Clowns not happy with pH <= 6.9

[dapellegrini]

I recently started injecting CO2 into my tank and noticed an immediate change in the activity of my clown loaches. My tap water is around 7.8 - 7.9 with a kH of 6 or so. I have been driving the pH down to 7.0 with CO2 injection and noticed that my clowns go into hiding at that level. Yesterday I upped my dosing of CO2 to bring the pH down to 6.9/6.8 (an ideal level for my plants) and noticed that one of my clowns started to swim sideways and was not doing well. Upon that observation, I lowered the CO2 and the the pH climb to 7.1 and today the clowns are out, about, happy and swimming straight.

I have ordered calibration fluid for my SMS122 since it only came with a 7.01 calibation fluid, I am thinking that perhaps it's measurements are off because I did not do the lower or upper (4.0 and 10.0) calibrations... That's all I can think of... Normally with my water hardness bring the pH to 6.9/6.8 should still be ok for the fish (all the other ones seem fine)...

It seems that at 7.1 the clowns are out and happy. At 7.0 they go into hiding, and at 6.9 and below they start to swim funny and show signs of serious illness or lack of well-being.

Hmmm....

 

[Guest]

Clowns can be very sensitive to changes in their enviornment and can be an indicator that something is wrong. Maybe the source of your problems is the rate in which you increased the Co2 levels.

 

[dapellegrini]

Hard to say for the rate. The bubble counter is showing about 3 per second when injection is on. It can take more than an hour for that to drop from 7.0 to 6.9. Someone told me that Clowns can be very sensitive to pH swings, but I have been injecting CO2 now for a few weeks an the pH is very stable at 7.0, with exception of the other day when I put it down in the 6.9-6.8 range.