please help me out, I dont know what is wrong with my angelfish

[fishfanatic]

Does that stuff that comes wrapped around roots of plants effect pH? When you buy plants that come in pots they have this yellowish fibery stuff around the roots.

[kaiofcanada]

I am lad that she seems to be doing a bit better. Lights off is always less stressful for fish. Melafix should help with the fungus. Try giving her some peas too when she starts to have a normal appetite for that bloaty belly.

As for the driftwood...sounds like you did everything as I would have. I am drawing a blank on what could be the cause the increase in pH.

The driftwood over time should slowly lower the pH. CO2 should lower the pH. Your substrate and ferts should not have any affect. For all intents and purposes I would have expected your tank to have a slightly acidic pH. Maybe someone else will have some ideas, or something will come to you that you didn't remember. :/

I am looking online to see what other causes that I am thus far unaware that could shift your pH up so high.

In the meantime, I would definitely try to bring the pH back down slowly and keep at the water changes.

[fishfanatic]

Should I do 2 20% pwc everyday? One in the morning and one at night?

[fishfanatic]

Originally Posted by fishfanatic

Does that stuff that comes wrapped around roots of plants effect pH? When you buy plants that come in pots they have this yellowish fibery stuff around the roots.

^^ don't forget to read this (it is one of those things I "forgot")

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by fishfanatic

Does that stuff that comes wrapped around roots of plants effect pH? When you buy plants that come in pots they have this yellowish fibery stuff around the roots.

Usually that stuff is made of plastics and synthetic fibers or natural fibers, none of which should affect the pH. Things in my experience that can leech out come from stone, painted, and ornamental objects can cause pH shifts, but you don't have those things. Also, any exposure to cleaning agents such as bleach can shift the pH up. Can you think of anything like that that may have happened? Sometimes even not paying attention to the fact that you may have washed your hands or are wearing perfume or a lotion/skin product can have an affect on you water parameters.

I found this article about troubleshooting pH in an aquarium. It looks like good information. Maybe something will occur to you as you read through it, sinc eyou know your tank better than anyone.
Troubleshooting pH Changes in Your Fish Tank - The First Tank Guide - How Can I Figure Out Why My Aquarium pH Is Changing?

Sorry that so far I haven't been much help :/

[WendiDell]

Someone said to keep up the PWC but make them smaller, like 20%, to keep your pH swings to a minimum. Which I think is a good idea, IMO
Keeping the lights off is always a good thing to do if a fish is stressed.
The fact that she ate a little is a good thing, because they can become so weak that they can't eat.
The white film sounds like fungus. I've never had any luck with Melafix, but who knows it may help. Some people swear by it. I prefer using Seachems medications. There are 5-6 different Seachem meds. for specific diseases.
What kind of food are you feeding her, and how often? And what has your tank temp. been?

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by fishfanatic

Should I do 2 20% pwc everyday? One in the morning and one at night?

Let's use this troubleshooting guide first and maybe we can figure out the source. But until then, I would personally change the water 1-2 times per day as you can. It can't hurt, you will just use more water conditioner than normal, a small price to pay for getting your tank back to where you want it.

[WendiDell]

I would do a 20% PWC in the am and then test to see if it's needed in the pm. If your water is stable, let it be. Then do a 20% pwc the next am again. Try and keep the things you change to one thing at a time, so you know what it is that fixes your problem. If you change a whole bunch of things at the same time. 1 it adds to the stress and 2 you won't know which thing fixed your problem, if it ever happens again.

[fishfanatic]

Right now I am doing one of those bucket tests that it talked about in the link. I took a test of the tap water before I added prime and after I added the prime now I am going to wait and test it a third time...

The link said dead plants will change the pH I am sure there are some dead leaves I'm my jungle of aquarium, I have also not seen one of my sae in a long time. Should I pull up all the plants and trim off all the dead leaves?

[fishfanatic]

Another thing I noticed in the link was that chemicals can react with eachother and change pH. Well I know the MICROS and macros (ferts) react when they are mixed could this be a problem? I am going to do some tests...

[fishfanatic]

I may have found the problem! I think the seachem prime has been reacting with the macros (ferts). Take a look at this... the test bottle on the left has tap water treated with prime in it, the one on the right has tap water treated with prime and macros mixed in

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by fishfanatic

Right now I am doing one of those bucket tests that it talked about in the link. I took a test of the tap water before I added prime and after I added the prime now I am going to wait and test it a third time...

The link said dead plants will change the pH I am sure there are some dead leaves I'm my jungle of aquarium, I have also not seen one of my sae in a long time. Should I pull up all the plants and trim off all the dead leaves?

I think you are doing the right thing to test the water and figure out what the source is.

I also have a heavily planted tank and I can definitely say that with normal die off I have never seen a pH shift like yours. I would not worry about tearing things apart. I would keep up with your normal pruning. I prune my plants weekly with the water change to keep everything looking good.

Keep your plants rooted. No need to uproot them, that would stress the fish anyways. Just account for every fish and keep up the good work. :0)

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by fishfanatic

I may have found the problem! I think the seachem prime has been reacting with the macros (ferts). Take a look at this... the test bottle on the left has tap water treated with prime in it, the one on the right has tap water treated with prime and macros mixed in

Holy crap!!!! That is insane!

Oh man....poor fishies. Good research!!! Looks like you found your culprit. Very good information for others who might also be unlucky. Good thing is that there are lots of different conditioners to choose from. At least you now know what you are dealing with !

[fishfanatic]

Originally Posted by kaiofcanada

Holy crap!!!! That is insane!

Oh man....poor fishies. Good research!!! Looks like you found your culprit. Very good information for others who might also be unlucky. Good thing is that there are lots of different conditioners to choose from. At least you now know what you are dealing with !

I can not change the macros so what conditioner would you recommend? I currently have API stress coat is that good enough (if it is good enough then I will test it to make sure it doesn't change Ph)

[fishfanatic]

Never mind stress coat seems to be ok...

Edit: the lighting is poor in the picture the two pH readings are within .05 of eachother (unless I am color blind lol)

[kaiofcanada]

still looks a bit high to me. Are you testing the tank water or your water from the tap?

Do your macros up the pH?

[fishfanatic]

Originally Posted by kaiofcanada

still looks a bit high to me. Are you testing the tank water or your water from the tap?

Do your macros up the pH?

I am testing it strait from the tap. Should it be from the tank?

And yes the macros up the pH

[fishfanatic]

Now in the test tube on the right I have: tap water, stress coat, traces (ferts), and macros.
It actually seems to lower the pH a bit...

[kaiofcanada]

Great...I would use this combo for now. You can try testing out different conditioners. It might be a bit of trial and error :/ but at least you know what you are dealing with.

My only concern at this point is that your water might be buffered due to the prime for a higher pH. I would do all of your water changes using the stresscoat as a conditioner until you find a better one. Stresscoat has high phosphates, so I would not use it long term as it may contribute to algae bloom. But for now, at least you won't be adding very basic water into your tank everytime.

Try doing your water changes as we discussed and keep a close watch on if the pH starts dropping to a more neutral point. This would be ideal. If daily 20-25% changes don't start to drop it within the next three days...go up to 50% and see what affect that has. Do 50% changes after that and hopefully that will be a nice slow step down and your fish won't be stressed.

[fishfanatic]

Originally Posted by kaiofcanada

Great...I would use this combo for now. You can try testing out different conditioners. It might be a bit of trial and error :/ but at least you know what you are dealing with.

My only concern at this point is that your water might be buffered due to the prime for a higher pH. I would do all of your water changes using the stresscoat as a conditioner until you find a better one. Stresscoat has high phosphates, so I would not use it long term as it may contribute to algae bloom. But for now, at least you won't be adding very basic water into your tank everytime.

Try doing your water changes as we discussed and keep a close watch on if the pH starts dropping to a more neutral point. This would be ideal. If daily 20-25% changes don't start to drop it within the next three days...go up to 50% and see what affect that has. Do 50% changes after that and hopefully that will be a nice slow step down and your fish won't be stressed.

You have been such a great help! I am going to go do a pwc but first I am going to get a pH reading of the tank water then after the pwc I will get another pH reading... I will tell you how it goes