well, i finally got my tank water tested today.. it seems my water was very low in PH.... instead of it being a blue colour when it was tested, it was yellow!!... and the nitrate level was too high.

so they have given me a PH upper to up the PH in the water...i have emptied 50% of the tank today and cleaned it out then topped it up then treated it...it will be tested again in a weeks time... the nitrate level is easy to solve, i am still feeding them too much, so this has to be cut right down....

i bought some new stones pebbles and plants today, and the tank is lookin pretty nice at the minute.... and i ahve discovered 3 surviving babies, which has pleased me

Glad you found the problem stops a lot of worrying.

What makes a tank low in PH?

How was the Nitrate level to high? I wanna learn more

We want big pics of the tank now hun, so we can see it clear :love:

What have you done with the babies? :love:

im not too sure about the PH tbh hun... i think its something to do with the water hardness or softness,depending where you live... the nitrate level was too high because i was overfeeding them, which was leaving waste food in the tank, so when it was rotting it was becoming poisonous. as for the babies, they are still swimming about the tank, we thought they had all been eaten by the fantails until we spotted them today, but by then we had already been to the petstore... i will get some piccies and post them hun, the water is slightly bubbly and cloudy after its been messed with today, it must be looking okay though cos the OH noticed i had changed it about :2431:

What is the difference between Nitrite and Nitrate, that always confuses me.

I have overfed them slightly last week because I was hand feeding Mr Krib and he was missing alot of it, I could see by this weeks water change, have cut it down again now though

Cross fingers these babies live for you :love:

im not sure what the difference is tbh...i did find this though........

''Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Nitrite is the product of ammonia being oxidized. Nitrate is the product of Nitrite being oxidized. This is all part of the nitrogen cycle process, in which bacteria which grows in your filter media and gravel. Ammonia is produced in the tank via several means, fish respiration, fish waste, plant decay and excess uneaten food. All these are sources of ammonia entering a tank. Since a tank is a closed loop enviroment, meaning new water is not available unless you as the keeper do that, there is no way to keep these compounds diluted and oxidized.

Bacteria, of two different kinds will grow in your filter media which oxidize the ammonia and nitrite accordingly. First the bacteria for ammonia grows and begins to oxidize this into nitrite. While nitrite builds up, the second bacteria begins to grow and oxidizes that into nitrate.

Ammonia and nitrite are quite lethal and can readily kill your fish if these levels become too high. Nitrate can do this just as well, only it takes much higher levels and is not as dangerous in lower levels. Generally at 40 ppm and under your nitrate will not pose a danger. There are some that feel nitrate shouldn't go higher then 20 ppm, however, I feel this is an over conservative measure. Most sites I've seen advocate water changes at 40 ppm or higher''

hmm its surprising how much you can over feed them, i only give mine a pinch twice a day,i though this wasnt enough, but its too much apparantly!!..... i have my fingers crossed for the little babies too
:love:

yip your right Shelley on both counts but her is some info hope u can make out the text







its easier do this than trying to explain it

cheers for that kenny, i have eye strain now lol...

im also not sure whether my filter is any good or not... it came with the tank... its one of these...

God it's all confusing to me, I just count on my weekly water changed to keep it running nicely, hope it continues :thinking:

i hope it continues for you too hun... fingers crossed you dont get a run of bad luck like me..... its all too bloomin confusing lol

Am worried now though :thinking:

that makes two of us hun.... im going to invest in a good water testing kit... just so i can keep an eye on it... im worried now though, cos when i change my water each time, its going to adjust my PH level every time :thinking: .....

:thinking:

why is nothing simple lol

a weekly water change is fine Sandra, if a set up has been running ok u will notice changes in fish that should alert u to something going wrong . for example if the fish are swimming at top of water gasping for air this gives u a chance to rectify the problem.
Shelley has just been unlucky , the over feeding has probably caused most problems.Thats where live plants can help as they feed of the nutriants in gravel and they give of oxygen.
when she gets the water problem resolved the tank will probably recover.
i had a test kit for years and only checked every 3 months on main show tanks,
breeding tanks are different as some fish u have to fool them into thinking its there natural spawning time, example some fish will spawn on drop of water temp this creates the effect of rainy season in natural enviroment.

Shelley i copied the pics to the dogtalk photo bucket if u need to enlarge them

cheers kenny, youre a great help....

i put the bubbles on over night, will this do any damage??