spinoff from test kits: what to do in water parameter emergencies

apologies if this is covered elsewhere.

can some of the more experienced people explain to us fish newbies what to do when you do test your water and you have a spike in pH / ammonia / nitrate / nitrites ?

 

Good question

 

You should never have a "spike" with pH... that would kill your fish pretty instantly... so no point covering that...

But simply put... a spike in Ammonia or Nitrites would need water changes (and look for the cause- could be: new-tank-syndrom, dead fish, extended power failure, over feeding)
Nitrates will usually climb slowly... as this is the final product of nitrogen cycle. Weekly WC also remove this.

 

Ok say I want to slowly lower the PH because of some reason, how do i best do this?

 

You would need to add a buffer into your filter.

But let me just caution you:

If your tank is at 7.0, and you change it to 6.9. Your tank is now 10 times more acidic than it was. So If you have you tank buffered to 6.5 for example, and you add tap water that is 7.0... you are causing pH shock on the fish. (deadly)
Unless you have very sensitiv fish that REQUIRE more acidic water, I would NOT play around with the pH.

Most of our fish are tank bred, and are a lot more hardier than the wild caught. Thus they are now able to live in slightly different conditions to what they are suppose to. Fish can generally tolerate a different pH to what they suppose to have, as long as it remains CONSTANT.

I always say, rather have a CONSTAND pH than a right pH. (Right having been made right by you adding chemicals and buffers)

 

Ok I see what your saying