The Puffer Forum

Knowing AC110's I am wondering if the "live rock" as you call it is just the bio media (ceramic rings) or if it actually rock as others are thinking? If it is the rings I would just leave them as they are keeping your bb.

+1.. Hope U are talking abt bio rings and not "LR".. They have salt in them and would have leaked into your tank.. Drift wood will does not stablize ph. It lower them in fact as they leak tannin acid. But effect would be from slight to negligible readable range. unless U have tons of them.

I think there was some miss-communication there. The only Live Rock I have is in my aquaclear 110s. aka the media. My substrate is all shells and yes it would raise my PH but Ive had this setup for about 2.5 years now with no issues .. though where i was living a year ago.. the PH was a constant 7.0 now moving 2300kms to central North America the water out of tap is a 7.8. I didn't realize this till just recently so I purchased some PH down and tried so far 2 tease-spoons which brought my PH down a total of .4 so this morning i went a lil crazy and added 3 tablespoons which brought me down to a solid 6.8 (Tested over the course of 8 hours) So all should be happy for the new arrival which also has been delayed a week now ... Fed-Ex gotta love em! (He isnt in transit!) Tomorrow he will be.

Keeping ph stable is the key here. I have very high ph out of the tap. I never try to lower it. It stays stable and my fish are all fine. Be careful adjusting your ph with chemicals. You'll have to adjust it every water change, that may be difficult to get it right. I would just do a long acclimation period when your fahaka gets there and he should be okay.

This is a good read on pH.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/ph.php

Srkoe wrote:This is a good read on pH.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/ph.php

That was a good read actually and initially those were my thoughts exact! After adding what the bottle said to bring it down it honestly did noticeable returns dropping the PH but after a few hours the PH would bounce nearly back to where it was ... I spoke to where I am getting my fahaka from and he was telling me that their PH levels are around 7.6 and that the fahaka has been absolutely fine. Ive read quite a few site profiles on fahakas and all say the range is from 6-7.8 soo I guess I am borderline there. Im going to test my water again in the morning to actually see if it bounced back to a 7.8. If it did im going to leave it. After reading upon PH levels on that link i to think that yes ideal conditions are great but as I live in arctic climates at times (Canada) I adjust and I know that over time anything .. (virtually anything) can adapt to surroundings LOL!

Another article that talks about using pH down.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_adjusting_pH.php

If you continue to use ph down it would be virtually impossible to keep your pH stable when you change the water. You'll be on the right track with leaving it alone...a major pH spike or drop could kill your fish, I'd hate for you to have to go through that again the crushed coral substrate and LR you are using can also be raising the pH. Does your tap water and tank water measure the same?

On another note...sorry to hear you are having to wait on your fish. Don't worry, he will be there soon enough. I'm jealous that you are going to have a bs y fahaka. I wish Ares was a baby when I got him. He has grown about 6 inches in the 6 months I have owned him! I look back at pics and only then do I realize how small he used to be.

Same!! They grow soooo fast!! I guess to tell you the honest truth ive been looking for a reason as to why fata$$ RIP changed moods so much when we moved... I figured water ... but in all honesty I think it was the fact that my job entails me to leave for quite long periods and he just didnt know who i was. I tried being all fishy and puckering up my lips to him like i always use to and he just would not come too. Recently he ate those 2 rubbernose plecos, became constipated while i was away and the fiance didnt know what to do. So when i got back i have him epsom salt which relieved that but then he developed these odd ulcers that first started as mountains then blew to an ulcer. So i treated with erythromyacin for a week and nothing. Tried all sorts of things, nothing helped. So i figured salt and well i thought that would kill what was eating him and hopefully wouldnt kill him but when i woke up the next morning he was sideways.
I feel so bad cause i literally killed my fish that was soo awesome and cool (I got him at 5 inches too) So now I want to make sure I do EVERYTHING right with this lil guy!
This was him in his prime! Always use to greet me .. follow me, watch TV with me ... go nuts when i went to the fridge! All that changed when i moved .. felt like he gave up on life .. last 2 months he didnt eat a thing. Not even a cray!

Trust me it's worth the wait for a baby one, mine was tiny when I got him. It would probably be wise to do a couple of large water changes to get the ph stuff out the tank so you can be sure of stable ph, it may mess things up for you if left. The last thing you want is unstable ph. Don't forget pics when you get him

That's a great memorial vid of him!

When I got my fahaka it was about 1.5" long, I fed blood worms and it loved them...

I remember your thread about him. You done what you could. We may never know what killed him . Ares, my fahaka is in high pH water and he has done nothing but flourish since we adopted him. Just don't make this harder on yourself than needed. I agree, get that water changed and monitor the pH for the next week and make sure you are not getting swings. Everything is going to be okay. Before you know it you will be enjoying the greatness that is in owning a Fahaka once again!

Yea he was awesome!! Buttttttttttttttttttt I got the baby finally!!!! He's awesomeness! Eating snails and guppies already!! Hungry and feisty lil bugger!!