High ph effects

[lomeli562]

How does high ph effect a fishes health? My ph is 8.2 and my black moor seems sickly how can it effect her?

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[gilpi]

I'm not an expert on gold fish but I would say your fishes health is not pH related.
Water conditions, tank size and diet are more important.
Being around fish many years I have seen gold fish thrive in a wide variety of pH range as long as it stays one level, as most fish, they are sensitive to pH swings.
I would focus more on water changes and keeping the temperature no higher than mid to lower 70's.

 

[lomeli562]

Well the temp on her tank right now is about 72 shes in a 55 gal and I did a 30 gal wc about an hour ago she seems to be doing better but shes been up and down for a while now. She does have white patches on her I treated her with tetra fungi tabs (not sure if thats the real name) and she improved but the patches didnt fully disapear. Could that be the cause of her ailments?

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[gilpi]

Well the temp on her tank right now is about 72 shes in a 55 gal and I did a 30 gal wc about an hour ago she seems to be doing better but shes been up and down for a while now. She does have white patches on her I treated her with tetra fungi tabs (not sure if thats the real name) and she improved but the patches didnt fully disapear. Could that be the cause of her ailments? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

You know, it's hard to tell the cause of her ailments not knowing much of the history with the fish and tank's maintenance.
The general rule is to do frequent water changes, more so when they're showing signs of disease, good filtration and feeding.

 

[ArtistGardener]

How long have you had her and when did the fungus show up? Goldfish do best in higher pH waters so it isn't that. I would bet it is related to water quality. Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If those nitrates are higher than 20 ppm, you aren't doing enough water changes. Anyone else in the tank with her? Goldfish need their water changed more frequently (at least weekly) and in larger volumes (25-90% depending on tank size and occupants) to maintain great health. Good luck!

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Chicago water is 8.2. You can gradually lower yours with driftwood. Since you would want it soon, get a soup pot from dollar store and keep boiling it with fresh conditioned water for 2 days. Do that with 2 small pieces so. When you do your water changes you can use the 2nd piece overnight in the fresh change water to equalize it to the tank water pH. It'll be a lot of testing for awhile.

My driftwood is still soaking so I can't tell you how fast the pH changes. In a small bucket I went from 8.2 to 7.8 overnight with a big piece that had been soaked for 2 weeks.

Here is YouTube video about lowering pH. http://youtu.be/tqJ1T1S9SNk

 

[ArtistGardener]

A lower pH isn't in the least bit necessary for goldfish. The only problem with high pH is if there is also lots of ammonia present as the combination increases the burn potential. I keep goldfish in water that is 8.2-8.4 with no problems whatsoever, but I have lots of filtration and do at least a 33% water change every week to keep my nitrates below 20. I don't think her fish's problem has anything to do with pH in this case.

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

I believe you. I'm not very informed about goldfish. I was just answering a natural way to lower pH.

 

[lomeli562]

Well im currently doing two 15 gal water changes a week but I was thinking of stepping up to 3. She is doing better though after last nights water change.

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[gilpi]

Is that the only fish in the tank?

 

[lomeli562]

No its her and a commet im planning to switch out the commet for a second black moor once i get her back to health

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[gilpi]

I would just keep up more frequent water changes as mentioned, make sure you clean the gravel real good too, lots of nasty stuff can get trapped in there. Im sure in time your fish will heal.
Good luck.

 

[lomeli562]

I have sand in the tank does it make a difference? I figured itd be better for when she sifts

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[jlk]

Well im currently doing two 15 gal water changes a week but I was thinking of stepping up to 3. She is doing better though after last nights water change.

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If she is doing better after the water change, this indicates that the toxin levels in your tank are likely too high. Increase your wc schedule to 50+% twice a week or more. Also make sure the comet is not bullying or harassing her.

Ph is definitely not the issue here as goldfish do best in hard, alkaline high ph water. My tanks and tubs are all in the 8-8.2 range (my pond reads even higher) but I do large wcs (75-100%) every two to three days. Fry get 50-75% wcs 1-2x a day. Healthy water is vital to fish health and happiness.

 

[lomeli562]

The comet I believe is helping her as weird as it sounds shed start having trouble and hed rush over to get her swimming again. I just treated for a fungus she has I have to wait 4 days for it to be used fully ill do a 50% change then

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[Matt68005]

Fungus/goldfish

Fancy goldfish are suseptible to fungus very much so.
I had a black moor who got into a fight with a common or koi not sure which
his tail was shredded to nothing
I kept him in Methylene blue by himself
He is now fully recovered and his tail grown back
Big guy, but now he knows not to mess with koi or commons!
(they are gone now just the fancies)
you best bet is to find some methylene blue and keep the fish in that for at least a week. (use a tub and do frequent WC)
5ml per ten gallons first day
3-4ml per day after that
Give it a good week and it should be fine.

 

[Matt68005]

Healthy water is vital to fish health and happiness.

True and so is the vigour of the fish. Just like in nature Dry years mean poor water and less food and fish die off. Plenty of rain years and they Multiply fast.

But when it comes to people worrying so much about the tiny paramaters, i find it kind of dumb. You don't have to be like testing the water every 5 minutes. Just do Once a week 25% change and siphone the substrate.
I think in nature the sunlight and rainy years plus "survival of the fittest" is why they are so strong, and pet fish are so weak.
idk im just blabbering on

 

[lomeli562]

Ill try the methylene after this treatment is done shes actually doing much better

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