Loaches Online Forum

Tank levels are coming down - at last.

current numbers

KH 50
GH 180
NITRITE 0.1
NITRATE 5
AMMONIA 0
pH 7.6

I'll get the pH down a bit and then I think I'm safe....Thank you one and all for your help.

Tank is 150l. I think that there is crushed coral in the bottom - will post a pic for you all to confirm. We had some porous rocks in here too which I removed.

How soon after a partial water change can you get a reading on the water for GH?[/list]

KH 2.8 dH
GH 12.32 dH
Nitrite 0.1 mg/l
Nitrate 20 mg/l
Ammonia 0
pH 6.5 - 7

I think these are much better readings. But please feel free to advise, I fguring on continuing the partial water changes daily until the GH comes back down closer to the tap water we have here.

Unfortunately i lost ...

Thanks Diana, you advice is most appreciated. I'll continue the water changes and hope to see an improvement soon. tap water levels were already posted earlier

Have not seen them for two days now - looking inside their 'home' I can see that there is an abundance of some kind of white cloudy stuff around them. So have treated for slime/velvet...

Plecs are still really lethargic. Still doing a daily 10% water change in order to try and get things back on ...

Tap water:
PH 6.4
KH 6
GH 3

So the tap water is much softer I guess.

Forgot to say that I do have an ammonia test, hence the reading of 0 (zero) I got earlier today.

Cant say things look any brighter yet - one very sick CL - and my two plecs are very lethargic

Diana, many thanks for your detailed reply. Just an update on readings:

Ammonia 0
PH 7 - 7.5 (a more detailed PH tester will be obtained I think)
NO2 0.5 mg/l
NO3 20 mg/l

I also gather that NO3 readings can be thrown by a high NO2.

I'll check the tap water and see how close these numbers are. CL ...

This morning when i checked my tank I noticed that i had lost several fish. Several turned out to be 11!
5 Neons, 2 cherry bards, 2 silver tips and both my guppies.

Very distressing - however i am really worried about the 4 clown loaches and the two Plecs I have left.

One CL in particular is now ...