Fish Deaths

[Keith Alberry]

I have:
25 Gallon planted aquarium
aquaclear 200 filter
temperature 75
water parameters:
ph 6.0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5-10
fishmates:
1 tetra
1 4 spotted gourami


I have purchased mollies from a pet store that also had low ph and they
still would not survive. So I got a quarentine tank set up it is a 10
gallon with lots of filtration and the same temperature. no plants however.
I had a male sailfin molly in it for well over 3 weeks now and got 2 females
for him. So I moved him to the 25 Gallon aquarium and put the females in
the 10 gallon for quarentine. Within hours our molly is laying upside down
in the bottom of the 25 gallon tank. the 10 Gallon tank has a slightly
higher ph @ 6.6. Anyone have any idea why I can't keep mollies alive in
this tank?

TIA
Keith

[Margolis]

"Keith Alberry" > wrote in message
.. .
> I have:
> 25 Gallon planted aquarium
> aquaclear 200 filter
> temperature 75
> water parameters:
> ph 6.0
> ammonia 0
> nitrite 0
> nitrate 5-10
> fishmates:
> 1 tetra
> 1 4 spotted gourami
>
>
> I have purchased mollies from a pet store that also had low ph and they
> still would not survive. So I got a quarentine tank set up it is a 10
> gallon with lots of filtration and the same temperature. no plants
however.
> I had a male sailfin molly in it for well over 3 weeks now and got 2
females
> for him. So I moved him to the 25 Gallon aquarium and put the females in
> the 10 gallon for quarentine. Within hours our molly is laying upside
down
> in the bottom of the 25 gallon tank. the 10 Gallon tank has a slightly
> higher ph @ 6.6. Anyone have any idea why I can't keep mollies alive in
> this tank?
>
> TIA
> Keith
>
>
>


why is your ph so low? are you using co2 injection? Or are you using some
chemical to lower the ph.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Margolis]

"Keith Alberry" > wrote in message
. ..
> I have no idea. Do plants lower your PH? I do not use any chemcials or
CO2
> injection. My tap water doesn't have low ph.
>
> Keith
>
>


plants don't lower the ph, in fact they will increase the ph when the lights
are on by consuming all the co2 in the water.

how old is the tank? how long has it been set up? If too much waste
accumulates in a tank it will start polluting the tank and lowering the ph
and can cause fish deaths.


--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Also, how often do you do water changes, and how much do you change typically?

[Keith Alberry]

every 2 weeks about 25% water change

"Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
...
> Also, how often do you do water changes, and how much do you change
> typically?

[Fuzzy]

Imo, (I looked to find back up information but couldn't find anything
diffinitive) a ph of 6.0 is just to low for mollys. heres a list of
common fish an ph levels .Angelfish 6.5 - 7.0 Clown Loach 6.0 - 6.5
Goldfish 7.0 - 7.5 Harlequin 6.0 - 6.5 Hachetfish 6.0 - 7.0 Neon Tetra
5.8 - 6.2 Plecostomus 5.0 - 7.0 Silver Dollar 6.0 - 7.0 Tiger Barb 6.0 -
6.5 Zebra Danio 6.5 - 7.0 I am not sure how low the PH is in your LFS's
water, but even still when you put your fish in from your Q tank, which
was 6.6, to a 6.0. I think that change was to much, alas the belly up
molly's. Fish can live in considerably wide ranges of ph, but drastic
changes even within tollerable ranges can still be fatal. The fatality
seems greater on a ph drop, as apposed to a rise as well.



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[Ozdude]

"Fuzzy" -DONTEMAIL> wrote in message
...
> Imo, (I looked to find back up information but couldn't find anything
> diffinitive) a ph of 6.0 is just to low for mollys. heres a list of
> common fish an ph levels .Angelfish 6.5 - 7.0 Clown Loach 6.0 - 6.5
> Goldfish 7.0 - 7.5 Harlequin 6.0 - 6.5 Hachetfish 6.0 - 7.0 Neon Tetra
> 5.8 - 6.2 Plecostomus 5.0 - 7.0 Silver Dollar 6.0 - 7.0 Tiger Barb 6.0 -
> 6.5 Zebra Danio 6.5 - 7.0 I am not sure how low the PH is in your LFS's
> water, but even still when you put your fish in from your Q tank, which
> was 6.6, to a 6.0. I think that change was to much, alas the belly up
> molly's. Fish can live in considerably wide ranges of ph, but drastic
> changes even within tollerable ranges can still be fatal. The fatality
> seems greater on a ph drop, as apposed to a rise as well.

Most LFS fish are acclimatised for harder water than their native cousins, I
believe, but I think it's also prudent to know your tank pH and ask the LFS
what their pH is too.

You could get pH shock even from a pH hardened stock, but I think the
difference would have to be massive.

I don't think that any fish shop would have a pH of 6.0 even so, without
telling you so.

Oz
--
My Aquatic web Blogg is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[N.Thurlow]

Molly's like really hard water and wont thrive for long in a pH of 6. They
prefer it as high as 8. Also a pH jump of 0.6 is too much for one day and
will cause osmotic shock.

What substrate do you have in the tank? Sand tends to cause low pH problems
as it doesnt buffer the water.

Regards
Nicola
Aqua Area

"Keith Alberry" > wrote in message
.. .
> I have:
> 25 Gallon planted aquarium
> aquaclear 200 filter
> temperature 75
> water parameters:
> ph 6.0
> ammonia 0
> nitrite 0
> nitrate 5-10
> fishmates:
> 1 tetra
> 1 4 spotted gourami
>
>
> I have purchased mollies from a pet store that also had low ph and they
> still would not survive. So I got a quarentine tank set up it is a 10
> gallon with lots of filtration and the same temperature. no plants
however.
> I had a male sailfin molly in it for well over 3 weeks now and got 2
females
> for him. So I moved him to the 25 Gallon aquarium and put the females in
> the 10 gallon for quarentine. Within hours our molly is laying upside
down
> in the bottom of the 25 gallon tank. the 10 Gallon tank has a slightly
> higher ph @ 6.6. Anyone have any idea why I can't keep mollies alive in
> this tank?
>
> TIA
> Keith
>
>
>

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Fuzzy wrote:
>
> Imo, (I looked to find back up information but couldn't find anything
> diffinitive) a ph of 6.0 is just to low for mollys. heres a list of
> common fish an ph levels .Angelfish 6.5 - 7.0 Clown Loach 6.0 - 6.5
> Goldfish 7.0 - 7.5 Harlequin 6.0 - 6.5 Hachetfish 6.0 - 7.0 Neon Tetra
> 5.8 - 6.2 Plecostomus 5.0 - 7.0 Silver Dollar 6.0 - 7.0 Tiger Barb 6.0 -
> 6.5 Zebra Danio 6.5 - 7.0 I am not sure how low the PH is in your LFS's
> water, but even still when you put your fish in from your Q tank, which
> was 6.6, to a 6.0. I think that change was to much, alas the belly up
> molly's. Fish can live in considerably wide ranges of ph, but drastic
> changes even within tollerable ranges can still be fatal. The fatality
> seems greater on a ph drop, as apposed to a rise as well.
>

Fuzzy,

Actually goldfish do fine with PH's from 7-8.4 - as long as it remains stable
and doesn't drop quickly.

[Keith Alberry]

Thanks to all who replied. I have gotten some crushed coral and made a
filter bag for it. I also added baking soda day by day to get my KH up.
now I have a PH of 7.2 and it's holding steady. I guess now I just have to
watch my KH so the ph doesn't shift. I think I am well on my way to having
healthy mollies now:) Again. thanks to all who replied

Keith


"Keith Alberry" > wrote in message
.. .
>I have:
> 25 Gallon planted aquarium
> aquaclear 200 filter
> temperature 75
> water parameters:
> ph 6.0
> ammonia 0
> nitrite 0
> nitrate 5-10
> fishmates:
> 1 tetra
> 1 4 spotted gourami
>
>
> I have purchased mollies from a pet store that also had low ph and they
> still would not survive. So I got a quarentine tank set up it is a 10
> gallon with lots of filtration and the same temperature. no plants
> however.
> I had a male sailfin molly in it for well over 3 weeks now and got 2
> females
> for him. So I moved him to the 25 Gallon aquarium and put the females in
> the 10 gallon for quarentine. Within hours our molly is laying upside
> down
> in the bottom of the 25 gallon tank. the 10 Gallon tank has a slightly
> higher ph @ 6.6. Anyone have any idea why I can't keep mollies alive in
> this tank?
>
> TIA
> Keith
>
>
>

[Fuzzy]

Geezer From The wrote:
> Fuzzy wrote:
> >
> > Imo, (I looked to find back up information but couldn't find anything
> > diffinitive) a ph of 6.0 is just to low for mollys. heres a list of
> > common fish an ph levels .Angelfish 6.5 - 7.0 Clown Loach
> > 6. - 6.5 Goldfish 7.0 - 7.5 Harlequin 6.0 - 6.5 Hachetfish 6.0 - 7.0
> > Neon Tetra
> > 5.8 - 6.2 Plecostomus 5.0 - 7.0 Silver Dollar 6.0 - 7.0 Tiger
> > Barb 6.0 -
> > 6.5 Zebra Danio 6.5 - 7.0 I am not sure how low the PH is in your
> > LFS's water, but even still when you put your fish in from your Q
> > tank, which was 6.6, to a 6.0. I think that change was to much, alas
> > the belly up molly's. Fish can live in considerably wide ranges of
> > ph, but drastic changes even within tollerable ranges can still be
> > fatal. The fatality seems greater on a ph drop, as apposed to a rise
> > as well.
> >
> Fuzzy,
> Actually goldfish do fine with PH's from 7-8.4 - as long as it remains
> stable and doesn't drop quickly.



I agree, the ranges quoted are obviously not an absolute. However, fish
tend to tollerate the higher range of ph better. In the chart I quoted
from. Also sub species of fish ph ranges change as well. It was just put
out there as a general guide for the possible reason the Mollies died. I
feel the most likly reason was the drastic change in ph, which as I
pointed out, affects fish more, on a drop, than on an increase.



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