others are really coated with this clody film.. The weirdest part is that my cardinal tetras, rummy-nose tetras, and amano shrimp are fine, swimming, no cloudiness. Usually these animals are the first to be affected by water fluctuations. does this sound like really bad PH shock or did they get burned from the highly acid water? Some of these fish come from water around 5.0 (Amazon).

One other factor... I just used a new declorinator/chloramine remover/ammonia remover recommended by someone reliable. Its Kent's Ammonia Detox. Could this have done it? I checked my ammonia level, its zero.

 

[Harlock]

It doesn't matter what the fish experience in the wild, it's what they are assimilated to. It could be shock. Was the buffer only partially disolved? The slime coat buildup sounds funky, but irritants can cause a buildup, though I've never heard of one so big. Obviously, I think water changes to stabilize and normalize the pH would be a good thing. I've never used Kent's product, I always use Prime now, though Amquel is also okay to use.

 

[Kissofthegorami]

It seems to be slimecoat. One of my other cories is recovering. I have never seen it so bad. I had a bottle of prime in my hand and the guy recommended the Kent product. He said it was the best stuff. :-( I've been sick the past few days. I blame this mishap on my sickness. I hope I don't lose my fish. :-( My pandas don't look good. If I do water changes, that will fluctuate the PH again? Should I let them stabilize for a while? Its been almost 3 hours.

 

[Harlock]

If it's been almost 3 hours, then perhaps the worst is over. I would still want to start inching my way back to as close to my source water as I could. I honestly don;t use pH adjustors for this reason. I have hard water and so I just acclimate my fish slowly and know they'll be fine eventually. Stable pH is by far preferable to the "perfect" pH. Honestly, I would do a water change tonight if it were me and then maybe some small daily changes, 10-20% to get it back to where I normally keep it. The Kent stuff may be good. I just know Prime is cheaper in the long run because it is super concentrated and works like a champ. 2 drops per gallon vs Amquel and it's 5 mL per gallon.

 

[johnnyxxl]

yeah from what I read unless you are trying to breed fish and I am talking in a biotype enviroment or something way complex like that ie making a slice of nature persay I would not bother with trying to play with ph. I leave mine be and have never added anything in the last 2 years since I started keeping fish again. Long story for why I stopped and it involves my now shamed brother.

john