HELP!!! PH and KH fluctuation in 55 gallon

[tashiabrown]

I'm so lost!! I'm trying to get my first 55 gallon tank stabilized. When I first filled my tank (which is filled with river rocks, plastic plants and standard pet store decorations) the water tests said that the PH was 8.0, KH and GH were unreadable High. I added 1c salt and PH down. the next day I tested and got a PH of 7.8 and a KH and GH that were still off the charts. I added more PH down and another 1c salt. Day 3 PH 7.8 and KH 211, GH still too high to test. More ph down added. Day 4 PH 8.0 KH 196 GH too high to test! I'm lost... do i keep doing the daily water tests and adding PH down each day? and how do i bring down the GH? Will it hurt my fish to leave the GH alone now the the KH is in the green zone? All my fish are acting healthy and eating like pigs! all my other tests are in the good ranges! I've searched the web and talked to my local pet store and i'm getting a long of conflicting advice! I'm just so lost please help.

 

[melosu58]

This is the wrong forum. This forum is for admin contact and tech support. Moved to FW general discussion.

 

[librarygirl]

Why are you trying to change PH (and GH/KH)? Fish will adapt to your PH and yours is far from abnormal. Messing with PH can cause fluctuations which is more detrimental to fish than anything else; they like stability. As long as your natural PH is stable I'd leave it alone, no need to add adjusters or salt. I'd do some small water changes every day for a few days to get that stuff out and then let it be.

Also how old is the tank? If it's very new (less than a few months old) it may not be fully cycled. What you should be testing for are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as those can be harmful to fish. There's a link in my signature called: new tank with fish. It'll explain cycling and what you need to do.

 

[tashiabrown]

Thank you for the information. I was told that i needed to get the ph down by my local pet store so i was trying to follow the advice. my tank is only about 2 weeks old so i'm sure it's not near stable yet. I'll do some small (2-3 gallon) water changes over the next few days. I had pretty much decided to stop adding stuff and just see where it went on it's own. The nitrates, nitrites and amonia are all at 0 so they should be good. The fish all look healty and are eating fine. thank you

 

[FishEggs]

How many fish do you have in the tank and what kinds of fish are they?

 

[tashiabrown]

8 tetras, 2 danios and a peccasomas