tuna

Please help.
We have a freshwater 30 gallon tank.The tank had cycled about 12 weeks ago.
We have 5 happy mollies and have been testing the water weekly using API master kit and doing water changes. This past week we noticed that the ph level was at 6.0, all the other tests were good. We purchased API Proper 7.0 and added to the tank. testing the water after 24 hours we found that the ph level was between 6.6 and 6.8 and understand that Mollies do well with more than 7.2 ph. We waited another 24 hours and treated it again. the ph level was still the same.We spoke to someone from API who told us we could treat it again in 24 hours after we did a 10% water change. We did that at about two days ago. Also, about two days ago we noticed the tank had white cloudy water and the ph was at 6.6. We now have gotten API proper 7.5 and spoke to API again about the cloudy water. They said that the cloudy water is a bacterial bloom. We thought it might be from the API Proper. They said it wasn't because there wasn't any particles in the tank.We also wanted to know since the ph level still had not risen, if we could do another 10% water change and add the 7.5 proper. They told us to go ahead and do that. That was yesterday around 4 P.M. We will be testing the water for ph again at 4 P.M. after 24 hours. However, the tank is still cloudy and we are very worried about the fish.The fish at this point still appear happy are eating well and swimming around.
We have a product Tetra Aqua Water Clarifier. Can we add that to the water or are we going to harm the fish? We are very concerned about the cloudy water.
Please help us with your expertise.
Thanks. Tuna

Gwenz

From what I have heard and read I would agree with API that it is a bacterial bloom. It shouldn't afect the fish much. Maybe do a water change. I'm not sure... . I wouldn't add the 7.5 proper again. With you adding it and the PH chnaging so quickly this could realy stress out the fish if it is changing more than 0.2 all the time. It is best to let them adjust to the PH you have. What is you PH straight out of the tap (without anything added to it)?

Sorry I couldn't help you more with the cloudy water. I'd wait for Gunnie or Butterfly or someone more experienced to help you.

Sorry your having problems.

Gwenz

Gunnie

I would do small water changes to slowly get the ph back to normal and not try and raise the ph with chemicals. When you use chemicals to alter the ph, you make it harder on yourself because you have to do this everytime you do a water change, plus you run the risk of making your fish sick or possibly killing them. As you can see, the chemicals don't keep the ph steady, and you are subjecting your fish to a roller coaster ride. If your mollies seemed to be doing well before trying to raise the ph, then they will be fine without altering it. You can always try adding some crushed coral to your filter in a stocking if you still want to raise the ph some. This way the ph will change slowly enough not to hurt your fish. You can also add some texas holey rock to your tank as a decoration, and it will also naturally raise the ph, but I don't think it's necessary in your case.

tuna

Thank you for responding.
How frequently should we do the small water changes?
What about the cloudy water, what is it and will it hurt the fish? Can we use the water clarifier to help clear it up?
How can we be sure we haven't stressed our mollies out already?
Please respond.
Thanks again
Tuna

Gunnie

Water changes generally help your fish in most situations, and is usually the best first step in fixing a problem. However, in your case, changing out more than 10% or 15% of the water at a time may be too much of a ph change for your fish to handle, and we don't want stressed or dead fish. I would not use the clarifier and let it settle out on its own. If it is a bacterial bloom, as long as you don't have an ammonia or nitrite reading, it's just not a pretty tank, but your fish are not affected. I am going through something similar in my angel tank right now. Can you tell us what kind of filtration you are using on your tank? I'm thinking my problem is I need more filtration on my 55 gal. After I do my weekly water change, my water is cloudy for days and basically clears up about the time I need to clean it again. Does this sound like what's happening to you?

tuna

Thank you so much for responding.
We love these fish. We do not want to do anything to harm them.
We were thinking of doing a 20-25% water change tomorrow, but we will not do it.
We did a 10% change yesterday before we added the 7.5. Should we do another 10% change tomorrow?
We read the ph today, 24 hours after we put in API proper 7.5 and it was still reading 6.6-6.8. It has not moved higher as of yet. We did the nitrite test when we discovered that the ph was 6.0 several days ago and at that time the nitrite reading was just where it was suppose to be. The ammonia level is at 0.
Our filtration is Top Fin Power Filter 30 for our 30 gallon tank. We use a large carbon filter cartridge. We just changed the cartridge around September1.
Please let us know what you are thinking.
Thanks again.
Tuna

chickadee

Just a quick note on "water clarifiers". The information that Gunnie is giving you is excellent and I will not change a thing but I have had a lot of trouble with water clarifiers so I will speak on that subject. First, they will make your water even more cloudy to begin with because they cause all the particles in the water to cloud up and cluster into larger particles. It takes about 24 to 48 hours for this to clear through your filter. These are not meant to clear bacterial blooms or algae blooms. They only take care of small particles of debris that are too small to be removed by your filter. Like I said it takes a lot of microscopic particles and clumps them together to make them big enough to be filtered out by the filter. Your water will be milky and hard to see through if it is already cloudy. I would say that if you have not used them before, it would be my advice to take some used tank water on your next water change and put in a plastic bag and as a test add a little (teaspoon or so) water clarifier to it. Watch what it does to the water and then decide if you EVER want it in your tank. I quit using it in mine. I just got a finer filter media.

Like I said, I will not change a word of what Gunnie is telling you. She is the best, you can take anything she says as excellent advice. Most of us have learned our stuff from her and Butterfly.

Rose