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  1. #1
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    Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    Hi everyone, new to this please bear with me. Added plants 4 weeks ago and fish just last week, I have a 300 gal fish tank with a 110 gal reservoir 3 grow beds @12" deep, 2 - 3' x 6' and 1 - 3' x 5', also 2 - 4" x 10' lettuce beds (continuous flow). I have issues with PH too high running at 7.8 +, and alkalinity running at 40 ppm. tried a few different types of pH down without success and tried raising alkalinity using baking soda, no luck. Now I have oyster shells in the reservoir trying to raise my alkalinity, this is my second day with the oyster shells and it dropped to 20 last night and this morning it was back up to 40, pH the same at 7.8. Using a 14" x 14" bio filter pumping 600 gph through it changed that yesterday to the new setup. going out to check my levels again this evening. How long will it take to change my levels from where they are to a workable level? I lost 5 Commit Goldfish, not sure why, they just started swimming slower and slower then stopped. My DO is.....well it is the right color on the chart, not sure how to read the graph, but I added 8 drops of the third reagent D, so I'm guessing my DO is ok. HELP! Please.

  2. #2
    Members cedarswamp's Avatar
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    So you're trying to raise alkalinity but lower ph? You're fighting yourself, 7.8 is fine for starting a system, it will work it's way down nicely on it's own as everything cycles.


    Unfortunately your fish probably succumbed to rapid back and forth changes to ph. Try to make any changes to water chemistry slow and steady. Try again without trying to change your water chemistry and I think you'll be fine. Except maybe add a bit of chelated iron for the plants.

  3. #3
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    Thanks for the vote of confidence on the pH. I will wait. I am very impatient sometimes. Anyway, where would I find Chelated Iron?

  4. #4
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    Remove the oyster shells. I would personally do a good water change to get rid of some of the stuff you added
    what type of media are you using. about 3-4 weeks ago I started some new grow beds using red lava the pH went from 7.4 to 8. I ran peat in the system to bring it back down 7.3-7.5 it fluctuates a little. Now I will let the replacement water from the tap 7.4 and the organic activity to lower the pH even more.
    You may want to test your media.

  5. #5
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    You think I should remove the oyster shells? I have read in many places that is the best thing to raise alkalinity. My tap water replacement is 7.0, I have had to add 30 to 40 gal in the past week because of the evaporation, its been in the mid to high 90's this week. My media is gravel, regular 5G gravel, washed but rough on the edges. My water in the tank is crystal clear and very light fish smell, Iv'e seen indoor tanks smell much worse than my tank.

  6. #6
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    if you are raising tilapia your fish will be happy at 8.0. if you are raising anything else including plants 7.0 and lower is better. by raising the alkalinity with oyster shells or dolomite or whatever increases the water's buffering capability which makes it more resistent to change.

  7. #7
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    I agree. Stop messing with your pH. 7.8 is FINE! HOW much did you add of what?!? Are you saying pH of 7.8+ because that's the highest reading on your pH kit? A little baking soda goes a long way, it's possible you spiked the pH to 10 or higher... Not to mention all that sodium could react raise the salinity... one thing goldfish can't handle is that. They are TOUGH fish, but man...

    Also, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) makes the pH go up as does oyster shells (calcium carbonate). By raising alkalinity does that mean you were trying to increase the pH? Because it seems you were trying to lower it at the same time. No telling what the pH down had in it, but it's also possible your TDS is so high it's messing up osmosis of the plants and osmoregulation of the fish. That's not a good thing. BTW, pH down + baking soda = SALT for sure

  8. #8
    Members cedarswamp's Avatar
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    "TDS is so high it's messing up osmosis of the plants and osmoregulation of the fish."

    What?????


  9. #9
    Members samtheman's Avatar
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    This reminds me of myself when I started my system, I was so impatient trying to lower my ph and adding chemicals that my fishes started to glow at night. After that I decided to start from scratch one more time and after 2 months my system dropped the ph from 7.8 to 7.2. My plants were too yellow at the beginning so I started adding a little of Maxicrop with iron weekly til my system started to mature. Test your water every couple of days to find out when your system is fully cycle. I don't know what fish you are trying in your system but if it's tilapia then don't worry too much about the ph. It looks like you have a great system setup so good luck in your journey.

  10. #10
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    Re: Dying fish and Yellow vegies

    you can find maxicrop with iron pretty easily on the web to add chelated iron..
    as others have said, stop with adding any chem's and messing with the ph!
    did you cycle the system with fish?

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