Sick fishy

[lucifuge]

I have had a 6ft tank (African cichlids) for 3 or 4 years with no deaths. Over last 2 months, I have had 2 or 3 which have got a bouyancy problem...seem to not hold their balance for a day or two and die. Nitrates/ammonia are fine, 0ppm. I have done nothing unusual to tank. Why would this be occuring. the fish that have died were young adults. Older fish and younger seem fine!?

[Ash]

what are the rest of the tank's perameters? could be old tank syndrome ie: all the carbonate has been used up & the hardness & pH have fallen through the floor

[lucifuge]

what are the rest of the tank's perameters? could be old tank syndrome ie: all the carbonate has been used up & the hardness & pH have fallen through the floor

hmm, havent tested those. i will! cheers

[lucifuge]

what are the rest of the tank's perameters? could be old tank syndrome ie: all the carbonate has been used up & the hardness & pH have fallen through the floor

hmm, havent tested those. i will! cheers

holy craP!!! my water pH is 6.0 !!!!!! I have Rift Lake water crystals.. Apart from incr hardness, it says they will increase pH.shall I add some of that?? what else can I do to increase pH...need advice ASAP!!!

[Ash]

Don't change anything quickly!! you'll do more harm that good.

if you have a hardness test kit, I'd suggest using it now for a baseline.

How often do you do water changes & do you add the buffer into the tank with those changes?

Also, how clean is the gravel? (if any)

extra decaying matter will help pull the pH down.

you want to slowly increase the hardness, thereby slowly increasing the pH. I mean really slowly, like if the whole tank needs 20 spoons of buffer, do one spoon per day kind of slow change & make sure you're matching the hardness/pH with your change water.

please do this slowly as if you go doing it in one hit you WILL kill all the fish in one go.

[lucifuge]

Don't change anything quickly!! you'll do more harm that good.

if you have a hardness test kit, I'd suggest using it now for a baseline.

How often do you do water changes & do you add the buffer into the tank with those changes?

Also, how clean is the gravel? (if any)

extra decaying matter will help pull the pH down.

you want to slowly increase the hardness, thereby slowly increasing the pH. I mean really slowly, like if the whole tank needs 20 spoons of buffer, do one spoon per day kind of slow change & make sure you're matching the hardness/pH with your change water.

please do this slowly as if you go doing it in one hit you WILL kill all the fish in one go.

OMG got this too late.

I added more Rift Salts + about 100gms of baking soda. pH is fine. but maybe i did too quick? should i now d a massive water change to negate any of this??

[Ash]

yes, water it down ASAP!

edit: how much did you change it - pH & hardness wise?

you don't want to go overboard on this so I don't know what you should do from now

any changes have to be gradual, I should have pre-empted your natural urge to "fix it", sorry.

edit again: have their behavours changed at all since you added the buffers? it's very likely they'll go into shock but changing it again in the other direction could make it worse still.

[Ash]

for future reference, with anything water perameter or illness related, you are better off waiting & figuring out exactly what's going on before doing anything about it incase you make things worse

[lucifuge]

for future reference, with anything water perameter or illness related, you are better off waiting & figuring out exactly what's going on before doing anything about it incase you make things worse

Its a 700L tank, so hopfuelly the amount sI put in are small. But I take your point about 'gradual'.

I jsst did another water change. there is no behavioural change sin the tank before or after I did this. Tomorrow I will buy some ahrdnes testers and some proper pH uppers.

thanks for your help Ash. i let you know how it goes.

[Ash]

ahh, see that information would have helped too

if they didn't start getting stressed, then you've obviously added a small enough ammount at a time.

Cichlid salts/buffers (which is it or is it both?) are all you need to add, you just need to figure out how much to add.

[lucifuge]

ahh, see that information would have helped too

if they didn't start getting stressed, then you've obviously added a small enough ammount at a time.

Cichlid salts/buffers (which is it or is it both?) are all you need to add, you just need to figure out how much to add.

i add "rift Lake water conditionin crystals" says increases hardness by approx 300ppm and pH of 7 to 8 and salinity rise by 80ppm

[Ash]

that sounds like the aquasonic stuff, how much did you add though?

are the fish OK still?