strange acting fish prob

[nightfire]

so guys im having a weird thing going on...my fish are acting lathargic,swimming off center,pale faces and sometimes hitting things, it's happened 3 times so far all in the morning time after i put my lights on....all my levels are
ammo 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
cal 400
alk 3.0 ish
mag i dont know
phospate 0
temp 80-81
anyways all i can think of are 2 things lack of oxygin or low ph, but my ph seems to go to 7.9 according to AC who did all my tests the other day for me....today i didnt test for anything i just paniced and used ph buffer in case it was the prob and open my window and pointed the koralia to the serfice more and added an air stone to my sump.....just like the other times the are back to normal....i know it sounds like a ph problem but is it if im getting 7.9 before the lights go on.....im gonna to a water change today as im due for the week and i thought i'd try to keep an eye on the fish tonight with a flashlight and if i see em act weird i'll test the ph....also i dont keep my sump light on at night....would that really do a big differance? anyways ya guys i need ya imput on this.....thanks

 

[Pickupman66]

your alk is 3? 3DKH? that is extremelly low. fish wont care necessarily except that it allows for a wide PH swing. getting the alk to 8 or even 10 will keep the PH from fluctuating.

Fish wont care about CA, MAG or Phosphate.

and the flashlight will add stress to them. I would not do that unless you ahve to check somethign briefly.

as for the light in your sump, it is to light some Chaeto? if so, then yes, it running in opposite will help keep PH stable.

you may wish to lower your temp to 78 or so as it will help with dissolved oxygen. that could be an issue with letchagicy. (is that even a word?)

 

[poolkeeper1]

I bet he is reading a Alk test @ 3 not KH and with all the hair Algae the Phos is def not 0
Keeping a light on in the fuge will help keep your PH up and grow some Cheato instead of hair Algae, That's the point of the fuge.
Bill

 

[nightfire]

lol i know my phos isnt 9 because of the hair algae but it is very little and is dying off i believe....its taking longer to grow back.....as far as my sump goes i need more chaeto as what i had died off a while back and yes i use an alk testnot kh is there a trick ya guys use to highten the alk....im using seachem marine buffer right now

 

[Mikeyjer]

Lower your temp. I remember you have power heads. It should give them enough oxygen. Perhaps get a bubbler going for a bit to see how they react?

 

[nightfire]

yeah i put an airstone in my sump and pointed my koralia up more so if it was an oxygen issue that should fix it but im thinking maybe it's my ph/alk