gf dying

Originally posted by samyeong
How much water did u change? using pail or hose?

i used hose..

dear all.. esp bro dragonfly... thanks for ur concern.. gf doing really better already.. the last red cap that was swimming funny and always kenna stuck at filter has begun to swim a little more normal already... to bro dragonfly's qn.. i don't think the pH changed very drastically.. b4 the 50% change it was 6.4 and after it was still 6.4... but after the 90% water change i did yesterday.. actually i drained 90% of water out.. and filled it up.. and drained again and filled it up again.. cuz it was still very dirty... then after that i saw the probs start coming out.. note: didn't add salt, anti-chlorine, etc.. cuz ignorant.. what i did later on was to buy coral chip and put it at my OHF as well as put half cap of that "water stablizer" thing that the uncle frm petmart ask me to buy.. today i see.. fish getting better... but the water is cloudy.. prob due to the coral chip.. can ask the bro's here for advice? when shld i change water again?

After all the ph talk and yours is actually a chlorine issue... haiz.

Water change is relative to your fish load... you can always do a water parameter test. Reading the test results will determine the need. For me, I just do 25% change every week and making sure the mech filter is unloaded of its waste.

Originally posted by miracleman
dear all.. esp bro dragonfly... thanks for ur concern.. gf doing really better already.. the last red cap that was swimming funny and always kenna stuck at filter has begun to swim a little more normal already... to bro dragonfly's qn.. i don't think the pH changed very drastically.. b4 the 50% change it was 6.4 and after it was still 6.4... but after the 90% water change i did yesterday.. actually i drained 90% of water out.. and filled it up.. and drained again and filled it up again.. cuz it was still very dirty... then after that i saw the probs start coming out.. note: didn't add salt, anti-chlorine, etc.. cuz ignorant.. what i did later on was to buy coral chip and put it at my OHF as well as put half cap of that "water stablizer" thing that the uncle frm petmart ask me to buy.. today i see.. fish getting better... but the water is cloudy.. prob due to the coral chip.. can ask the bro's here for advice? when shld i change water again?

The ph does have an effect on the ion exchange and so determine the balance of ammonia/ammonium in the aquaeous solution. But if there is only 1mg of ammonia/ammonium, does it really matters if 99% of it is ammonia? May be it is good to go through your notes again this weekend.

Anyway, the problem is nothing complex... chlorine, haiz... I hope the bio filter is still working.

Originally posted by dragonfly_sg
Agree on the pH thingy but whats the solution in this situation for for high Ammonia? Increasing the pH slowly has two effect, increasing the danger of Ammonia everytime pH increase and prolonging the fish stay in high ammonia water which incidentially might cause more harm than pH shock of even 1 point.

100% change would be the only quick solution really? And in my opinion really harmless as long as temp and pH doesn't vary too much. I really wish to know why not, and you're not the first to say so too? But I know of many who does 100% change at times

Come to think of it ....... miracleman, try to buy and use zeolite immediately and then you could raise pH slowly as discribe by NLB.

Originally posted by miracleman
b4 the 50% change it was 6.4 and after it was still 6.4...

I would have expected pH to raise our tap water is quite neutral at 7. If you got time, test the pH of your tap water if it's not near 7 then either the test kit is wrong or something is amiss. Personally I have not tested my taps pH, I assume it's 7 maybe I should test it tomorrow

Originally posted by miracleman
note: didn't add salt, anti-chlorine, etc.. cuz ignorant..

No salt is okay, usually I don't salt my fish unless they don't look good. No anti-chlorine and anti-chloramine is seriously not advise though older school folks might tell you otherwise.

Originally posted by miracleman
what i did later on was to buy coral chip and put it at my OHF as well as put half cap of that "water stablizer" thing that the uncle frm petmart ask me to buy.. today i see.. fish getting better... but the water is cloudy.. prob due to the coral chip.. can ask the bro's here for advice? when shld i change water again?

Actually u could change water anytime. Assume your pH stay around 7. You could change water whenever your test kit shows unhealthy level of Ammonia for that pH or ANYTIME BEFORE that. Amount you want to change is also up to you. I personally does 90% once or twice a week. I drain my tank and leave 10% of the water to keep my fish inside, then I slowly refill the water. If my tank water has higher pH than 7, I add sodium bicarbonate as new tap water is added into the tank. This should maintain or reduce the change in pH. I add the required amount of Anti chlorine/chloramine into the tank as the water fills. And keep the filters off until 15 mins after I finish toping up the water, thats the time I hope the anti-chlorine would work on the water and not kill my BB once I restart the filter.

BTW Coral chips will buffer your water's pH from falling too drastically and sometimes pH might increase abit.

miracleman , before you do the next water change could you take a reading of your pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Send it to me via PM, then I can tell you the stage of cycling your tank is at and anything else you should note.

Good Luck

[Anthen]

wow, how come u all change so much water to 90%.. then temperature, ph else.. will sure drop drastically mah.. i always change to 20% per wk..

[Anthen]

miracleman: u change water using hose??
u mean u jus on the tap and the water directly goes into the tank??

the water contain chlorine and chloramine which is harmful to ur fish.. should use anti-chlorine & anti-chloramine to neutralise the water to remove all harmful chemical.. u should use aged water and siphonage to ur tank.. the way, u use the method is jus place the one end of the hose to the tap and another end in the tank on the water.. the water entering into the tank have chemicals which is harmful.. as the water which is not treated is placed into the tank, the fish inside will be shocked due to the low level of water and water rushing down from the top.. ur fishes will be affected to the harmful water once the harmful chemical is attacked to ur fish b4 u put all the anti-solution..

[Anthen]

i stil in learning process.. if i'm wrong, pls correct mi..
thanks!! this is how i change my water..

i change to 20 - 30% (the most) of the water once a wk without fail.. then i use another pail filled it up with tap water add anti- chlorine & anti-chloramine.. then let it settle for 5 - 10 minutes to remove the harmful chemical.. next, i use a siphonage tube to suck the water from the pail to the tank.. this way, the fish won't have shock due to the loud noise or water rushing from the top..
after 10- 15 minutes after i put all the water in.. i put some amount of salt to play precaution.. hehe.. tat 's all...

[square_guy]

pH of tapwater depends on location. my tap water is 8.

changing water can usually be done anytime since fluctuation of water parameters are usually not too extreme. however for ppl like us who change 90~100% there is a "best" time to change. ie when temp and pH of tank water is closest to tap water.

i have read somewhere (but cannot confirm) that bicarbonate buffer the water to around 8.0.

[square_guy]

Originally posted by Anthen
i stil in learning process.. if i'm wrong, pls correct mi..
thanks!! this is how i change my water..

i change to 20 - 30% (the most) of the water once a wk without fail.. then i use another pail filled it up with tap water add anti- chlorine & anti-chloramine.. then let it settle for 5 - 10 minutes to remove the harmful chemical.. next, i use a siphonage tube to suck the water from the pail to the tank.. this way, the fish won't have shock due to the loud noise or water rushing from the top..
after 10- 15 minutes after i put all the water in.. i put some amount of salt to play precaution.. hehe.. tat 's all...

Anthen, are you keeping only GF?

The main reason some of us are changing 90~100% is because of nitrate.