They're Dying ... Help!

[fort384]

Using the chart isn't going to work in your case because you have something else (your substrate) altering the pH of your tank.

I am wondering what kind of soil it is that would cause your pH to be that low... and with a KH reading as low as yours, altering the pH will be no easy task as you don't have a lot of buffering capacity. You have to be mindful of causing any large pH swings, which would be more harmful than having the low pH to begin with.

Since your test kit bottoms out at 6.0, I am wondering what your actual measurement is.

 

[Blueiz]

Do you have peat in your tank? I/v never heard of a substrate lowering ph unless it contained peat. Do you have any driftwood in your tank?

It would be really helpful if you could try and find out what type of substrate you have. Also, have you tried letting your water from the tap sit out for 24 hours to gas off then measuring the ph? It's not uncommon to have low ph coming out of the tap. I succcessfully kept a variety of fish and in a ph of 6 for 7 years.

 

[EasternCanuck]

Hi,

I will have to drop by my LFS and get the name of the substrate. I've uploaded a photo here but you probably can't tell much from that.

I have one piece of driftwood in the tank.

If it doesn't really matter, then I won't bother trying to adjust the PH. Probably better to let it remain stable than try and mess with it?

 

[fort384]

It almost looks like some kind of laterite? Not brown enough though.

Have you had any more deaths since the original post? I think it would be better not to mess with the pH so long as it isn't too low. Again, I am curious what the actual reading is since your test kit bottoms out at 6.

FYI, fish do not seem to be bothered as much by pH alteration from CO2 as they are from other chemical alteration of pH. So, injecting CO2, while it will further lower your pH, should not be harmful to your fish, so long as it is done in moderation. You want to aim for around 25-30 ppm CO2. With your tank, the only accurate way to get a good determination on CO2 concentration might be to use a drop checker with a standard reference solution of 4 degrees KH.

 

[Blueiz]

It almost looks like some kind of laterite? Not brown enough though.

Have you had any more deaths since the original post? I think it would be better not to mess with the pH so long as it isn't too low. Again, I am curious what the actual reading is since your test kit bottoms out at 6.

FYI, fish do not seem to be bothered as much by pH alteration from CO2 as they are from other chemical alteration of pH. So, injecting CO2, while it will further lower your pH, should not be harmful to your fish, so long as it is done in moderation. You want to aim for around 25-30 ppm CO2. With your tank, the only accurate way to get a good determination on CO2 concentration might be to use a drop checker with a standard reference solution of 4 degrees KH.

 

[EasternCanuck]

Hi there.

Thank you very much for the continued replies. I have not had any more fish deaths and my tank is now cycled, I believe. Ammonia is reading "0" and nitrites are also reading "0".

I do have a fair amount of algae growth on the sides of the tank (and everything else in the tank for that matter). Plants are thriving and I'm going to have to cut back a couple actually. Even the grass I planted in clumps is spreading out along the bottom of the tank.