Mystry in my tank

[bob1957j]

I have a 55 gallon tank, fresh water, been up about a year, undergravel filters, wisper 300 filter, live plants. I change water evey other week about 13 gallons. Ph a little below 6, fish are dying , I now only have 2 angels and 2 silver dollars. I tried to raise the ph to just above 6 but to no avail. Suggestions PLease ?
Thanks
Bob W

 

[Menagerie]

[center:7cfa157400] Welcome to AA, bob1957j!! [/center:7cfa157400]

What are you using for a water source? If it is the tap water, I would like you to do a little test--fill a cup with tap water and leave it out overnight, then test the pH.
What are you using as substrate?

 

[johnson]

[center:cdd9f27011] Welcome to AA, bob1957j!! [/center:cdd9f27011]

What are you using for a water source? If it is the tap water, I would like you to do a little test--fill a cup with tap water and leave it out overnight, then test the pH.
What are you using as substrate?

Hey Menagerie, I am also a 'newbie' and I was just glancing through some posts and I just GOT to know.....how does a Calgarian wind up a Devils fan???? :? You have a perfectly good team in Calgary! YIKES! A Neuwindyk connection maybe?

Go Leafs Go!....maybe next year.
As for Bob1957j, wish I could help but I'm pretty much a rookie.

 

[bob1957j]

I will do the test tonight, when I measure the tap water ph direct from the tap it is 7.6 Ph Dark Blue. I will set a sample out over night and test in the morning. As far as substrate I assume you mean the stone or gravel I have at the bottem of the tank over the undergravels. It is a aquarium gravel I would guess would pass a half inch sieve. Again the tanks been up for a year .... thanks for your intrest. Bob W

 

[TankGirl]

What you likely have happening here is acidification from the detritus that is definitely occupying the space beneath your UGF. Decaying matter over time will acidify the tank and cause a drop in pH. This in and of itself is not necessarily bad, but trying to bump it up, only for it to drop, is stressful for the fish, and can cause death in some cases.

Just to be sure, what are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

I'd remove the uplift tubes and get a flexible hose of some kind and start a syphon and try to suction as much gunk as you can from underneath the UGF. They unfortunately do require maintenance. In the meantime the best way to keep your pH a bit higher is to do more water changes, like maybe twice a week, until you get a handle on what is going on.

pH is very dependent upon KH, or alkalinity, so do you have a test for that? If so, I'm interested in what your KH readings are. As long as you have at least 4 degrees or so then we can assume that removing accumulated debris and increasing water changes will solve your difficulty.

I'd not take any corrective measures until you post back with water parameters, though, as it might impact how you handle it.

Good luck!

 

[bob1957j]

Thanks Tank Girl , a few days ago I took an ammonia reading and it was clear (Zero) and I took a nitrate test that showed about 60 I assume ppm.
I have not taken a nitrite test yet. Tomorrow I will test all 3 again and get back to you. Thanks for your help. Bob W

PS I don't think I have a test for KH nor do I understand it.

 

[Menagerie]

PS I don't think I have a test for KH nor do I understand it.

This is a water hardness test.
I don't understand it enough to give you a simple answer, so here is a site that is worht reading over:
http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

 

[TankGirl]

When the KH (alkalinity) is low, your pH can swing easily. When your KH is high it keeps the pH stable, so pH and KH go hand in hand. If you are having pH issues it is a good idea to know your KH out of the tap as well as in the tank, because it is relatively easy to raise KH and bring more stability to the pH, barring other issues.

That's my understanding, anyway, but I'm certainly no chemist!

 

[bob1957j]

Well I took the ph reading on the tap water and tap water has a high ph about 7.2 the aquarium still has a ph of about 6.0 as far as kh goes I don't have a test for that but I do know that the tap water here in Toledo is "softened" wich I believe means that it has a low amount of minerals in it. I guess I still don't get the KH thing but I will try to find a test kit for it.

Thanks a bunch Bob

 

[bob1957j]

Hello anyone teher ?

 

[Menagerie]

Well I took the ph reading on the tap water and tap water has a high ph about 7.2

That's not high, that's great!!
I suggest pulling up the UGF and cleaning under it--but only a bit at a time. You do not want the pH to go sky rocketing up, or the fish you do have will have problems. With the rotting gunk under the UGF, the pH will remain low. You will need patience and a willingness to get rid of the gunk (but not all at once).

 

[mattrox]

If you haven't, get a glass of tap water and let it stand........ for 24 hours..........
Then pH test it again. Let the CO2 in the water and atmosphere equalize.

 

[TankGirl]

Well, if you have a low KH it might be wise to use crushed coral in your filter to buffer the water and help the pH stabilize. If you have a high KH that won't make a difference, so that's why it would be good to know the exact KH reading.

I'd definitely go ahead and try to suction out what is under the UGF plates and increase water changes, starting with the same amount you normally change but up it to once a week, then twice a week. This should gradually raise your pH so as not to stress the fish. You are basically going to utilize the higher pH water of your tap to help keep the pH up a little higher in your tank, and eliminating the decaying matter in the tank will help as well. A finer grained gravel, or even sand, and no UGF, as Menagerie mentioned, would help this issue.

 

[bob1957j]

Thanks , what would be a good kh reading and what would be a bad kh reading ?

 

[TankGirl]

KH of under 3-4 degrees would be "bad" and over 4 would be "good." KH is one of those water values that is relatively easy to bring up, though, so no worries!

 

[spankerbob]

You need to get rid of that under gravel filter, just as the tankgirl said the duritis builds up not just under but around the edges of the filter were there is no water movement. the duritis under and in the filter should be broken down by the bacteria with an adequate amount of water movement, but the space in between the tank walls and the filter has little or no movement, thusly creating poison pocket overtime, usually happens every year thats why in the past people would have to tear down their tanks and start over every year. Just get rid od that ugf and pick up and emperor 400 or something similar, they require very little maintenance and should work very well on a 55ga tank.