I just lost a Ram and Hot Lips!

[Misty]

I tested the water and come up with 6.0 ph! I just tested three days ago and everything was fine. So I'm not sure how that happened. The only thing I changed was the lighing schedule but I just changed the to-from hours, not the amount of.
It looked like just a normal death for the Ram but the ABN had turned black on her sides and belly area...black like she was bruised, it didn't look to be internal. She was fine this afternoon, not showing any black at all.
Anybody have an idea of what would cause that?

[Misty]

I should add that the Ammonia and all was fine, just the ph was messed up.

[tsunderl]

What else is in your tank? Decorations? Substrate? Plants? Something in there is making the ph go way down.

[Misty]

Yeah there is, I have a lot of wood in there, that's why I test it so often. But it's been in there for awhile now and never dipped it like this. Other than that, there's rocks that have been in there all along (since before the I redid the tank), plants (that would take me forever to list but have been in there since I put the Rams in) and two small flower pots. The substrate has also always been in there and it's just pea gravel.
Other than that...nothing but fish.

Do you think the black brush algae could have anything to do with it?

[tsunderl]

BBA can be an indication of low ph, but not a cause of it from what I'm finding. Do you have CO2 going in that tank?

[Misty]

I do, lol. It's a setup for up to 39g only this is my 100g. Not that it matters but it's a bit embarrassing having such a small setup for that big tank, lol.

Out of everything I've read, I don't recall ever hearing that BBA could be an indication of low ph...but that doesn't explain how the ph was fine 3 days ago and even before that. I guess I have more reading to do on it, lol.

[tsunderl]

Ah hell, I may have that backwards. And my eyes are telling me they don't want to work anymore today, but I'll double check the BBA and ph thing tomorrow. http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emoticon/neptune/Animated/Thinking/think017.gif

[Misty]

Thank you for your time, lol...now go to bed!

[glostik]

Driftwood naturally reduces PH.

I always have to put crushed coral in my tanks to keep the PH solid.

[EAST_TX_RN]

So sorry you lost your fish! Wish I could advise you on what to do.

[supersmirky]

Oh man....sorry to hear that Misty!! The only things I know about fish turning black is usually when they have ammonia burns. But you tested that...so not sure

[biggin]

Did you check the nitrites and nitrates?

Are you sure you did not have a spike?

[Misty]

Yep, I did and again this morning...

Tonight when I checked the ph again, it had had fallen a bit. It's time for a water change so I'm doing that tomorrow and I think I'm going to go ahead and take out some of the wood...
I'll watch it for awhile and see if anything changes.

As it is right now, I'm not sure I trust the results. My guys are colorful and sparring, nobody looks stressed, clamped, dull or on their way out.
I've been using the API chem. drop tests but I think I'm going to try the electronic one tomorrow and see if I get something different.

I talked to one of the guys at DNA today, he seemed pretty knowledgable so I asked him about any BBA and ph relations...he said there isn't any that he knows of. He asked about my plants and deco but decided that wasn't it either. It didn't go much further than him telling me to go ahead with the water change and test it again.

[biggin]

What are you feeding them?

[Misty]

Baby in one hand so bear with me...

They get flakes one day, crunchies the next and brine shrimp once a week.

[supersmirky]

What kind of flakes you feeding?

[lellison]

hmm, that is bizare. Sorry to hear of your losses!

[Misty]

TetraColor...the crunchies are TetraColor also.

I tested again and it was back down so I went and trimmed plants, got rid of all the BBA that I could, put all the wood and rocks in the dishwasher and when my nephew leaves this afternoon I'll change the water and vacuum the gravel a bit.

If this doesn't work I don't know what else to do.:confused: