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I lost another tetra last night and it had red on his gills. Then looking at my remaining glow light tetras and one has fuzzy white stuff on his chin to his tail. What's wrong with him and what should I do? And my ph is mysteriously riseing (sp?). It was between 6-6.4 with fish for over a year and now it's gone up to about 7.4 is there something wrong with my tank?

Hi,
For the immediate problem, check out this link:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Fungus

If the problem were only the mouth "mouth fungus" then
it would be a horse of a different color. In that case
see the same site, and look under "mouth fungus."

But, you said that it involved the entire fish.

Rising pH, can be something as simple as using the wrong
rocks in the aquarium. Carbonate rocks such as "Texas
holy rock" or limestone, will raise the pH toward an 8
over a period of time. Regular water changes will delay
the increase as you would be constantly diluting the water
with each change.

Another cause could simply be an aging test kit. Test
strips need to be stored in a cool, dry, dark place.
Anywhere else and the strips become contaminated, and the
tests give false results.
Liquid test kits must also be stored in a cool and preferably
dark place, and like strips, pay attention to the expiration
date. Any kit past its expiration date will give false
results.

Another cause of rising pH can lie with the local water
treatment plant. At some regular interval, they change
water sources. Either they switch wells, or draw water
from different levels within a reservoir or lake or river.
The pH can vary with depth in some bodies of water, or
depending upon the aquifer that the well draws its water
from.

Hope this helps...
Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

In addition to what Frank said, what sized tank, and what are the occupants. Test your water straight from the tap, and also from a glass that has sat out on the counter for 24 hours.

Do some water changes to get the ph down a bit, don't use chemicals to do it, that will just add more trouble to what you already have.


^_^

The PH in my tap is higher than it used to be and it has upped my tank PH and I'd like to get it back down. The rise in PH killed all the algea growing on my rocks which have been in the tank since day one. I am down to 2 tetras and I started off with 6.

I tried treating for mouth rot, but the fungus hasn't gone away. My one tetra has fungus around what I can see it's gills, mouth, and eyes. My other tetra has a white spot on it's head but it done look like fungus. My 2 guppies have turned into 4. I think the tetras ate the other babies.

I had added a plant (which I later learned wasn't an aquatic plant and I did take it out) after I had the tetras. I can't remember if they were sick before I added the plant or after which might be the cause of all my problems. I do know that after I put the plant in I got wired little black worms.

My guppies aren't sick at all. I know they're hardy but with being in a tank with sick fish wouldn't they catch it also? It's a 45 gallon corner tank and I haven't added any rocks or anything else other than that plant. What fungus medication would you recomend I use and since my sick tank isn't totaly set up yet should I treat my main tank once I get the tetras in the sick tank?

My local water supply ph is all over the place and it would drive my crazy if I let it.

What I have done over the years is use a PH adjuster (I use a liquid) locally made and by doing this I have some control over my ph. I gave up using the up and down powders years ago it just was not working.

If your Ph is up there is no way a water change will fix it.
I would check all your rocks, and any thing else in the tank to see if this is pushing the ph up more.

Also get a full water test done at your LFS and post all the results. It looks like you could have other problems as well.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Keith beat me to it. I was going to suggest getting a liquid PH water softener. Your lfs should have them. Get a liquid test kit also (everyone here recommended it to me, I got it, and it's not difficult to use, and is very useful).

Also, what medicine have you already tried that isn't working? If your fish has ich and you have a water heater, try raising the heater level a couple of degrees. My lfs told me to do that while treating my fish for ich and it made all the difference (unfortunately I wound up losing them anyway to fin and tail rot which killed them off very quickly, but the ich was cured).

Have you checked the other numbers on the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate out of curiosity? Would be interested to know what they are if you care to share.

---

Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

I have an API liquid test kit. My ammonia is 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20. I have live plants so I don't think the nitrate is to high I could be wrong. I have a plastic tree stump and petrified wood (I think that's what it's called when the wood turns super hard and looks like rocks, or it might be rocks) the guy I bought the tank from said it was wood. My tap water PH is so high I'd have to use the high range PH test to test it. I used the jungle brand of fungus remover on my tank which was probably a mistake.

What's the difference between a PH adjuster and just using PH down? Oh and another thing I noticed last night is since the PH Went up the green algea has died but now I have black algea spots growing on the glass which is wierd.

I haven't seen any ick and I don't have a tank heater yet. I have to get one before it starts getting cold out though. My tank temp is usualy 76-78*

zeketaz

There is Petrified wood and it looks like wood but has the weight of a rock
If you are interested Frank will be able to give you the correct info about Petrified Wood I have a few pieces in my tank.

A good Ph adjuster will bring it back to a natural safe area whether your tank/supply water is up or down.

The Ph down will just bring it down and it must be done slowly, the same goes for the Ph up.

Using either the Up or Down you can easily go past the Ph level your require.

I only use the locally made adjuster and it works I have no idea how some of the brand name adjuster works or how good it is.

I only add it to the water I am adding to the tank.

Some one in your area should know of a good quality brand to use.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW