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As I suspected he would, my poor SAE died, I'm guessing from the change in ph. :( That's the bad news. The good news is that the other fish seem to be fine (which is a bit surprising. I've heard that neon tetras are exceedingly vulnerable to changes in water chemistry. They seem to be...

Update I finally found a small bag of crushed coral last weekend. I added a pound to my 26 gallon tank on Sunday. The ph was reading 6.8. Because I noticed my flying fox (SAE) moping on the bottem of the tank at feeding time tonight (he is usually up top with the other fishes to eat the...

Hello, I started a 26" aquarium last Sept. I was reviewing my electricity bill and it seems that my household usage has increased from 300 kwh per month (before aquarium), to 400kwh per month after. I keep my house cold (65 while away, and 69 while at home). My aqaurium temp is 78...

After 24 hours the two pieces of driftwood (from S. Africa) in the bucket dropped the pH from 7.8 to 7.5. The tag claimed that it would drop the pH. I had no idea that it would drop it that much. Based on the advice here, I am going to pick up some crushed coral this weekend to try to bring up...

I have Seachem Acid Buffer (lowers pH by converting KH into CO2) and Alkaline Buffer (Raises pH by increasing KH - what I've been referring to as PH up). The packaging says that when used together, the water will be buffered and the PH stabilized. Any thoughts on using these two products to...

jsoong - Thanks for the info. My only concern is that my tank is mostly a tetra tank. I thought tetras preferred ph of below 7.0 If using crushed coral buffers the water, but raises the ph to 7.8, won't the tetras be unhappy? Thanks for the post about water chemistry. I will read it...

I tested the aquarium tonight and GH tests at about 75 and KH tests between 10 and 30. So it looks like the KH is way to low? Is adding crushed coral is the best way to stabilize KH? Thanks!

After yesterday's 50% water change/gravel vacuum, the ph was at around 7.0 (up from 6.0). I tested today and it has already dropped to 6.8. I've taken your excellent advice and removed both pieces of driftwood and placed them in a bucket. I'll test the aquarium tomorrow (w/o driftwood) and...

I'm a bit late posting here, since I've already made two posting looking for help (thanks to everyone that answered). I started my freshwater aquarium in August of 2009, and have been looking for an online forum ever since. I posted a few pics of some of my setup and a few fish. Anyway...

2 dwarf gouramis 3 zebra danios 4 diamond tetras 5 neon tetras

OK, so I did the overnight bucket test. Water out of my tap tests at 7.6 ph. After overnight in a bucket, the water still tests at 7.6. From what I read about the cause of Planaria Worms (over feeding, and too much gravel), I've reduced my feedings to once per day, and removed gravel to...

So you don't think that 6.0 is too low? What worries me is that after every water change the ph tests low, then I use ph up to raise it to around 6.8, but within a week, it's back down to 6.0. What I'm hearing is that I should not be concerned if 6.0 is where it wants to be.

I have a full hood, use an 18" air stone for eight hours a day (it's on a timer with my light), and have an Aqueon 30 filter (200 gallons / hour). I'll do what you suggest to test the water... Thanks!

My ph is now 6.0 (and falling). After a water change it (of course) goes up, but within a week, it falls back to 6.0. I've heard that a ph that is two low will start to burn the gills of the fish. I've also heard that drift wood lowers ph. Is it possible that two pieces are too much for the...

Hello All, I started an aquarium in August of this year. The water out of the tap in Wash DC is around 7.8. Using PH down, I got it around 7.0 when starting the aquarium. However, it keeps falling to 6.0 or below. (Ammonia and Nitrite are zero, Nitrate is about 20). Here's what I was...

That reading was *AFTER* a 30% water change! I've have performed at least a 25% water change/gravel vacuum every other week since the tank completed the start-up cycle. I guess I have been overfeeding them. I will take your's and Blueiz's advice and cut back on feeding them to once a day...

The food seems to be gone within about three minutes and I don't see food at the bottom of the tank. Do you think that the high nitrates could be caused by decomposing plants? Two of the three plants that I added disinigrated within a few weeks of adding them. I have removed what was left...

I wondered about that myself, since he still schools with the other neons and has a good appetite. The "sack" over the eye appeared the day after I did a water change and planted some new plants. For the water change, I took the tank light and hood off, so I couldn't really see where the fish...

It's good to know that the other neons in the tank where I bought my neons may not have been sick. Since I'm still new, I don't know if I'm overfeeding. I give them a medium sized pinch of Tetra flakes three times a day. Each time, all fish seem like they haven't seen food in days. I don't...

Hello all, I started an aquarium in August of this year and have been slowly adding fish. I'm concerned about my most recent addition. Three weeks ago, going against my better judgement, I bought four neon tetras from a tank that looked like it had sick fish (the blue neon stripe was pale on...