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Lost thread about PH- Update

466 Views 5 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  fish_tank_lady, 
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Hi guys,

I can't seem to find my last thread about the trouble I was having in my tank with the PH and Ammonia.

Here is an update and some more questions.

So I took everyones suggestions and did a half tank water change.
I held off on food for 2 days
Cleaned the substrate and filter
I added 10ml of Ammolock

The tanks current temp is at 78F

I just did some more readings and they are at: PH 6.5-7.0 and Ammonia .5-1ppm

Is this okay now? Do I need to make more changes? I was able to save all the fish and babies.

When would you say its an acceptable time to add new fish, a week or a month? I had some on order but cancelled them so I didn't make them sick.

Thanks for all the help.
I attached a video so you could see what it looks like now and how the fish are acting.

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soc200
From the previous thread, it sounds like you had a pH of 5 (which is pretty acidic for an aquarium). You are also testing around .5-1ppm for ammonia.


When you say you cleaned your filter...does that mean you just rinsed it...or did you "clean" it (which destroys most/all of the good bacteria)?

What are your tap water parameters?

edit:

My first instinct is that you are adding tap water to replace water that has evaporated and causing a toxic buildup of something. Only ro/di or distilled water should be used to replace evaporated water.

The easier method is to just do water changes and replace normal water. It is common to do 25-50% water changes to eliminate any build ups.
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Yes this thread, thank you!

Bump: For the filter I rinsed the carbon, i didn't take it all apart.

Yes I use tap water to fill my tank. I don't add a lot maybe 2L once a week? I've never had an issue with this before. When I tested it the other day to compare it was sitting at 7.0 green.
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soc200
fish_tank_lady said:
Yes this thread, thank you!

Bump: For the filter I rinsed the carbon, i didn't take it all apart.

Yes I use tap water to fill my tank. I don't add a lot maybe 2L once a week? I've never had an issue with this before. When I tested it the other day to compare it was sitting at 7.0 green.
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I apologize if I'm explaining something you already understand. Just trying to be sure you understand what I'm saying.

When you add your tap water in the beginning, everything was probably good. When the H2O evaporates...the toxins don't. Everything else stays in the tank...minerals, toxins, etc. Only the hydrogen and oxygen evaporate. You add more tap...H2O leaves...more toxins into the tank. The only way some toxins ever leave the tank is when you do actual water changes. So a tank will slowly poison itself if water changes aren't done.
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You don't have to apologize, I appreciate any help I can get!

Okay thank you, I didn't realize that I had to do water changes. I will for sure do that now. I will also start using Distilled water as someone mentioned.

When I do the water changes is that 1/4 of a tank and then add the distilled water?

Also I had mentioned about getting new fish that I had on order and cancelled, When do you think it would be an acceptable time to purchase them? I don't want to rush anything.

Thank you again for your help and sorry if my previous post where I answered you seemed short, it was along day.
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Funken_A said:
if you add distilled water you must add some hardness to it otherwise it will not be suitable for just dumping in. Tap water should be fine unless its ungodly high in nitrates or comes from a well and has too many minerals in it. You can always leave a clean bucket of water out for 24 hours to evaporate and chlorine or buy water treatment from local fishstore.



Many will add a small amount of Magnesium via empsom salts and Calcium via Calcium Chloride or calcium sulfate to distilled water to make it suitable, These should be mixed separately
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Okay I will fill a bucket and leave it out to settle for 24 hours. Thanks for all help.
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