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S.Petricola problem

2K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  furnfins 
#1 ·
I have 4 petricola's since the beginning of this tank, 2 years. They've been fine, healthy, they're hiders and don't come out much but I really like them. I usually check my tanks everyday even if it's for a few minutes. Unfortunately summer is a very busy time and I was just doing water changes and feeding. A couple of weeks ago I see 2 of my petricola's are sooo thin. I put enough food in for them because I also have other bottom dwellers(red BN's,and 1 whiptail). My ph is low for them at 6.0, but when I bought them my tank was neutral 7.0 and the breeder said his water was 7.0 too not to worry. All other params are good, 0-amm 0-nitrites and 0-5ppm for nitrates. If it was parasites wouldn't all the fish have problems? the rest of the fish are fine and thriving. They do some weird things like stay at the top of the tank and bob their heads out of the water and rest on plants, all of which they never did. Anyone out there have any ideas what is going on with them please post, thanks. I've posted other places but no answers, also googled and didn't find anything.
 
#5 ·
Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) is cheaper and readily available. Its also easier to control dosage and effectiveness.

Add 1 teaspoon per 20gallons to raise GH (and KH). premix the solution in a container and make sure it completely dissolves before adding to the tank. Wait 6 hours then retest and repeat as needed. KH will stabilize and help buffer your new PH.

to raise GH, use epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate).

best to test your GH and KH before attempting all this. a KH of 3 - 5 would be a safe range to maintain a somewhat neutral PH.
 
#6 ·
Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) is cheaper and readily available. Its also easier to control dosage and effectiveness.

Add 1 teaspoon per 20gallons to raise GH (and KH). premix the solution in a container and make sure it completely dissolves before adding to the tank. Wait 6 hours then retest and repeat as needed. KH will stabilize and help buffer your new PH.

to raise GH, use epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate).

best to test your GH and KH before attempting all this. a KH of 3 - 5 would be a safe range to maintain a somewhat neutral PH.
Thanks, I wondered how this worked. A friend said she she just puts baking soda in her filter for 125g, but she never told me how much I'm supposed to use per gallon. Whenever I test for GH and KH and it tells you to count...I barely get to 1, the most was 3 and that was a while ago.
 
#7 ·
Are you using the API test kits? Each drop represents one dKH or dGH. Once you've reached your titration endpoint, you've reached your target GH or KH. For the KH test kit, the color should change from blue to yellow. For the GH, it should change from orange to green. If your solution turned yellow or green after one drop, you should have 0-1 dKH/dGH, respectively. Note, the change is usually subtle. If you see a faint change in color, you've reached your endpoint.


Use baking soda to boost your KH:

Arm&Hammer has provided consistent results.
To increase KH (using leveled teaspoons)
1/8 TSP : 6.605gallons = 1dKH
1/4 TSP : 13.21gallons = 1dKH
1/2 TSP : 26.42 gallons = 1dKH
Thanks to wkndracer for the exact amount.
 
#8 ·
Thanks Monster Fish, that's exactly what I have, I just get up to 1. I have the api master test kit and their GH and KH testers. Going to test them in a bit before I feed
the fish. Thanks for you help:)
Alas I lost that one petricola, the other one is thin but not near as much as she was.
I'm hoping to be able to save this one. The only other thing I can think of was the heat this summer, it was up to 90 and I kept putting ziploc bags of ice in the tanks to try and keep the temp down. Other then the PH etc. I can't figure it out, 2 are fine and all the other fish are fine. I know there's a catfish website I've got to find it and ask his opinion on what happened to these guys.
 
#10 · (Edited)
So I tested GH and KH. GH: 3 KH:1
on the KH I never even saw blue first, the first drop was pale yellow.
I'm going to try the baking soda today and try and raise that a bit.
X fingers hope it works. It's very strange seeing petricola bobbing heads out of
the tank,if that's even the problem. They're 2 years or so old maybe it's just their time but not from what I read.

PS. my one female petricola that's left looks so heavy with eggs. Hopefully if the ph goes up she'll decide things are good and I'll have some petricola babies.
 
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