Several Questions? *Urgent*

[caligulasAquarium]

Ok it doesnt sound like anything in your tank is causing these swings... Normally your pH should drop a little once the tank has been up and running but you seem to have massive swings... have you by chance added any chemicals or pH stabilizers?

I've added chemicals the owner of the LFS reccomended to help fix my ammonia problem in December, but the pH fluctuating was this month, not in December when I first added them. They're Nitromax, Seachem Prime, and Ammolock.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Hmmm ok, well prime wont hurt anything but you wont need the other two. Prime is used for conditioning water before its added.

Do these swings happen right after the water changes or a few days later?

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Hmmm ok, well prime wont hurt anything but you wont need the other two. Prime is used for conditioning water before its added.

Do these swings happen right after the water changes or a few days later?

It happened on Friday, which was a while after my last testing, since I was with my Mom for a week. I don't know too much about water testing, it's all pretty new to me D:

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

You'll learn through repetition... ive been doing this since july so that should tell you it wont take long.

For the pH, swings are kinda normal for new tanks, two things I can suggest to you would be to add some crushed coral or limestone to your filter, what this will do is act as a buffer and will assist with raising and stabilizing your pH... you may have to add it slowly and monitor your pH as it rises and stablizes... you only going to want to do this if your pH is on a low swing. If your pH is sitting at 7.6 I'd leave it be and let it stablize on its own

 

[caligulasAquarium]

You'll learn through repetition... ive been doing this since july so that should tell you it wont take long.

For the pH, swings are kinda normal for new tanks, two things I can suggest to you would be to add some crushed coral or limestone to your filter, what this will do is act as a buffer and will assist with raising and stabilizing your pH... you may have to add it slowly and monitor your pH as it rises and stablizes... you only going to want to do this if your pH is on a low swing. If your pH is sitting at 7.6 I'd leave it be and let it stablize on its own

It's been jumping between 6.0 and 6.7. I will test it again tomorrow, I'm still doing my homework and studying for finals. Isn't coral for saltwater only? Do LFS sell it or do I have to look for it at a Home Depot or something?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Crushed coral can be used in freshwater as a buffer to raise pH. But yes its normally for saltwater lol.

You may be able to find it at a LFS I haven't tried yet

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Crushed coral can be used in freshwater as a buffer to raise pH. But yes its normally for saltwater lol.

You may be able to find it at a LFS I haven't tried yet

Lol okay, I'll ask the owner at my LFS. Hopefully I can visit when I come home from my Mom's.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Good, the owner may be able to help you out

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Good, the owner may be able to help you out

He's very friendly, and it's a family owned LFS. He has been very helpful. He gave me a few tips on how to take care of angelfish and offered to take my plecos when I found out that my angelfish got eaten up rather than just died, (I could not find her body whatsoever). I hope they can help me some more. I love the store too!

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Ill keep my fingers crossed for ya lol

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Ill keep my fingers crossed for ya lol

Thank you very much! :3
After this is all settled, I gotta restock o_o"

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Lol yea, I would definitely rehome the bgk but the angels and the other fish should be ok for a while

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Lol yea, I would definitely rehome the bgk but the angels and the other fish should be ok for a while

I'm rehoming him later this year or next year once he gets too big. I like to keep fish for a while until they start to get too big. That's what I did with my plecos. I had two monstrous plecos, one was at 15" and the other was at 13". I adore ghost knives and I wouldn't mind keeping one again later in my life, heck even a clown knife, although they need a tank of at least 200-300 gallons, where nowhere in my house I can fit that.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Just be cautious with the bgk... if he gets too big he'll have trouble turning around in your tank... that and your smaller fish will "disappear" on you

 

[caligulasAquarium]

Just be cautious with the bgk... if he gets too big he'll have trouble turning around in your tank... that and your smaller fish will "disappear" on you

Yea I know. The angelfish are actually quiet big though, and the rosy barb is about the size of his... head? I can't tell how long his head is. But yea, that won't be for a long time. I have seen videos of huge ghost knives several times the size of my own hand.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

You'd ve surprised how big a fish's mouth can be... I know my eclipse catfish looks small but he could easily fit my finger in his mouth lol... my bgk is only 5-6" but when I hand feed him he opens real wide... thank god I dont have anything smaller then my big corys... it'd be a midnight snack lol

 

[caligulasAquarium]

You'd ve surprised how big a fish's mouth can be... I know my eclipse catfish looks small but he could easily fit my finger in his mouth lol... my bgk is only 5-6" but when I hand feed him he opens real wide... thank god I dont have anything smaller then my big corys... it'd be a midnight snack lol

Yea. I saw a few pictures of ghost knife anatomy, and one showed a really small one with his mouth wide open, jeez it was huge! My ghost knife hasn't eaten any small fish... When I had small fish, they all died, and I found each And every body, so I knew he didn't eat them

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Lol things may change as he gets older

 

[Rivercats]

Coming in late here but there are two things... first have you ever tested the tap waters ph? You need to take a cup and fill it with water from the tap. Aerate it for 24 hours by either stirring the water periodically or by using a bubbler on it. After the 24 hours is up and the water has gassed off test it for ph. Then post what your ph reading is.

Second, the reason you may be having ammonia issues is first did you test your tap water for ammonia and if so what is it? Also when ph drops below 6.5 you can start to slow your BB down. If it reaches 6.0 or below your cycle (BB) stops working. Which is when you'll start seeing ammonia rise. Now if your tap water is alot higher than your tank water your going to have to do as suggested above about getting some crushed coral, putting it in a media bag, and either placing it in your filter or hanging the bag directly under the filter outflow. First answer these questions and then we can talk more about crushed coral if need be.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

thanks for assisting River