Problems with levels in my water(PH & Alkalinity)

The tank that I am having a problem with is my 30gal tank. I recently moved and therefore went from city tap, to well water. I had to drain my tank in order to move it. Well now that it has been set up in my home for about a week using well water I am having problems with my levels in the PH and alkaline areas. My nitrate levels are fine, my hardness of the water is soft, but my alkaline level is the lowest level that can be registered and my PH is sitting at a acidic level. I purchased some API brand "Proper PH 7.0" from PetSmart in hopes that it would raise my PH to a neutral level for my tropical fish. 2 days ago 5 of my fish died. So I did a 50% water change and added some more aquarium salt and the amount suggested of the "Proper PH 7.0". WELL IT DIDNT WORK !!!!!! PH is still sitting at acidic and alkalinity is on the lowest side. IDK what to do .... Please HELP !!!!!

 

Great news get acidic fish

 

Betta macrostomas are wonderful. Or how about coral red pencil fish. What about dicrossus filamintosis. Group of discus

 

Those are ok, but I am a huge fan of guppys, mollies, tetras though... I want to figure out how to deal with the fish I have now (ones stated) instead of not fixing the problem and just switching the fish. To me that's pointless ..... just saying

 

Good morning and Welcome to Fish Lore!

Please do not use chemicals to alter your pH levels as they are unstable and can lead to a pH crash resulting in fish loss. Check out the information in the link below on how to Maintain a pH level naturally:



It is more important to Maintain a pH level than it is to try and pinpoint a certain level. Too, it will be much easier on you and your fish.

Salt is not necessary in a freshwater aquarium and may do more harm than good. I would suggest a large water change, 75% to rid the aquarium of the salt that you've added:





https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/salt-for-fish-diseases.139048/
(reference post #32)



Keep in mind the fewer chemicals we add to our aquariums, the better off our fish are going to be.

Best wishes for your tank and fish and please keep us posted.

Ken

 

Jessa11. Welcome to Fishlore. What aquarist said. Also, last December my pH crushed and KH vanished.
toosie saved my goldies. Wait till she comes along and helps you out. There have been two recent long threads chock full of information that will help you. Here is one of them:



The other one ran around the same time. May I also suggest you get the API liquid test, which is considerably more reliable than the strips that you are using

Good luck to you and your fish.

 

Try adding a cup of crushed corral to your filter to start with, it will raise your KH and ph making it more stable.

 

Wow, I am actually going to disagree with Ken for once. Under most conditions, I would agree that salt is not necessary. In this case though, if the readings are accurate, it is probably the only reason her mollies are still around. The water is way yoo soft and acidic for them to survive long in. The guppies to a lesser extent, though the tetras are probably loving it.

I would suggest adding aragonite sand to the tank to buffer it. Use crushed coral to slowly, about .4 per day, raise the PH and KH. Once it reaches, 6-7 dKH and the PH should be around 7.4, stop adding crushed coral. Your water changes will need to be small from now on, about 10%, or you will swing your PH. Large swings in KH, GH, and PH can be deadly to fish. Good luck and I will probably write more when I get on a computer cause my phone is annoying me.