Lower pH

[LizB]

Hey Ya'll,

I checked my ph today and it has lowered quiet a bit. From 8.2 to about 7.6. What on earth could've done that?

Last week I took a chunk of wood out of the tank because I didn't know what kind it was and it was "melting" so to speak. It came with the tank and who knows how old it is. I added a fairly big chunk of coral, I'd say 5lbs or more along with a few small pieces and I have a few sea shells. The coral and shells are really old. They were put away for years. I also added some new plastic plants. Other than water changes that's all I've done.

I noticed one of Harry's gills is a bit red so I did a water change today. I've had him for 15 days and he has been doing WONDERFUL. I never treated him for any parasites because he has looked and acted so healthy. Should I do that?

30gal
biowheel for 50gal

ammonia 0

nitrites 0

nitrates were between 10-20 before I did the water change today.

sg 1.008

As always, thank you.

[Nick]

I"d just be patient, the corals will increase PH, while the wood rotting decreases it. These are gradual changes and thus dont' hurt the fish.

[Agnate]

Do a quick test on the pH of your tap water (assuming you're using tap water). If the tank has a pH of 8.0 and your water has a pH of 7.6, you'll have a lower pH when you do water changes until the salt buffers the pH up (I believe that's how it goes, at least). Did you check the pH *after* you did the water change, or before?

If my tap water idea doesn't sound feasible, then I imagine it was the melting wood that did it. Wood + Salt = No Wood. ^_^

[LizB]

Ok, I just checked the tap and it's 8.0. I then checked the BW and it's about 8.0 today. Yesterday I had checked the water right before cleaning. The nitrates are 10 today. I haven't checked anything else because they were all 0 before I cleaned the tank yesterday. I had also checked the nitrates in the tap a few wks ago and it was 0. I haven't checked the tap for anything else until today. Oh, and I have been storing premixed W in the 1 gal water jugs. The SG in the jug is 0024, I think. I know it's a lot higher than what he's living in. I am completely anal when preparing his water to go into the tank. I check with the hydrometer several times while I'm mixing the tap into the premix and I check the themometer several times to make sure temp is good.

This morning the right gill seemed a bit red and flared out. It's getting harder and harder for me to get a look at him from the rear because he's not very afraid of me now. Even when I put my finger on the glass he only backs up a small bit. As a side note you should've seen him chasing my arm around in the tank yesterday when I cleaned it. We always hand feed him so limbs in the tank surely means food.

I'm really glad that I learned about the wood on here. The stuff was starting to break off and float around so I was afraid Harry might eat it and get some kind of blockage. Although I guess if they can blow argonite out their rears a little wood might not hurt them. I see more and more every day how different this is than having FW tanks, but I'm determined to be successful at this.

At this point I don't know what to do other than watch him close. He doesn't appear to be feeling bad. Ya'll will probably get after me but if he continues to get worse I may go ahead and treat the tank for external and internal parasites. I don't believe in making wild guesses and medicating but it's said often on here that our little guys come to us with parasites and I don't know what else could be causing this. To be honest I am very chicken to treat him for anything.

Last night my Sister said that eventually I could get live rock for the tank. I told her I don't care how pretty it is, if it can hurt Harry in any way I'll never have it. Ok, I'm rambling as usual.

Thank You Paul and Nick, you guys are great!

Do a quick test on the pH of your tap water (assuming you're using tap water). If the tank has a pH of 8.0 and your water has a pH of 7.6, you'll have a lower pH when you do water changes until the salt buffers the pH up (I believe that's how it goes, at least). Did you check the pH *after* you did the water change, or before?

If my tap water idea doesn't sound feasible, then I imagine it was the melting wood that did it. Wood + Salt = No Wood. ^_^

[LizB]

I forgot to tell ya'll that I put a bubble wall in the tank also. All I have to worry about with that is salt creep, right? There's also a small rock in there I'm going to take out since I don't know what it is.

[Agnate]

Hehe. It's pretty unlikely that live rock with hurt him, and you won't really need/use live rock until it gets closer to a full marine setup, so don't worry about it. Might be good to read up on it, though!

[Pufferpunk]

This is common in the winter. Open your window in the room for a few hours.

[LizB]

Yesterday it was cold here, sweat pants etc. and today it was warm enough to wear shorts. I have no idea what tomorrow is supposed to be like. I'll try it though. If it's cold again we'll wear ear muffs.

I'm so paranoid I turned the bubble wand off a few minutes ago. The water had tons of bubbles in it. Maybe that's bothering him. He's still buzzing around like my chubby little bumble bee but that right gill is still flared a bit and red.

Thanks

This is common in the winter. Open your window in the room for a few hours.

[LizB]

If something dies it could hurt him though, right? Well since it will probably be a year or two before he goes marine I'll do some reading. Hubby says he's grown some but I can't tell. He's so darn cute! I want to kiss him with my big shrimp lips.

Sis told me that she had corals die and everything in the tank died. That did it for me as far as corals. I think they'd be too much trouble anyway. I didn't even know she had a bunch of 100+gal marine tanks until I started telling her about Harry. She didn't do any research so she had a number of disasters. I can tell she learned some things though.

See ya later

Hehe. It's pretty unlikely that live rock with hurt him, and you won't really need/use live rock until it gets closer to a full marine setup, so don't worry about it. Might be good to read up on it, though!