need to lower ph

[salt creepette]

I noticed that my male clown in the 10g looked unhappy this a.m. so i tested the water. somehow the ph in all three of my tanks has crept up to between 8.4 and 8.8 (gotta love the color charts on those tests) since last week. I think its whats stressing the clown out; its the only abnormal water parameter. im curious why the sudden change. ive done nothing different to the tanks. i had been adding calcium+3 but hadnt been doing that for over two weeks. I did water changes saturday. there is a small amount of macroalgae in all 3 tanks that has been there for the last 2 months. i havent added any fish. can anyone tell why the ph would rise?

also, i read in another thread that you could bring it down using vinegar. if this is true, how would i go about dosing it (what amount, what method)? I have a produce called proper Ph that is supposed to adjust the ph to 8.2. I havent had occasion to use it yet, anyone have any recommendations? thanks a ton.

oh...i have a small amount of crushed coral on the bottom of all three tanks. i thought this was supposed to buffer the ph. could it be its pushing it up too high? ive been thinking of changing to sand, but then i was afraid that i wouldnt be getting enough ph buffering. since i dont do a kalk drip i thot that would be bad. please help. thanks.

[salt creepette]

additional information: female and male clown were moved to the 30 gallon tank in a floating container this morning by my husband, thinking this would help. it hasnt, he is the same. I also forgot to mention the female is doing fine and eating with normal respiration, but the male is not eating. he looks a bit thin, actually. his respiration is rapid compared to hers.

[salt creepette]

but he WAS eating, up to and including last night...

[DennisW]

What are your other params (calcium, alkalinity, nitrates)????? What kind of salt did you use for the Saturday water change? What is your salinity??

In my opinion, the substrate is weak, at best as a buffer. I would not use any vinegar to alter the pH. What are the chances the test kit is old, expired or not being read right????

Dennis

[salt creepette]

dont have a test kit for calcium or alk. 0 ammonia, nitrites. nitrates are under 20. use premixed water from lfs, as i have been for months. not sure what kinda salt they use though prolly IO. Salinity is 1.026. test kits are not old, only about 4 mos since i bought them.

I am actually entertaining the idea of amyloodinium...??? It is so hard to diagnose these fish diseases. I say oodinium cuz in joyce wilkersons book it says that the fish has failure to feed and rapid respiration rate, and the parasites are too small to see. i dont think that I see anything on the fish, but there MIGHT be some whitish tiny dots or patches. its just too hard to tell. the other clown is unaffected. my silly buggering husband put them in the main tank and now im worried that its going to be infected too, but at this point, i just dont know WHAT IS GOING ON. how frustrating.....please help if you can. thanks.

[laddy00]

How about taking your LFS a water sample to test for pH and other params you can't test for. If its is only one fish that is having problems then it maybe some parasite or disease.

[salt creepette]

ok the fish made it through the night but now i can DEFINITELY see white stuff on him. some white dots and mostly white powder-like patches. should i treat it like amyloodinium or brookynella or marine velvet?? i will also post this in a new thread.

[Geoff]

i also agree with the idea of getting your water tested by another source. i would also not be adding Ca if you do not have a test kit for it. if you do not have enough critters in there that use up Ca this could have started the whole out of balance.

G~

[salt creepette]

ok i am thoroughly chastised i added it for two or 3 weeks... now i need help with treating my fish. as it turns out something has brought about a disease. see the post amyloodinium, marine velvet, brookynella? for more info.....