Help! One of the things that has been bothering me a little was out alkaline tests always came out a bit low. So I decided to add some Tetra Easy Balance, which is labelled for balancing pH (half the recommended dose). Almost immediately, Fishie began doing 'running jumps' out of the water. I tested the water params real quick and noticed the pH was distinctly lower than usual. I tested the other params and they were all normal (ammonia & nitrite at zero, nitrate at 10-ish, hardness at 120, alk at 60 to 80).

So I added some 'raise pH' stuff, but the jumping continued. A few minutes later I did a 25% water change, hoping that would help. A few minutes later i tested the params again, including a side-by-side test of the pH of the tap and the tank. Everything seems fairly normal, but yet he continues to do fairly regular jumps - at least once a minute unless i distract him.

What's wrong and what can I do??

- Fred

Well, fish hate a swinging PH and react especially badly to drops.
Can you tell us what your actual PH is? tap and tank? What was is before you added Easy Bal?
If you are concerned that your KH might be low I think it would be far better to add crushed coral to gradually raise your buffering level. You can use it as substrate or add it to the filter cannister.
But meanwhile, if your fish was OK before adding the Tetra and the raising agent I would change quite a lot more water and see how he goes.
Can you post back with your readings?

I'm not entirely thrilled with the pH drops as they've basically always read at 7.4 (which is the top of the scale), but after the tetra they read at 7.2 - the only time its ever not shown the top. I also have a strip that I don't like either, because it hard to read the color I usually get, but it used to say a bit over 7-ish and it dropped to 6.8.

i just did another 25% water change (that's the 2nd one, so that should be a total of 1-.75^2 = ~44% water change - it was fresh water from the tap so i needed to add a little AmQuel+ to get rid of chlorine, but that was all i put in.

After everything the pH in the drops is at 7.35 (just a tiny bit less than the 7.4 color) and the strip is back at its hard-to-read-but-i-think-about-7.1 measurement.


Should I expect the jumping to continue for a while after the water returns to normal? is there anyway to reduce his stress for now? Should I do yet another 25% water change even thought the measurements are pretty darn close to normal? Water changes are stressful too, no?

Which PH tester do you have? What is the KH reading for tank and tap, do you know?
Just wondering if your KH is getting used up too fast and causing the PH to dip. I think it's best to avoid agents that tweak your PH - something more stable like C/coral, as I said before, is preferable.
BTW - Water changes themselves are not stressful to fish, providing the water is temp matched and not of a lower PH.
I'm signing off for the night now, but hopefully Trinket will be around to pick up the slack.

The pH drops are Wardley, the strip is the Mardel 5-in-1.

KH is alkalinity and GH is hardness? Is that correct? If so, KH/alk has been 60-80 ppm. The bottle lists the 'ideal range' as 120 to 180 (edit: the tap is around the same as the tank water).

Fishie has calmed down in the last 5-10 minutes, thankfully. He does a mini-jump every few minutes, but has been spending most of his time 'treading water' with his mouth at the surface, which is a fairly normal behavior for him. Its not entirely normal, but its much better than the previous half-hour.

Continued advice is much appreciated.

Yes that's correct. Total alkalinity (KH) works like this: CO₂ is released into the tank by the fish & enters the carbonate cycle driven by the presence of carbonate in the system, which is measured using the test known as total alkalinity (TA). Goldfish water should be of moderate alkalinity, 100-250 mg/L. When the TA is less than 50 mg/L, water is considered low in alkalinity, and buffering ability will not be sufficient to prevent major pH fluctuations from occurring. This is why longterm remedial measures are needed for water with a low KH/TA.

There is a related syndrome called -curiously "Old Tank Syndrome" Sudden and unexpected high ammonia levels and extremely low pH as low as 5 can be indicative of a sudden crash of alkalinity. It will make fish jump, dart and gasp. It means there is a complete exhaustion of buffering capacity in the water. It can happen if you add crushed coral to your aquarium filter boxes and after a few years the coral's capacity as a buffering agent expires.

As the buffering capacity (alkalinity) is used up- the acids that have accumulated from organic waste drop the pH and the acidic environment kills the biofilter bacteria leading to an accumulation of NH₃/ammonia. It's hard to say which is more dangerous and will make a fish jump or gasp more- the pH drop or the ammonia. Both are quick fish kills. It is important to track and monitor alkalinity as well as pH once weekly or more if you are at risk with low TA to start.

The total hardness TH or usually GH is the test that measures the calcium fraction of the calcium carbonate relationship. This test measures the combined presence of the divalent cations/mineral components in your water- manganese, magnesium, zinc, iron etc.

After checking ammonia, and adequate aeration are not cause, it sounds as if you may need to be looking at a long term buffering solution with a TA @ 60+. to avoid these mini crashes. Buffer drops and cheap commercial kits last for an undetermined period, suddenly their buffering ability expires and the pH plunges. There is no red flag to tell us when and if there was we may not be there in the room to see it. The fish gasping is in fact that red flag and you will need to remedy your pH stability because longterm these fluctuations can damage your fishes immunity.

Thanks Trinket, and Pixie again,

Fishie seems to be back to normal this morning. We did another (the third) water change before bed and by this morning he seems to be acting like normal.


So it seems like the thing I put in to try to up the alkalinity actually seems to have had the opposite effect and crashed the pH somewhat, huh?

With the buffering capability of our water apparently somewhat low (although I may get a drop-based GH/KH test kit before I consider that certain), Trinket, you warn against drop-based or 'cheap commercial kits'. Is this supposed to be an endorsement of crushed coral? If not, what is the recommended solution?



Edit: I notice the NovAqua+ we've been using claims to buffer water:
http://novalek.com/kordon/novaqua+/index.htm

Apparently it hasn't been doing quite enough for us, although I haven't been adding full doses either.

pH is one of the more difficult parameters to measure in many goldfish tanks for the most common test kits you will encounter usually run "low" or "high" ph and the typical pH of the goldfish tank will land right on the fence - the top reading on the "low" test and the bottom reading on the "high" test. I found that I was constantly using BOTH - and then averaging the results to get a reading. It was exact enough, but no where near what I really wanted it to be.

For a while, I went to the use of phenol red indicator and the tests used for swimming pool pH. They usually run the range of 6.8 to 8.2 - right where you want them - and the colors were easier for me to see - red/orange/yellow. I found the drops and the color scale in swimming pool chemical and test areas of various stores. The drops cost only about $1.00 and last for months.

I have since gone to a simple pH digital meter - a dip meter. For about $100. I got one that is quite easy to use, calibrate and clean.

Some fish are so sensitive to water differences that they get agitated with large water changes. I think of it a bit like some people who itch incessantly when wearing wool sweaters - they want to crawl out of their skins until the wool is removed. Sometimes, no matter how carefully you match parameters on the water changes, the simple act of changing the water can give some fish that feeling - and they can flash and jump for a short time following the change. pH changes can have the same effect. Remember - the pH scale is exponential - meaning that the difference between 7.2 and 7.3 is LARGE.

Many people learn by observing their fish at each and every water change - and know what they are seeing is "normal". "Normal" also means that the fish will "recover" very quickly - some within minutes - others within hours. You need to know your individual fish, so you can tell when something is "normal" or "not-normal".

So does anyone have any advice on the best way to go about increasing the buffering capacity safely? Should something like NovAqua+ be a good start, maybe if I up it to (or near to) a full dose? Obviously I'm a bit hesitent about water conditioners right now, though he's never minded NovAqua+/AmQuel+ before (of course, he didn't mind Easy Bal the one time I used it before either). Or is something like crushed coral much better - and if so, how am I supposed to use it?

- Fred

Crushed coral is great. Buffering stability lasts a looong time. You can buy it at a larger store that specialises in reef tanks I think. You rinse it and add it directly to the filter box as media. Or you can mix the larger pebbels with your substrate as I did.