I have a 55 gallon tank and want to raise the ph level. Will it shock the fish in the ta?

Question

I have several barbs, 4 silver dollars, and 1 angelfish. One angel fish just died and the pet store told me I needed to raise the level of my ph because it was to acidic but the other fish are doing fine. So I have been putting a liquid ph in there drop by drop for fear that I may shock my fish. But the ph is not changing. So I put 1 tsp. in there and am sitting back just watching now. Also they said that the nitrite or nitrate was too high so I needed to add more water cause my water had dehydrated somewhat and I did that before I added the ph and then I added some not alot of aquarium salt and some stress coat also. Please help me. I love my fish

Answer 1

The first thing I am wondering is why change it at all? Ok it's low towards the acidic end, but were your fish showing any signs of distress or dying from that? I think you're better off not adjusting it at all unless you are seeing problems. Ph's should really only be adjusted prior to populating your tank for the very reason you are worried about. Shifting ph's amid population is usually more damaging then good. If you really have to shift it, try to keep the shifting under a half point per day. Now if you dosing the tank to change it and not seeing a change, your gh might be too high and is resisting the change. Take a look at your gh and kh to see if thats high or low. In all though, unless you fish are having problems, I'd just let it be.

JV

Answer 2

I would do a 33% water change immediately (make sure the water is the same temp and conditioned, adding a little slime coat to the water to relieve stress.

Change 1/3 of the water each day for 3 days.

Nitrates get high when the fish waste and old food break down in the water.

Is this a new tank? If so, add some beneficial bacteria
to your tank. You can get this at your pet store.

Have you recently added more fish that may have created an overload? If so, then you would also benefit from some beneficial bacteria to get you on track.

What is the ph of your home tap water? Do you have a place in town where you can buy reverse osmosis water? A lot of time in the grocery stores they have those stations where you can fill your own jug, and that is ro water, much better than declorinated tap water. Cuts down on algae growth too.

Change out your carbon in your filter. The higher grade carbon really does work better than the cheapie stuff. I prefer a filter where I can add my own bagged media instead of buying someone's cartridge. There are several kinds, aqua clear is just one. It doesn't hurt to overfilter, which is better than under filtering.

Last, make sure you are not over feeding, left over food breaks down into nitrates.

Answer 3

Ditto to Jon V on this one. Don;t change it unless you see that the fish are stressed and you have eliminated all other potential problems. If the fish are ok, don't rock the boat.

And yes, changing the pH with fish in the tank would be very stressful to them. This rollercoaster ride of the pH going up and down will do far, far more harm Than just leaving it where it is.

MM

Answer 4

I found that tape water had a very bad effect on my fish. So I started using bottle water. My Water man loved me every 3 months I would drain the tank half way and refill with bottled water. When I took the water in to be tested the balance was perfect. They asked me what I was doing to get it right and I told them. I gave them the name of the water company I was using and they tried it with three of their expensive fish and they stopped losing them. Within a year the whole store was using bottled water. This was in Calif.
Since your pet store told you want to do and use, I would do it all at once and it should not hurt the fish at all. Sounds like you are doing all you can do. If you see where this method is causing a problem with your fish then let the pet store know at once.
I had raised the fish I had from babies, I had a black bubbled eyed goldfish and three white and gold bubbled eyed. They grew real big, took pictures of them and showed them to the pet store and the guy there said [ no way ] they don't grow that long or that big - Tell it to the fish, cause they did...But then they where is a 500 gallon tank.

Answer 5

If you get some crushed coral sand and add it to your filter media, that would raise the pH. But do it gradually. On the first day, add a few tablespoonfuls, wait 3 or 4 days and double the measurement. Just keep doing that until you pH is basic enough. Good luck!

Nosoop4u