Help angel fish acting 911

[angeltank]

ok so the last few weaks i had a few angel fish die and perimiters where fine i think one just got stuck in my crappy plastic plants. but now i have a angel fish that is acting like its going up for food or air but it wont swim it just goes around with the current i have no idea whats whrong im going to do a PWC right now but please please help!!

 

[angeltank]

up date did PWC checking perimiters so far i have
ph 6.7
ph high 7.8

what is the best way to get the ph back into the 7.2 range?

 

[angeltank]

just in ammonia 1.0 !!!
how to fix? please anything people i hate to see my fish suffer
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm

 

[angeltank]

well heres another update the small suffering angel just got its wings but i still have to problem with the perimeters i do have ph down but have read that alott of people are against it so please people give me some ideas on how to fix the perimiters thanks in advance

 

[Joker741]

How much of a PWC did you do? What did you put in the water you put in the tank?

 

[angeltank]

i did just over 2/3 and i put
accu clear
easyballance with nitraban (it has been about 6 months so i figured it needed it due to so many pwc"s)
and start right with allantoin

 

[Joker741]

How long has it been since you last did a PWC? Why did you put in accuclear, is the tank cloudy?

Found this on anouther site:

This thread is for all the people using or thinking of using Easy Balance. I ask you this question:

WHY?

Nitraban is not a substitute for regular WEEKLY water changes.

The KH (Carbonate Hardness) of the water in your tank is what keeps your pH stable. KH is consumed by natural processes in the tank. If you do not change out the water in your tank on a regular basis the KH will be used up. When the KH is used up, the pH begins to fall. If the KH gets to 0, all of your bacteria will die. This is also known as a "pH crash". If your bacteria die, your tank will start to recycle.

Secondly, it's not only nitrates that must be removed from your tank. There are DOC, Dissolved Organic Compounds, that we cannot measure for, that are also produced by natural processes. Then the TDS, Total Dissolved Solids. The longer the water sits, the "thicker" it gets and harder it is for the fish to live in it. The only way to remove any of those is via water changes.

Now, that you have a very very basic understanding of the above, let me tell you what Easy Balance will do and why it is not a good idea:

Using Easy Balance will increase your KH and pH. Since your pH will not drop and your KH will not be consumed, your tank will remain "stable" in that regard. If you do no water changes, like Easy Balance says you do not have to do, the water will become heavy with DOCs. Think of your fish as swimming in nitrifying jello.

This state is known as OTS, or Old Tank Syndrom. It is what happens when a FW tank does not get regular water changes. Once you have OTS, any new fish you try to add to the tank will die almost immediately. Eventually, your older fish will die. The bottom dwellers will go first, followed by your more sensitive fish and then the rest.

Easy Balance with Nitraban - WARNING! - Aquaria Central

 

[Joker741]

What do you do for maintence on your tank? How offten do you vacuum and do PWC?

Check your water source for ammonia as well. I would let your tank settle for 24 hours and retest.

 

[angeltank]

the last pwc was on the 3rd i got a little behind this month. yes water is cloudy and i wanted to be able to clean all those small particles out and i added easy balance due to lack of fish and just doing a cleaning. i vacume and wip off the algea that the snails didnt get when i do a pwc and i have a coury cat and a pleco and a zebra fish and now only one angel

 

[Joker741]

Okay, it hasn't been that long since your last PWC. What was the ammonia before the change? I would be willing to bet is you tested again now, the ammonia levels would be lower than your last test. I would let it settle and see what it is in the morning.

 

[angeltank]

yea im going to let it settle the rest of the night but what should i do about the ph and i didnt check it before due to it being time for a pwc anyway...

ill check it in the morning

 

[Joker741]

After reading around online, I found this:

Again I would like to comment on the fact that you do not need to lower ph. It is a pain in the arse and expensive. You will end up hating it. The fish are not going to be any happier if the ph is 7.2 or 7.8 or 8.2! Therefore if you do not have a goal like breeding, do not bother.

The most important factor in keeping fish is constant water parameters Keeping a steady ph is very, very important!

I growout discus in my tap water that has a ph of 7.6! My planted community tank with cardinals, discus, rams without C02 injection is also at 7.6 (with c02 around 7.2). Therefore, there is no reason to that you must change the ph.

If however you will not be convinced otherwise, RO filter mixed with tap water is the best way to lower ph. There are other methods like using peat that work. Do not use chemicals to adjust ph. Too much room for error causing stress and disease. Also, we do not know how these chemicals effect the fish!

Test the water in the morning and report back.

 

[krazeeboy]

ok i gotta ask this even though its the most simplest things. is your tank cycled?

 

[angeltank]

yes

 

[Squareheads]

Maybe they need more space?

 

[angeltank]

heres the update
ph 7.0
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm

so thats all good but i took all my plants out and now have to get new ones....somehow but my one angel is swimming at a slite angle any idea what could cause that?>

 

[happygirl65]

Inspect the fins, do they look ragged? How big/old are the angels and how long have you had them? It is not normal for an angelfish to get stuck in plants even if they are plastic ones. It probably had something wrong with it.

It will also help to tell us :

What size tank?
How long has it been set up?
What other fish are in there?
What filter are you using?
Do you have a heater?
Have you seen any aggression between inhabitants?
How often do you do a water change and how much?
When was the last time you did a water change?
What is your water source? (City or well)
Did you use a declorinator (if city supply water)
If the fish is new did you quarantine it?

I see that you tested all parameters at 0....the nitrate should be higher if the tank is cycled, how old is your test kit?

With some more info we can probalby help you nail down the problem.

 

[Zagz]

Threads merged.

 

[happygirl65]

Thank you Zagz, that helps a lot.

To the original poster,
It looks to me like you are not using a dechlorinator product when you change the water (something like "Prime")
If you are on a regular city water supply they add chlorine so without a de-chlorinator product you risk killing your biological bacteria every time you change your water and it's not good for your fish either.
That explains the ammonia after the tank having been set up for a few months already. You basically have started over with your cycle.

So, If Iam correct what you can do to fix the problem right now, is to get some Prime and test your parameters daily. And anytime your ammonia and nitrite is over .5 do a 50% water change. You will probably be doing daily water changes for a while until your biofilter catches back up.

If you have been using a dechlorinator then I would say the ammonia spike was due to adding too many fish and experiencing a mini cycle, either way the process is the same. Daily water changes (WITH prime) and waiting and watching for the biofilter to catch up before adding more fish.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how it goes.