jardini gill curled up

[arowanaman85]

at that ph unless u get get nitrite I would stop dosing prime and stability they are not helping ur ph problem
Amonia has a very low toxicity at that pH and seeing that You have low nitrate and low ammonia and no nitrite would just test pH nitrite and nitrate
If u get nitrite dose prime (might go to .25 might never see it)
U don't need any more stability one dose should do it
It appears to me u have bacteria ur pH is so low they can't do anything. Stability isn't going to fix that. Need small consistent water changes

If u are willing to do a lot of testing of parameter have other choices like buffers combined with stability but small water changes 1-2 times a day till pH stabilizes ur see amonia drop to 0 might get a pinch of nitrite (dose prime) then next day back to 0 0 and nitrate that is once u get ur pH under control....idk or dose stability and assuming u r in fact at 6 ur be ok.

My money is on u being below 6 though and stability doing nothing as the pour won't grow at super low pH

 

[arowanaman85]

Also ur temp. Hoping u are not above 79. Not helping ur case if u r would try and increase water agitation if u do run high on temps. Would even slowly lower while ur raising ur pH over the next week to two weeks.

 

[Richard203]

my temp is at 80F and I have 2 air lines on each side, they are 6 inch long. Im pretty sure my tank is oxygenated. i'll try do a small water change tomorrow.

 

[Richard203]

any1 can help on this? I keep doing water changes and I still having ammonia at 1ppm and nitrate at 10-20 ppm. My Ph is still at 6

 

[arowanaman85]

Nitrate is good

Amonia that low doesn't matter at that low of a pH.

Only thing u need to check is pH
On ur test kit add one extra drop.

Save the vile.
Use it to compare.
Just keep doing small changes.

The extra drop of reagent makes the color darker and easier to see smaller changes.

If u truly aren't seeing a change in pH double the amount of water u are changing. Should see just a slight change Once u get above 6 but it might be awhile. Really would ignore other parameters at this point. Long as nitrite is 0.
Low amonia and low nitrate won't matter
U probably won't see amonia drop to 0 till u fix ur pH. And highly doubt nitrates are gonna go up either. Just keep feeding to minimal.

If u are willing could do the changes more frequently. Just be careful of the amount. Want to slowly bring pH up.

It is going to be 6 for awhile. Because u are probably Wel below 6.

Once u start to see the pH move u are on the home stretch.

pH is not a measurement like ppm or mg/l it's logarithmic. Can take a while to bring it from 5 to 6 but 6 to 7 will be shorter. Equally bring the fish from 5 to 6 too quickly is more dramatic then 6 to 7.

 

[arowanaman85]

If u r feeling brave could try dosing sodium bicarbonate or pure baking soda at like 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons. It is really going to depend on ur hardness. But if I had to guess it is not measureable with a hobby kit.

If u go this route it's a temp fix and u gotta be testing every few hours give it 4-8 hours to react and dose every 8 till u match ur tap test pH before each dose. Once u are with in .2 or match ur tap do. 50% change wait 24 hours do another 50% and u should be back to normal.

Remove any drift wood or peat moss during this process as it will fight against the sodium bicarbonate

 

[arowanaman85]

Also make sure to dissolve the sodium bicarbonate in a cup of tank water before adding. Google dosing sodium bicarbonate after pH crash for more information.

 

[Richard203]

If u r feeling brave could try dosing sodium bicarbonate or pure baking soda at like 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons. It is really going to depend on ur hardness. But if I had to guess it is not measureable with a hobby kit.

If u go this route it's a temp fix and u gotta be testing every few hours give it 4-8 hours to react and dose every 8 till u match ur tap test pH before each dose. Once u are with in .2 or match ur tap do. 50% change wait 24 hours do another 50% and u should be back to normal.

Remove any drift wood or peat moss during this process as it will fight against the sodium bicarbonate

don't really want to do it that way unless I have to. I want to do the natural way. it just that I don't know what causing it. Mybe Ima try to recycle my tank, take out the fish and do a 90% water change and clean all my filtration. do u think that's a good idea or just keep monitoring the water and dose prime every 48hr?

 

[arowanaman85]

Just keep doing small changes. I'm not good at teaching but what u are seeing is 100% normal. pH is logathimic it does not change linearly like ppm measures such as nitrate and amonia. U probably have amonia in ur tap and the prime along with the low pH keep it harmless. The low nitrates are also normal.

The denitrification process causes pH to drop. When u run a denitrifcation process u need a buffer. Why it works in salt water since Aragnite and live rock and crushed coral all act as buffers they slowly dissolve to counteract the denitrifcation acids releases as nitrate is broke down.

Ur tank did not have any of those so u just created a **** load of medium strength acid. So u now need to slowly replace the water to neutralize the acid which sodium bicarbonate would also do.

As far as natural sodium bicarbonate is safer and more natural then the 90% change u are asking about.

Nothing good happens quickly in a fish tank.

 

[arowanaman85]

If u have another place to put ur fish just make sure to acclimate them slowly. Then yeah the 90% won't hurt a thing. But if u wait it out ur cycle should be fine.

Fish should all recover and be back to normal with in a few weeks. Not sure about the long. Term esthetics of ur Arowana but health wise should fully recover.