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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 18:30:25 GMT -6
OK. So I've had my 75 gallon setup for about a month now since our move (plus it was setup for quite a while before the move) and I took the fish that were in it OUT and moved them to another tank. My Ph out of the tap is 8.0. I finally went out and bought some Tangs. I have been doing frequent water changes to this tank and have had no casualties or cause for concern so I thought all was good (first mistake). Anyways, I acclimated the fish and added them. This morning I tried to feed them and they weren't interested. So, I did a small water change and cleaned up the food. This afternoon I tried to feed again and they weren't interested. Now I started to panic and I tested the water. This is what I got:
PH lower than 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite .25
Nitrate .25
So, I'm guessing I've thrown this tank back into cycling. What should I do??? Rookie needs help!
PS: You all should be proud, I'm asking for help BEFORE I screw anything up.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 18:58:26 GMT -6
My substrate is sand with a few shells. I also have a medium sized piece of holey rock.
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Post by jon carman on Nov 20, 2011 19:00:50 GMT -6
I would continue to do small water changes, If you have extra biomedia, I would add to this tank. I would not feed because Tangs are sensitive to swings in all of the above. pH swings and nitrite would be my biggest concerns. They can handle a lower pH, but if it is normally 8 going down to 7.4 is a huge swing, so I would buffer with baking soda and epsom salt. But I would not over do it because a swing in the other direction would be death for them. I would raise it slowly to get it to 7.8 over several hours, then I would worry about the nitrites. I would do small 10-20% water changes 1 or 2 times a day until this is fixed while keeping an eye on the pH. If you get in a bind, call or text me. Make sure you get all uneaten food out of tank and if anyone does croak, get them out ASAP.
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Post by jon carman on Nov 20, 2011 19:03:31 GMT -6
With baking soda I would do 1 tsp and 1 tbls of epsom per 10g. I would add a couple an hour for 3 hours and check pH after that.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 19:06:52 GMT -6
Do you think doing the small water changes would help with raising the pH? I don't have any epsom salt or baking soda on hand.  |
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Post by jon carman on Nov 20, 2011 19:18:12 GMT -6
If your tap is 8 then yes, but it wont raise it much. Do you have any other buffers or marine salt?
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 19:23:05 GMT -6
I've never had a problem with low pH so I haven't need to keep a stash. The only thing I have is aquarium salt but I can probably run to walmart and grab some other stuff.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 19:23:22 GMT -6
I just added some bio from another tank.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 20, 2011 19:25:29 GMT -6
With baking soda I would do 1 tsp and 1 tbls of epsom per 10g. I would add a couple an hour for 3 hours and check pH after that. It's a 75 gallon tank so I should add 7.5 tsp's of baking soda and 7.5 tbls of epsom salt? All at once or just do a couple tsp's/tbls's per hour? |
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Post by jon carman on Nov 20, 2011 20:12:37 GMT -6
I would do 1 of each every hour for 4 hours and check. Then do again tomorrow if it is still low until you get to at least a stable 7.6. The problem you are facing is that if the pH of your water is high, and it is dropping to 7.4, every time you do a water change you are going to shock them. This should stabilize out once this mini cycle is over.
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fuzzylogic
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tankoutlaws.com
Posts: 789
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Post by fuzzylogic on Nov 21, 2011 14:01:24 GMT -6
How is your tank doing?
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 21, 2011 14:10:56 GMT -6
This is what I've done so far:
Yesterday - 1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 9:30pm
Today:
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 8:30am
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 10:00am
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 11:30am
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 12:30pm
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 1:30pm
I'm going to treat and test again in about 20 mins. I'm trying to raise the PH very slowly.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 21, 2011 14:14:35 GMT -6
All fish are still alive... if they all make it I'm going to be really surprised. I'm po'd at myself for being so stupid.
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 21, 2011 16:29:28 GMT -6
So I have continued to dose
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 2:40pm
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 3:30pm
1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tsp baking soda at 4:30pm
And the Ph remains at 7.4
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Post by Jess Puff on Nov 21, 2011 16:30:08 GMT -6
The water looks a little cloudy but it could be because I added some filter media from another tank last night.
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