Gulliver
Aquarium Advice Newbie
We just started our aquarium at the beginning of June. Things were a rough start and we lost some fish before the tank was cycling properly. It's just a little 3 gallon with a pump/filter and no live plants. We like Platy fish, so we have one. Everything was going smoothly after the first few weeks.
Then we had to move apartments last week, so I put the fish in a little temp tank and drained the aquarium so we could move it. I refilled the tank in our new home and used my basic tools: A fresh filter, some Bio Safe, did a PH test (around 7), a couple of drops of some Stress Zyme that is also suppose to help the bacteria, a pinch of aquarium salt, and a few drops of Ammo Lock to inhibit too much ammonia.
At this point, I felt I was already being paranoid -- because I've never kept fish before and I really love the fish (such personality!) we have now.
After letting the aquarium run for about 18hrs, I put the fish back in. The next morning the fish was darting around, nervous. So I checked the PH, and it was yellow -- around 4. So I added some PH Up to bring it to around 6.5 or 7. By the evening, the PH was down to arounf 4.5. Again, I dropped some PH Up in. The next morning, it was falling down to 4-5 again. So I used some PH Up one last time. In the evening, when the PH had fallen dramatically again, and my poor fish looked paler than ever, and not to energetic, so I decided to put the fish back in my little mini aquarium, where a fresh water change has still kept a good PH.
I'm anxious to to return my fish to the 3 gallon tank, but I'm not sure what I should be doing to make a safe transition... I feel like I'm blowing it and I really don't want to lose the fish.
Then we had to move apartments last week, so I put the fish in a little temp tank and drained the aquarium so we could move it. I refilled the tank in our new home and used my basic tools: A fresh filter, some Bio Safe, did a PH test (around 7), a couple of drops of some Stress Zyme that is also suppose to help the bacteria, a pinch of aquarium salt, and a few drops of Ammo Lock to inhibit too much ammonia.
At this point, I felt I was already being paranoid -- because I've never kept fish before and I really love the fish (such personality!) we have now.
After letting the aquarium run for about 18hrs, I put the fish back in. The next morning the fish was darting around, nervous. So I checked the PH, and it was yellow -- around 4. So I added some PH Up to bring it to around 6.5 or 7. By the evening, the PH was down to arounf 4.5. Again, I dropped some PH Up in. The next morning, it was falling down to 4-5 again. So I used some PH Up one last time. In the evening, when the PH had fallen dramatically again, and my poor fish looked paler than ever, and not to energetic, so I decided to put the fish back in my little mini aquarium, where a fresh water change has still kept a good PH.
I'm anxious to to return my fish to the 3 gallon tank, but I'm not sure what I should be doing to make a safe transition... I feel like I'm blowing it and I really don't want to lose the fish.