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Post by cashay on Apr 16, 2019 9:52:50 GMT -5
I’m using the strips and it says to read GH and KH right away then 30 secs read rest. This is the results..... I know they are off what do I need to do?
75 gallon. Did a 30% water change 3 days ago. Lost 2 mollies
Fish I have are 5 fancy tail Guppies 3 or 4 platies 7 neon tetras lost a couple and 2 black skirt tetras and 1 fat belly something maybe a platy
GH. - 180
KH - 0
PH 6.0
NO 2 Nitrite. 0
NO 3. Nitrate 160
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Post by Carl on Apr 17, 2019 9:21:26 GMT -5
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Apr 17, 2019 11:44:04 GMT -5
Agree with Carl. There is mulm somewhere in the tank or a filter. And the KH needs to come up so there's no pH swings. And of course use wonder shells if your not, esp for Mollies.
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Post by cashay on Apr 20, 2019 15:50:41 GMT -5
I changed the water a couple days before the post, should I do it again.?
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Post by Carl on Apr 21, 2019 10:38:07 GMT -5
I changed the water a couple days before the post, should I do it again.? Yes! Also test your new water source too Carl |
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Post by cashay on Apr 23, 2019 10:35:54 GMT -5
Thanks guys!!
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Post by cashay on Apr 27, 2019 7:56:14 GMT -5
I cleaned it again.... changed about half cause I vacuumed every inch and I gotta say, really wasn’t much mulm in there at all. Everything seems the same tho. Water perimeters. Good thing came out of it. My Cory fish is still alive. Used to see him all the time everyday. But haven’t seen him for days!! Thought he died also and the placo ate him like he does all the other dead ones 😧 plus I have another Mickey Mouse platy I haven’t seen in a while. Must have been hiding. Or maybe I was thinking the only one I thought I had left was fast around the tank.. ( see him here then there) lol but never together like now.. so I’m not sure what to do to get the KH up... we want that higher then 0 right. And where should the GH be? I looked at the links you sent Carl, and not sure what to get. I know you said the cidlid salt.... so the aquarium salt is not the same.? Lol if you could just be specific...... it would help me on what to get. I just lost my fat belly fish yesterday... I’m loosing them pretty quickly
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Post by cashay on Apr 29, 2019 7:08:12 GMT -5
Today after adding a ph buffer and something else the petsmart person suggested, threw the bottle away already and can’t remember the name. But anyway the water
Perimeters are
GH 180
KH. 0
pH 6.3
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 160-180
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Post by Carl on Apr 30, 2019 9:25:58 GMT -5
Today after adding a ph buffer and something else the petsmart person suggested, threw the bottle away already and can’t remember the name. But anyway the water Perimeters are GH 180 KH. 0 pH 6.3 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 160-180 You might call PetsMart to find out what the product was. Most true KH/Alkaline Buffers are meant for more than one treatment, not use then throw away. I strongly suggest SeaChem Alkaline Buffer Here are suggestions from the AAP Aquarium Chemistry Article"Basic Widely Mixed Community, including Tetras, Gouramis, Catfish, Loaches, Danios, Livebearers, many Cichlids, etc;
*Aim for a pH that is stable (not an exact number) in the range of 6.6 to 7.8.
*A KH of anywhere from 80 to 150 is generally good and this can be maintained with products such as Sea Chem Alkaline Buffer.
If tap water is high pH/KH I would recommend using 10-20% Reverse Osmosis Water and/or products such as Frog Moss or Mango/Drift Wood to counter the high pH/KH.
If your water source KH is low (tap water, etc.), adding buffers to your tap or other water source to bring it up to the desired KH should be performed with every water change.
Small amounts of KH buffers will likely need to be added in intervals in between water changes based on KH tests.
*GH is best between 150- 300, although this can be misleading in that CaCO3+ (& other positive mineral ions) can be depleted and your GH still reads high. The use of Wonder Shells or the slow drip addition of powdered or liquid mineral supplements such as AAP/SeaChem Trace or Replenish can help with this (simply adding these liquid or dry mineral supplements on a regular basis can work well too).
1-5% water changes daily can help as well provided your water source has these important mineral cations.
If salt is necessary with lower pH mixed aquariums, I generally just use water softener salt or any plain salt."Carl |
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Post by cashay on Jun 9, 2019 17:50:48 GMT -5
My water is just crazy! When I do a water change the water is perfect. But with in just a few days the KH and GH are wrong!!! I don’t know what I have in this tank that is throwing this off so bad. I do have some fry in there which I can not get out. Fast little things. So I’m not sure what’s going on? If the water is in poor condition they wouldn’t have babies would they.?
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jun 11, 2019 10:48:40 GMT -5
Are you still using a pH Buffer? Much better is the Alkaline buffer that Carl mentioned. I would need a refresher of what your doing. Your tap reading (after letting it gas out for an hour) and tank reading after being in the tank for a couple days.
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