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  1. #11
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    apollo, topz,
    i just found my well water is 8.95! Don't know why I didn't test it before straight from the tap. Seeing 7's in the FT soon after filling it lulled me into ignoring it, I guess. So, I was adding more frequently (twice a week) to catch up to evaporation and to bring the tank temp down gradually. Maybe the fish died from ph spikes.
    "No man is poor if his word has value." - Dad

  2. #12
    Aquaponics 101 Oliver's Avatar
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    Fish are very sensitive to ammonia when the pH is high.

    Oliver
    To measure is to know

  3. #13
    Members Apollo's Avatar
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    When I ran out of rain water, My system started running high on PH. I found out my city water is 8.4 or higher. I was trying to lower my Nitrates which was around 200ppm, I lowered my Nitrates to about 160 ppm but drove my PH from 7.8 up to 8.2 to 8.4

    Fish seems to be doing fine but my plants in the GB's do not like the PH and the Nitrates that high.

  4. #14
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    We lost the biggest goldfish today. I may have dished up a perfect crap storm for the goldfish...pH spikes, stress from pump and plumbing cleaning, junk stirred up doing it, and worse...feeding much less goldfish food and cichlid food instead. I found out today that cichlid food is for predators not vegans. That was good for some but not for the goldfish. I will resume peas and broccoli to clean out the goldfish. The predators can handle another day or so fasting. pH is down to 7.4. I have a lot to learn. Thanks Oliver, topz and apollo, will keep y'all posted
    "No man is poor if his word has value." - Dad

  5. #15
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    Please do. As for.the goldies I'm sure they will find themselves on the menu of something in your tank. Glad you found the ph source so quickly. At high ph your fish are much less tolerant to ammonia and well just about anything.

  6. #16
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    topz, apollo, Oliver,
    pH is back to just below 7 after resuming feeding and using less and proper food. I have figured out that each top off bucket of my well water needs 25 ml of a 29% solution of phosphoric acid to drop the pH to the same level as the FT. So far, so good. No dead fish for two days, and improved behavior. I will be adding 5 gallons per day for 10 days to bring water levels back to the start point. Evaporation really sped up over the past month or so, exascerbating the pH swing impact. I worry some about introducing so much phosphoric acid during this top off. It is aquarium approved for both fish and plants. I intend to get an RO rig, as well. Our water is very hard and tds laden. Will continue to update. Thanks again for your helpful insights
    "No man is poor if his word has value." - Dad

  7. #17
    Members Apollo's Avatar
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    Hey I was reading an old post, its got like 32,000 reviews the guy is talking about using vitamin C will lower your ph and remove chlorine from your water. I added vitamin C to my floating raft will check it tonight to see if it lowers my ph.

  8. #18
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    Previous pH reading was,a bit off I think. pH is at 7.6, treating well water before adding is helping a lot. No floaters How did the vitamin C work apollo?
    "No man is poor if his word has value." - Dad

  9. #19
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    The small amount of vitamin c required to remove the chlorimide from the water is really not enough to change the ph. I use it on a fairly regular basis. The water here is so full of minerals it's an up hill battle to keep ph where I want it. By the time the system naturally lowers its time to do another round of fills.

  10. #20
    Members Apollo's Avatar
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    Re: fish are dying....!

    Any thoughts on lowering the PH levels? I'm concerned about adding things to my system and if so how much.

    semi wrote, "How did the vitamin C work apollo?" I added 1500 mg with no change that I could see. 24 hrs. later added 2500 mg still nothing.

    semi wrote, " I worry some about introducing so much phosphoric acid during this top off. It is aquarium approved for both fish and plants."

    topz wrote, "The small amount of vitamin c required to remove the chlorimide from the water is really not enough to change the ph. I use it on a fairly regular basis."

    What would be a good amount of vitamin c to add to 850 gals twice a week? Then if I was to use phosphoric acid to bring it down the rest of the way to 7.6 - 7.8

    Please advise...let my know if this should work or if you're using a better way to confiscate for the hard water being added.

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