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I am quite new to this so forgive my lack of knowledge. I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank with 5 neon tetras 2 bleeding hearts and I had 2 pleco from a previous attempt. I have well water and seem to be having a problem with a high ph level. It seems no matter how much ph down solution I add it never seems to go down. Like I said I had two pleco from the same tank that I guess you can say I reconditioned. They seemed fine until I added the tetras and some new gravel and decor then one just dissapeared. I discovered the remaining one now has ich and I am currently treating that. So my questions are: 1. Could well water be a reason for my ph issue or if the other pleco has died and unfortunately rotting in my tank can that be my ph problem? 2. If I do not locate the other pleco could that cause major issues in the tank?

Welcome to FP!

Lots of well water in the US has a high pH value. Almost all fish can adapt to conditions if not too extreme. What is the exact value of the ph?

As for the missing pleco, have you checked under all the decorations and plant? Try moving them around and doing a serious check. Also check the area around the tank. If you do have a dead pleco in the tank, it will pull your water quality down signifigantly.

If you wanted to lower your pH level, adding peat to the filter will do the job. How much peat you add depends on your water. I know your tetras would appreciate that.

HTH

If your ph does not go down with the ph down, maybe your water is very hard also.. You'll have to try maybe a couple things.. I'd say put some natural peat (no additives) in a filter bag (or can use nylons) then place in your filter.. This will add a tea color to your aqaurium water..

Or, perhaps think of adding DIY CO2, one 2 litre bottle prob won't make a dent in your ph.. Try running 2 bottles, run the hoses into your filter intake. This is if you don't want to use peat. There's more info about CO2 in the Technical Tinkering or Planted section. About every 3 weeks you'd have to refresh your mix.

Third method would be to mix in 20% Reverse Osmosis water in during water changes.. Choose a method that will work for you.. Method 3 can get expensive and you get sick of going to the store for those large jugs of water.

ps - This should maybe be in the Water Quality Section.

[span class="edited"][Edited by DaFishMan 2004-09-02 21:52][/span]

The Amazon Nut...

Add some driftwood not the sandblasted light brown type but the african dark brown or any dark brown wood the color is an indication of tannic acid. Not only will it help lower your ph by releasing tannic acid but plecos love to chew away at it. It also makes a tank look pretty good. Unfortunatly, like the peat it will give the tank a tea looking color just not nearly as bad as peat.

The ph level seems to be holding at 7.6
I have checked pretty well for the pleco but I haven't torn the tank apart yet b/c I was afraid of stressing out my new fish, I was doing a lot of moving things around as it is but I know it must be done. I have a bio-wheel system with a carbon filter. Right now however I am treating the tank for ich so the filter and wheel are out. How would I add peat when everything is replaced? Also, would ich med counteract my attempts at adjusting ph?

A new development since I last posted: All five of my neons seem to be seperating themselves from eachother and one of them has hid itself in a cave, alive but not moving around a lot. They also seem to be losing their vibrancy but when I turn the lite on it seems to come back. Would you know if that is normal for them when they are in the dark for a while? They come back together at times but it is kind of like they are exploring. Like I said before I am quite new at this and have had nothing but problems keeping fish alive. Any more advice would be appreciated.

I have tested the hardness and it is in an acceptable range. 0-3. Thanks for all the replies! Now it seems another tetra has gone hiding...I think they are gonna croak! Hey...would raising the temp to treat ich to about 80-82 degrees make them act funny? One of them seems to be loving the bubbles lately, it is actually pretty funny to watch him but I hope I'm not watching him die. Again, any help is greatly appreciated!

Those fish would be fine at 80-82 degrees

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It sounds like your water's pH isn't the problem then, that pH should be fine. Since your water's not necessarily hard, I'd say that it may have some type of metal content that's not showing up, such as a level of copper...

Also, put your Biowheel back on your filter. You should remove the carbon because it'll remove the medication, but there's no reason to remove the filter wheel. Doing so killed the bacteria that were living on there and will cause your tank to have a mini-cycle now. This may result in more problems for the short-term, but in the long-term, you tank will stabilize faster...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.