Please help I'm new at owning aquariums and clueless. I have a 33galllon tank. I set it up for a couple days, then added some feeder fish to it, everything was fine but then it started to get some sort of bacteria bloom, the tank got very cloudy and it didn't go away after afew days so I added something to clear the water. Since then my ph has gone from 6.6 to below 6.0. but the water is clear. I went to the store and asked for help but he said there was nothing I could really do and that I was basically a moron, and all I could really do is watch my fish die. So I did acouple 25% water changes to control the ph but it did nothing. Half my fish died so then I switched my fish into a different tank so they would live abit longer, while i did a 50% water change, but still it didn't do anything. Then all the fish appeared to get ick, they were covered in white and and their fins were dissolving. All remaining fish died except one, so I moved him to a separate fish bowl so he wouldn't die and the ick mysteriously left him, I think the water was so acidic it was eating them. Them I did a 100% water change, rinsed everything out and washed the filters until the water I washed them in tested at a neutral PH. Then I put everything back. The water was fine for two days and all of a sudden I have very high ph again.When I tested it, it is so bright yellow it's off the ph chart. Any suggestions?? What am I doing wrong?? I'm just about ready to empty it completely and just put a damn hamster or something in it. Or maybe some nice plastic fish. :?
Really LOw PH
- Thread starter Jane
- Start date
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loganj
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nah...you don't want a hamster...been there...done that. We need some more info about your setup though. When you said you put a "few feeder fish" in the tank...how many?
What kind of filtration do you have?
What is the pH of your tap water?
Have you tested the hardness of the water?
Did you buy ammonia and nitrite test kits and are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle in aquariums?
I suspect you did in fact have a bacterial bloom and that the biological activity associated with it was responsible for lowering the pH. I also suspect that your water has a low buffering capacity and is therefore prone to pH swings. The buffering capacity is the ability of the water to absorb acid without a drop in pH. Depending on how many fish were in the tank, you bacterial bloom may have been compounded by an ammonia spike as the tank began to cycle. There is, on the left side of the home page, a link entitled "articles". There is an article in there by one of our advisors on the nitrogen cycle. That would be a good place to start if you're not already familiar with it. Tell us the details of your setup and we'll help you get it started and keep it going. WELCOME to Aquarium Advice!
What kind of filtration do you have?
What is the pH of your tap water?
Have you tested the hardness of the water?
Did you buy ammonia and nitrite test kits and are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle in aquariums?
I suspect you did in fact have a bacterial bloom and that the biological activity associated with it was responsible for lowering the pH. I also suspect that your water has a low buffering capacity and is therefore prone to pH swings. The buffering capacity is the ability of the water to absorb acid without a drop in pH. Depending on how many fish were in the tank, you bacterial bloom may have been compounded by an ammonia spike as the tank began to cycle. There is, on the left side of the home page, a link entitled "articles". There is an article in there by one of our advisors on the nitrogen cycle. That would be a good place to start if you're not already familiar with it. Tell us the details of your setup and we'll help you get it started and keep it going. WELCOME to Aquarium Advice!
My aquarium was used when I got it so I'll see if I can answer most of your questions:
- I started with 20 feeder fish, (the guy at the store told me I shouldn't have done that but it's not like anyone was offering me any help there, and the ph only changed after I added the stuff to kill the bacteria bloom,it said that the ammonia levels would increase while using it and to use this other product to help maintain levels but when I went back to the store they didn't have the product and gave me stress zyme instead which isn't helping, and they told me there was nothing i could do about it. I had the fish in for over a week before and the ph only dropped to about 6.5 from 6.8ish)
-I have a topfin 30 filter and a regent filter, I think it's a 20-40 it doesn't say anything else on it. I am currently running two to see if they both work.
-My tap water ph is 6.7
-How do I test water hardness??
-I do not have a ammonia or nitrate test kit because I didn't know I needed one, People at pet stores are really helpful
They seem to run in fear when they see me walk in.
-I have no heater because my apartment is very warm and i don't think I am going to need one, except maybe in winter, my temp is currently 28c
Is there anything else you need to know? Thank you for the quick reply by the way, this site seems very imformative and I am glad I stumbled upon it.
- I started with 20 feeder fish, (the guy at the store told me I shouldn't have done that but it's not like anyone was offering me any help there, and the ph only changed after I added the stuff to kill the bacteria bloom,it said that the ammonia levels would increase while using it and to use this other product to help maintain levels but when I went back to the store they didn't have the product and gave me stress zyme instead which isn't helping, and they told me there was nothing i could do about it. I had the fish in for over a week before and the ph only dropped to about 6.5 from 6.8ish)
-I have a topfin 30 filter and a regent filter, I think it's a 20-40 it doesn't say anything else on it. I am currently running two to see if they both work.
-My tap water ph is 6.7
-How do I test water hardness??
-I do not have a ammonia or nitrate test kit because I didn't know I needed one, People at pet stores are really helpful
They seem to run in fear when they see me walk in. -I have no heater because my apartment is very warm and i don't think I am going to need one, except maybe in winter, my temp is currently 28c
Is there anything else you need to know? Thank you for the quick reply by the way, this site seems very imformative and I am glad I stumbled upon it.
G
Guest
Guest
I don't meat to be rude here, but what you need to do is more research. The fish store people can be good, bad, or inbetween, but they cant explain everything you need to know as a new fish keeper in 5- 10 minutes.
This article explains how the nitrogen cycle works.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
Also, you should go to either your fish store, library, or bookstore, pick up a couple basic "getting started" aquarium books, published within the last 2-5 years. Sorry, but I don't have any particular titles to recommend. This is key as you can keep it on hand to solve problems that may (likely will) arise from time to time. Take your time, study like you were going to school, then proceed with more fish.
We can answer a lot of things here, and will gladly do so, but you need to get some basics down first. Once you have the basics, then your confidence will be much higher, and you will make good decisions about how to keep your fishy friends. Welcome to the site, Jane!
This article explains how the nitrogen cycle works.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
Also, you should go to either your fish store, library, or bookstore, pick up a couple basic "getting started" aquarium books, published within the last 2-5 years. Sorry, but I don't have any particular titles to recommend. This is key as you can keep it on hand to solve problems that may (likely will) arise from time to time. Take your time, study like you were going to school, then proceed with more fish.
We can answer a lot of things here, and will gladly do so, but you need to get some basics down first. Once you have the basics, then your confidence will be much higher, and you will make good decisions about how to keep your fishy friends. Welcome to the site, Jane!
KrispyCam
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi Jane! Hang in there and don't give up on the aquarium. I'm a newbie to this stuff too, and the one thing I've learned about "fish keeping" is that you need to do a lot of reading. Fish Knowledge = Healthy, living fish.
...oh and the other thing I've learned - don't always believe the guy at the fish store
Hope all goes well with your tank.
KC
...oh and the other thing I've learned - don't always believe the guy at the fish store
Hope all goes well with your tank.
KC
loganj
Aquarium Advice Addict
OK, I am in total agreement with corvuscorax. There is no substitute for research and it really is part of keeping fish. I have been keeping fish for about 25 years and I still read and learn about it. Since the issue of water hardness probably isn't covered in any of out articles, I'll try to give you a short course on it...perhaps it will make some sense. Water can either be soft or hard...with varying degrees between the two extremes of course. The hardness, simplified, is the mineral content in the water. Soft water has a low mineral content and hard water has a high mineral content. This mineral content is also referred to as buffering capacity. Hard water has a much higher buffering capacity than soft water. Buffering capacity is basically the ability to absorb acid without a drop in pH. Typically, water with a low (acidic) pH will be soft and water with a high pH will be hard. OK...biological processes, such as the ones that take place in your aquarium, produce acid. If the water has a low buffering capacity, as I suspect yours does, the pH will rapidly drop with the addition of the acid. Hard water will absorb the acid because the minerals in the water will neutralize it...at least until the minerals are used up. Anyway, that's a short version of it. Another thing to remember is that most aquariums will have some pH swings while they are cycling. After you learn some more about this, you will find that there are lots of fish that come from soft, acidic environments. Many of these fish would be very much at home in your water. We'll be glad to help you with it.
