PLEASE HELP if you can!?!

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D-WALT

Gambusia
MFK Member
May 2, 2009
714
0
16
North Carolina
ok i have had my 55 gallon setup for about a month i do routine water changes once to twice a week! i do not have any sea shells in the water i have 12 fish in it and right now my clown knife has cloud eye so i took carbon filters out.. but im having a problem of keeping my ph down right before this happened i didnt think it was going to stay up but ive been treating with ph regulator but it just keeps coming back up what can be making it do this!!
i really need anyones help i really dont want any my fish to die please please help!
 
just leave the ph be , its easier on the fish to adjust to a higher level ph than one thats always fluctuating . I hope things work out
 
This probably doesn't help but I don't think you need to be adding pH regulator. I've seen alot of people here on MFK advise to let your fish adjust to your tap waters' natural pH, rather than risk fluctuating it with chemicals (pH fluctuations can be real harmful to your fish im pretty sure).

Plecos prefer a soft acidic water, but mine do fine in a hard alkaline water.

Clown Knifes will outgrow a 55g (fairly quick I'd imagine)...they can get over 2 ft I think.

What are the other 11 fish? You may just be over-stocked (too much waste for your filters to effectively filter, leading to poor water quality, and ammonia/nitrite spikes which can and will kill fish).

What kind of filtration do you have?

What are your water parameters? (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). Best to use a liquid test kit for these, the dip stick tests aren't as accurate from what I hear.
 
Do not worry about ph. Most all fish will acclimate to any ph in tap water. And it is very stressful to the fish to add ph up or down. Because they cause a ph swing. I would do a large water change like 75-90% and add some salt to help with the stress and then just carry on with routine maintenance.
 
D-WALT;3122968; said:
but i have soft skin fish in it! high ph will hurt them will not??
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Im sorry but ive never heard the term "soft skin fish " before . A ph thats all over the place will harm a fish more than a stable ph thats a lil high or low . Like was said your probably a lil overstocked . do a few more water changes and add salt you should be fine
 
Im sorry but ive never heard the term "soft skin fish " before .
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I have heard it several times referring to scaleless fish (sharks/rays) or fine scale fish like discus.

If you have hard water then none of the pH regulators will work. You need to soften the water, or let the fish adjust to the tap. One trick I have used in the past with some success is brewing peat water. Just let your change water sit in a tub with a pump, a heater and a bag of peat. It will soften and acidify the water. However it will also yellow it. The other option is RO/DI units which can get expensive both long and short term.
 
i dont know if this will change the fact but i dont have have tap water from the city i have well water!
 
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