help! clownfish about to die?

M

maluskeeter

New member
this morning my clownfish is staying at the very top of the tank and he is discolorered..i got a pair of them just last week and i did a water test yesterday to find:

S.G. 1.023
Temperature 75
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0.35
Nitrate 0
pH 8.6


at the tiem of the water test the clowns were fine, acting normal - my royal gramma was acting weird and staying hidden underneath a rock ALL DAY - later found dead this morning

so i did a water change of 4-5% to get pH lowered and ammonia lowered ..water test:

S.G. 1.023
Temperature 75
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrate 0
pH 8

now i wake up this am, and hte clown is acting weird and not even eating the food - he is also discolored

help please, should i quarantine him or ??
 
Run a cup of carbon in a sock to stop the ammonia. Your tank is not finished cycling. Your ph was .3 high and is better because of your water change. Your temperature should be around 80 for salt water. You don't state your alkalinity, but that may be off, too: it should be 8.3. Don't try to feed a sick fish. In the theory whatever he's got (if an illness) is already in your tank, don't move him. He's too fragile. If he gets better with warmer temperature and no ammonia, it's conditions, not a bacteria or parasite.
 
PM sent: ladies nylon kneehighs are cheap and good for this: use a new one. insert carbon, knot top, wash dust off, hang in hardest water flow, remove/renew after 5 days. Buy high-quality kent carbon and it won't need washing. Ask your lfs. They'll sell you the right stuff, maybe a bag for running it so you won't need the nylon sock. Essentially it's just high quality charcoal...with (obviously, no contaminants: DON"T use the stuff from the backyard barbie, which has fuel oil in it!).

Good for ammonia, chemical toxins, general bad chemistry, just yanks biological stuff out of the water. Safe unless left in tank too long. Then it starts handing BACK everything it absorbed.
 
get one of those mesh sock things they sell at pet shops/fish places
put carbon in it (you can find tubs of it easily)
put it into your filter

thats all
at least im assuming thats what sk8r meant :p thats what i would do
 
Your ammonia seems to be rising. In addition to the carbon, I would do another water change (25%) but disturb the tank as little as possible, don't blow off the rocks or try to siphon anything off. Just slip the siphon in and pour water back into a corner nice and slow. Make sure that the water is matched in salinity, and make sure you have mixed it for at least a couple of hours with a powerhead or airstone. As noted above, your temp. is a little low for a marine tank, but raise it very slowly--maybe up the heater a degree every twelve hours??? Also, Amquel or Ammo-Lock gives immediate relief from ammonia. Go buy some--the major pets stores should have it. Follow the directions. Good luck with the clownfish. Whether or not he makes it, get ammo, nitrite down to zero and have it stay there at least a week before adding any other livestock. Livestock is a little more tolerant of nitrate. Probably no problem if it is under 20, but aim for zero.
 
i just found out the pH of the water i am putting in is 8.8 ?? bad thing??

also, i got the pH of the water to 7.8 by taking some water out - im bout to add some new incoming water (diff water, which pH is 7.8)
 
I'm not quite sure what you are asking. Neither the 7.8 or 8.8 is out of the range of acceptable. But, whatever changes you make, make them gradually. If the water you are adding has a higher pH, add it back in over the course of a few hours. I'm just going on general principles here. If someone has a more experienced answer, please chime in!
 
Bouncing the ph around is not a good idea: you can do it, but change it fairly slowly, like spread out over an hour for every .2 move. And 8.8 is, yes, a bad thing. It should be 7.9 (more like natural seawater) to a max of 8.3. That may be one reason you are having trouble, because ph affects alkalinity.

Here's what you ought to do. 1. have your own ph meter. 2. get an alkalinity test: Salifert is good. 3. get a little notebook. 4. get some alkalinity buffer: Kent DKH Buffer is good. 5. get some Amquel and 6. get some ordinary Schwepp's Soda Water...
Daily, for a while, write down your nitrate/ammonia reading, your alkalinity (should be 8.3), and your temperature (80 is good) and your ph (try for 8.0.) You will find that ph and alkalinity have a relationship---and when you correct your alkalinity it will move your ph. If your ph gets way high, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of bar soda water at a time to lower it. You can adjust your alkalinity by adding buffer. Now---first---TRY not to ever use the bar soda water. Do everything with the alkalinity buffer. But if you find your water spiking high ph, the bar soda is there for a rescue if you need it. Keep it tightly capped when stored.
I hope that will help you a bit: You're about to get the short course in water chemistry. Writing those results down every time you test is to help YOU see how one thing affects another, when you need to add something to head a trend off before it gets into the bad zone.
Hope that helps.
 
now if my pH is too high, (e.g. 8.8) besides a baking soda change - will a water change help lower it?

also, does salinity have any relationship with pH?
 
salinity is not related to ph.
But if you do a water change with water of a lower or higher ph it can affect ph---but it doesn't do it by any kind of chemical 'magic.' it just adds or subtracts according to the ph of what you add.

Lol---none of us PLAN to learn this much chemistry. But especially if you have a naturally high ph water, it becomes important.

If you are not using ro/di water, do: you can get at least ro water at Walmart. Ro/di water does not contain this sort of excitement, and does not bring in nitrates or the other things that conditioned tapwater brings in.
 
ok this is weird..dont understand this..

i had water (before adding salt) that had pH of 7.8..after adding around 1.5-2 cups of OceanWater salt the pH turned out to be 8.8!!!???? so now I cant add it..howd that happen?? and is it still safe to add?
 
Did you take RO or RO/DI water and add the salt to it? How long did you mix it?

Are you sure the ph is 8.8 in your newly mixed saltwater?

The fact that your tank ph was showing as 8.6 and then after a small water change went to 8.0 makes me wonder if your test kit may be off.

The ph of the water before you add the salt is not important.

Joyce
 
thanks joyce..i know the pH of the water before salt addn is not important- but i just took it anywaz...

yes i took the ro water and added salt to it, i mixed it for ovver 5-6 hours...i checked in 2-3 tubes and pH was 8.8 using the API saltwater test kit...
 
Is your tank ph still 8.0?

Can you take a sample of the tank water and the new saltwater to a store tomorrow and have them verify the ph readings?

Joyce
 
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