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Questions about Ph, Alkalinity, Ect. | 9 comments (9 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Hey manders! (none / 0) (#6)
by manders200232 on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 01:11:13 PM PST

thanks for all of the tips.. I've lost 2 of my guppies today and all of the rest of them are basically losing their tails or have a white substance on them which im assuming it's ich. I'm guessing that they are all going to die now. I have been treating them for 3 days now but it isn't seeming to make a difference. I hope you are reading this because I was wondering if I should just change all of the water in the tank after they all die? I really want to keep guppies but it seems so challenging at times. They are walmart fish also, so that probably doesn't help the situation. Anyways should I change all of the water since they are all sick?
thanks for all of your help i really appreciate it

[ Parent ]

For now, can you treat some tap water and (none / 0) (#7)
by unclescott on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 08:39:12 PM PST

let it sit until tomorrow? Try a 25% water change. Then Saturday or Sunday, a 30% water change.... Feed not at all for a day or two, then, if they eat, sparingly.

What are your treating them with?

Don't buy any Corys just now. ;)

If everything dies, and I hope that doesn't happen, then, depending upon your climate, we may talk about boiling the gravel and (if you or your folks can do this) putting a little bleach (outside) into the tank to kill all of the "bugs" off. After serious rinsing, some dechlorinator can be placed in the tank.

In the upper Midwest, a lot of the upper 2/3s of the US and a lot of the Northern Hemisphere right now, it is a tough time to bleach tanks. I bleached 20 tanks and bowls, but that was last fall and summer. Most of the hair on my right arm has grown back. ;)

It is also possible to do a salt soak, where the aquarium is filled with a super saline solution. This is safer for you and your home, but must be done where salt water will not splash and damage furniture, electronics or rugs. Basements or laundry rooms, with the current administration's blessing, are recommended.

Then when the tank is clean, by whatever means, you could start a fish-less cycling of the tank. I think that would be a great way to start and far less stressful for you and any fish. :)

All the best!
u.s.

[ Parent ]

Re: For now, can you treat some tap water and (none / 0) (#8)
by DJIsaac on Fri Dec 09, 2005 at 07:53:33 AM PST

Ive heard that instead of using Bleach, that some people use vinagar... I guess it should work, and would have better chances of not leaving pools of really harmfull substances in your tank, like say bleach might if not properly cleaned out..

[ Parent ]

Vinegar is more often used to get rid of (none / 0) (#9)
by unclescott on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 09:07:34 AM PST

the mineral deposits on the side of the tank. People will put it on and let it sit a bit before scrubbing with a paper towel or plastic pot scrubber. Some of those marks on the glass are actually etched into the glass. Nothing can get those out.

Vinegar is a mild acid, measuring about 4. I don't know that it would dissolve any harmful critters. Most bacteria certainly couldn't live or at least reproduce at that acid a pH. Bleach, pH of 12, is a fearsome base, very alkaline, with that very high pH and it does dissolve dissident organisms.

Vinegar can be used to neutralize any chlorine residual after bleaching and rinsing. Your tank smells a little like a pickle. ;) One could probably fill the tank one more time with warmish water. Just before that last fill, put in a little baking soda in (pH of only 8).

If there is any suspicion that the fish died of Fish TB (Mycobacterium of some sort, not the species which attacks human lungs) after the bleaching, one party suggested rubbing down the tank, soaking everything else, in rubbing alcohol. Evidentially the cell membranes of Mycobacterium are so tough, they resist the bleach, but collapse in the presence of the alcohol. That is one tough bacteria!

All the best!
uncle (still not a chemist) scott

[ Parent ]

Questions about Ph, Alkalinity, Ect. | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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