pH jump and possible fin rot

[peaceablegarden]

Hi Fish Folks of Great Wisdom,
Here's the rub...

Tank 1 (see sig line). Established for over 4 months no fluctuations in water parameters noted until today. PWC 4-5 days ago (usually do weekly), just removed three Glolight Tetras and added one Oto yesterday. This afternoon looking in at the Otos ramming all over the tank I noticed that my MM Platy has a large white spot near the base of his tail nearest the upper MM ear. See attached photo.

I've seen this before when I was cycling the tank and it turned into fin rot. I immediately took water readings...Ammonia 0, NitrItes 0, NitrAtes 5, pH 7.5. The pH is the highest it has ever been for my tanks. Tank 2 is at 6.8. Tap water is 6.5

Is the high pH a reason for concern? And why would it have gone up so much?

 

[peaceablegarden]

Okay, so I've done a little reading. Seems my pH is probably okay. But the jump could be attributable to moving the fish yesterday. I'm doing a pwc and will check again.

 

[peaceablegarden]

25% pwc yesterday, no change in either the water or white spot. Should I be working to reduce the pH? Could the jump have contributed to the tail issue? OR see my post in General Discussion...http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/you-are-not-gonna-believe-this-112374.html

 

[joy13]

You think it is fin rot when I look at the picture the white spot on the tail looks more like ich. I don't know if you QT your oto but it is always a good idea for fish especially wild caught fish like ots. I wouldn't do anything to change the ph with chemicals, I try not to use any chemicals in my tanks if possible.

 

[peaceablegarden]

No, not ich. This is the start of something else which I've had before. The spot is too large and is thick with some real texture to it. There are no other spots. The Oto is just a transfer from my other tank and have had him for at least a couple of months. Haven't had any thoughts to use a pH adjusting chemical. I've used those in the past and had nothing but trouble. Was just wondering about water changes and perhaps turning off my aerator.

 

[joy13]

If you want to bring down your ph naturally driftwood will bring it down, it does it very slowly and naturally. The tannins can help with infections and make fish actually breed too. Keeping up with the water changes will help with the fin rot. Is your aerator your filter as well? If so turning it off can upset your cycle in your tank since it is only 4 months old.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Thanks for the tips. Aerator is a bubble stone. I'm still at a loss for the jump. I did read it could have to do with the removal and addition of the fish. I moved out three Glolights and moved in the Oto. Could the calcium build up have something to do with it? I'm also wondering if by doing nothing it will just level back out to its previous level.

 

[joy13]

The bioload would be abut the same with changing out the fish so that shouldn't have had an impact. The only fin rot I have had to deal with is a couple of old bettas and one beaten up angelfish, I use a lot of PWC and garlic guard to help out. I finally found garlic guard and decided I could probably do the same thing with the garlic in the jars I can get at the store for a lot cheaper and use it to double in the kitchen. Feed flakes with garlic guard is impossible so I just add it to the frozen foods I feed them.

Cities use buffers in their water system to change the ph in the water it is possible they did changed the type they are using. The fish should adapt if that is the situation.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Not the tap water, I tested it and my other tank has remained the same pH.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Good news...the pH is dropping on its own (with some help from two pwcs over the past 3-4 days) and the white spot on the MM Platy's tail is almost completely gone. Whew! pH is down to 7.2 from 7.6.

 

[gzeiger]

My fish do fine at 8.0. There's nothing magic about the number 7.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Yes, I agree, but I had a sudden jump from 6.8 to 7.6 for some unknown reason and that seemed to cause an issue with the health of my platy. I attributed it to the loss of three glowlight tetra, but who knows. Now that the pH is coming back down, again I don't know why other than the removal of the tetra, the platy's tail is back to normal.