freshwaterfan
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2011
- Messages
- 11
Hey all!
Ive got a bit of a predicament and Im getting conflicting opinions from local pet shops and whatnot. I have a 40 gallon tank with 2 Clown Barbs, 2 Cherry Barbs, 3 long finned Zebra Dannios, and a Dinosaur Bicir. Water heater, PowerFin 60 water filter, bubble bar and random other things inside as decoration for them to play in of course. The tanks around 6 weeks old and right now the PH level is insane. I tested it and it came out at 8.0, the test strip hit bright red. Ammonia level is stable, it tends to balance between .2 and .5 and has never gone past green. Petco tested it and flipped out and said that our water is "all unbalanced" and told us if we bought fish there and tried to put them in that water they wouldnt refund us. Petsmart told me that since the aquarium is treated city tap water its testing normally and that theres nothing out of the ordinary. So far except for 1 fish dying (it had a chunk taken out of it so I dont think that was the water haha) we havent had any mass deaths in the tank but it still has me a bit weary. Ive tried some of that PH balance treatment stuff and that actually makes my fish act weird. It'll drop the level for a little bit but while its lower they get much less active and just hang near the bottom. Once it rises back to its 8.0 they're all over the tank again. Given the details am I worrying about nothing? Ive never had the level so high with any of my other tanks in the past so it really has me raising an eyebrow.
Ive got a bit of a predicament and Im getting conflicting opinions from local pet shops and whatnot. I have a 40 gallon tank with 2 Clown Barbs, 2 Cherry Barbs, 3 long finned Zebra Dannios, and a Dinosaur Bicir. Water heater, PowerFin 60 water filter, bubble bar and random other things inside as decoration for them to play in of course. The tanks around 6 weeks old and right now the PH level is insane. I tested it and it came out at 8.0, the test strip hit bright red. Ammonia level is stable, it tends to balance between .2 and .5 and has never gone past green. Petco tested it and flipped out and said that our water is "all unbalanced" and told us if we bought fish there and tried to put them in that water they wouldnt refund us. Petsmart told me that since the aquarium is treated city tap water its testing normally and that theres nothing out of the ordinary. So far except for 1 fish dying (it had a chunk taken out of it so I dont think that was the water haha) we havent had any mass deaths in the tank but it still has me a bit weary. Ive tried some of that PH balance treatment stuff and that actually makes my fish act weird. It'll drop the level for a little bit but while its lower they get much less active and just hang near the bottom. Once it rises back to its 8.0 they're all over the tank again. Given the details am I worrying about nothing? Ive never had the level so high with any of my other tanks in the past so it really has me raising an eyebrow.
