The Puffer Forum

hello again
i posted sad fahaka yesterday with all water parameters tank size etc. ....glad to say he came out to say hi today and had no prob eating a prawn.....

however i ve seen him do something strange a couple of times and i just wonder if theres something else wrong that im missing?

hes in the corner hiding and he looks at the gravel as if to get a snail but instead he roles on his side and flicks his tail and it looks as if hes coughing......

i ve read somewhere they can get over production of slime is this the cause or am i worrying too much?

i think i may have solved the problem just tested the water again everything is the same as two days ago except the ph which has dropped from 7 to 5!!! very scary, not sure why but im adjusting it up.

if you have any ideas why it may have dropped like this?......

crushed coral should be added to your filter to maintain ph.

You shouldn't really need to add crushed coral or any buffers to FW. What is the pH of your tap water? What is your water change schedule?

well when i now do water changes every week depending on how messy histank gets.
the natural ph of our fw here is 8. and has a natural nitrate reading of 80.

so i ve strated using ro water and adding electrolytes and then a ph adjuster up so that the ph is 7.

the ph is now 6 and im adjusting it slowing up but i ve no idea why it crashed?

If I remember correctly you are in the \UK. Is the correct?

If so I would check your test kits and readings again.
If you get your water from the tap there is no way the reading for nitrate will be as high as 80

hi there yes im in uk.... i just checked the nirates again and the reading came out as 80 approx... i know the water in our area is very bad we cant drink tap water unless its filtered, well we can but the council advise not to!

That is some very high nitrates! You should try taking your water in to an LFS to get them to test the water for you (not sure if they do that over the pond but it's a free service here at most LFS's)

danni pearce wrote:hi there yes im in uk.... i just checked the nirates again and the reading came out as 80 approx... i know the water in our area is very bad we cant drink tap water unless its filtered, well we can but the council advise not to!

If your water is from a company then they are breaking European guidelines are are liable. The max guideline is 50ppm. If you are absolutely positive they are correct readings then I would take this up with the company as they will then be breaking the guidelines and can be prosecuted.

Sorry if you've already put this, is your test kit a liquid one or are you using strips to test the water?

if its a liquid one which are the best type they only have a limited shelf life

test kit is a liquid one and was only bought four weeks ago. the lfs havent tested my tap water but they also advise not to use tap water because apparently its always very high at this time of year but ok during the sumer months....

danni pearce wrote:test kit is a liquid one and was only bought four weeks ago. the lfs havent tested my tap water but they also advise not to use tap water because apparently its always very high at this time of year but ok during the sumer months....

You would assume nitrates would be at their highest when the agricultural season is in full flow during the warmer months of the year not during the colder months. Your water supply sounds terrible, makes fishkeeping even harder.

again, if the readings are correct then they are breaking European guidelines.