Proper PH 7.5 - help

[lemonandherb]

The ph in my goldfish tank was a little high so i used the Proper PH 7.5 packets in my 54L tank. It says that the water will go cloudy but will clear when its filtered out, I did this over 6 hours ago and the water isn't clearing, if anything its getting worse. I cant even see my goldfish!

Help what should i do? Will it just clear eventually?

 

[RussellC]

As for the Proper pH product, I've never used it, so hopefully someone else can help you there. Were it me, though, I'd measure the pH, and if it isn't too different from my tap, do partial water changes to clear the cloudiness.

That said, goldfish can actually tolerate a very wide range in pH, and from what I've read, actually like water that is slightly alkaline (slightly high pH). What is less tolerated is sudden swings in pH.

Based on the above, in my opinion, using additives to adjust pH in a goldfish tank is generally unnecessary -- and in some cases, if the additives cause a sudden change, might do a little more harm than good.

I hope this has helped at least a little -- good luck!

 

[jlk]

What is your ph of your tap water after it has gassed off? If you do not know, place some tap water in a container with an airstone or bubbler. If you do not have an extra, give the water a good stir every so often to help release dissolved gasses. Check the ph (regular & high) in 24hrs & let us know what this reads.

In respect to your present situation, I would start doing water changes to remove the product. It is only a temporary bandaid & your ph will fall then jump back up again. Drastic ph swings are very stressful for fish and can even cause their demise. Its best to not try to alter your ph unless theres something seriously wrong with (ie, below 6 or above 8.8)- fish are very adaptable to a variety of phs as long as they are reasonably stable.

 

[lemonandherb]

The PH wasn't that high it was about 7.8. Im never using one of these again as they seemed perfectly happy before. I did a water change last night at about 20% and have left it over night, the water is slowly clearing but at this rate i wont be seeing the back of the tank untill next week. There is still like a layer of partly dissolved powder over the gravel and accessories, with that all filer out too?

 

[smomus]

I don't keep goldfish, but I have a variety of tropical fish. My ph is consistently between 8.2-8.6 depending on the tank. Like was said above, it is better to have stable ph rather then low..

 

[Nimo]

If you have hard water that proper ph stuff will mess up your tank as you described, the filter will not take out the cloud of white, the only thing that will get that stuff out of your tank is cleaning. I took the lovely advice of my lfs and put this stuff in my 60 gal it covered every thing fortunately I had no fish in mine at the time I was trying to get my ph down. My advice is water changes take your decorations out and rinse them in the used tank water the best you can and just keep doing frequent water changes until you get all that crap out. You will also have to rinse your filters really well because that stuff will clog them up and they will not work properly. That proper ph stuff only works in soft water that needs the ph raised to 7 it will not drop the ph to 7. You are better off using natural buffers such as drift wood or peat moss if you want to drop the ph instead of a chemical.
API really needs to put this on the bottle. Do that when you read the directions it tells you not for hard water and that it is not the same as using a Ph down product.

 

[Nimo]

Always research any thing that you want to do with your fishy friends and if you can't find answers ask questions here we have all made mistakes and learned from them as well as learning from each other here. My valuable lesson in aquariums has been to research and ask questions first and to pretty much never take advice from the local fish store because most of the employees don't have a clue about most products or the fish they sell occasionally there will be an employee with a clue but most are there for a pay check and know very little beyond the fact that fish live in water.

 

[RussellC]

Im never using one of these again as they seemed perfectly happy before.

I have a theory that the story about Goldilocks was really about learning to keep fish!

Ok, bear with me on this one...

"This bed is too hard... this bed is too soft... this bed is just right."

When I first started keeping fish, I didn't educate myself, and did too little.

Then, when I dove in and started to learn, in retrospect, I tried a little too hard to make up for past mistakes, and probably did a little too much.

Hopefully, now, I'm getting it at least a little bit closer to 'just right' (though that's still a work in progress!).

Of course posting my concerns in a forum such as this helps keep me from either under reacting or overreacting.

Good luck!

 

[Nimo]

I kinda agree with the goldie locks thing, lol.
But I have found that the more knowledge you can gain BEFORE making changes to your tanks the better off you are. You also have to make sure you are getting the proper advice thru research. And remember there is no miracle cure for any problem so the" bottled fix it all" may not be the best thing for your fish or your tank.
I think one advantage we have now as fish keepers is the loads of information that can be found on line, but don't follow the first piece of info look in lots of places lots of links.answers are out there but I have found that I usually end up here lol