# 9+ year sanchezi looking rough



## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

I have had this fish for over 9+ years and it appears to have white marks on the scales. It does not look like ich but almost as if you would rough up its scales.

the ph in this tank 30g has always been on the low side 5.0

I did a water change on 03/23 about 50% more than the usual 35-40%. I waited about 12 days between changes so I did a little larger than normal this time arround. I treat my tanks with stress coat only no salt. I did not feed the fish until 03/24. I put 4 krill in the tank but this morning they were still there which is very unusual. I took all of them out and when I fliped on the light, the fish looked beat up.

Water param
no3 12.5
no2 <.3
ph 5.0

I had some dead java moss in one of the fake plants so I took it out, cleaned off all of the pieces and put it back in. Also rinsed the filter cartridge millenium 2000.

the last time I cleaned his tank, I notice a little of the same marks on him but it went away in a day or so but not to the extream that it is today.

I will watch him and check the ph again tomorrow to see if the dead plant matter was dropping the ph.
I really don't want to change the water again as the fish is in a weakened state. Anyone ever have something like this.
Thanks in advance !
-g


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

My ph tester only goes down to 5...are you sure it might not be lower? With a ph that low...you might want to look at bring it up with baking soda and then buffering the water with some crushed coral. I havent personally experienced this before...so I am not suggesting this is the problem....but I would be worried about a total crash with a ph that low.


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## iLucas (Oct 6, 2008)

i try my best not to use anything to bring my ph up other than water changes, with that said, i usually keep my ph at around 7... good luck.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

thanks GG. It could be lower but mine only goes down to 5.0 too. Both of my other larger tanks are 7.0 & 7.5 PH. The only thing different between them is the volume of water per fish and that this tank has very dim lights that do not really sustain adequeate plant growth. I may do a partial water change but perhaps do a agged water change from a tank with a better ph.

Do you have any more info on how to buffer the water with baking soda. The only thing I could think of driving down the PH is perhaps the decaying plant matter. I typically clean all of my tanks gravel every 7-10 days.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

chomp chomp said:


> thanks GG. It could be lower but mine only goes down to 5.0 too. Both of my other larger tanks are 7.0 & 7.5 PH. The only thing different between them is the volume of water per fish and that this tank has very dim lights that do not really sustain adequeate plant growth. I may do a partial water change but perhaps do a agged water change from a tank with a better ph.
> 
> *Do you have any more info on how to buffer the water with baking soda.* The only thing I could think of driving down the PH is perhaps the decaying plant matter. I typically clean all of my tanks gravel every 7-10 days.


One tablespoon per every 50 Gallons of water. make sure you do this once a day. you dont want to bring it up too fast. that can be also detrimental to the fish. That fish is imo definately suffering from a pH issue.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

Thanks Dr. Giggles. I tried 1 tsp before you posted this and it did not even touch the low PH. I am not sure what would cause the PH to bottom out like it did. It all happened 2 days after a routine water change. I tested my tap water and it was not acidic.. very odd.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Jerry knows more about this then I do. If the ph level didnt change after the baking soda...I would suspect it is quite a bit lower then 5. I would keep up with the tablespoon a day until it begins to register in the 6.5 to 7 range...and then add a bag of crushed coral to a filter to help buffer it.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

thanks for the replies but the fish died early this morning. I am at a total loss as to the root cause of the low PH. I had gravel, 1 fake plant and two small amazon swords in the tank. There was a little bit of dead java moss entangled in the fake plant but it was not much at all.

My other two tanks have a normal ph. The only difference between this and the other two is the volume of water per size of fish. this was a 30 gal and the other two tanks 120 & 135.

I will have to get some cruched coral and keep it on had if this ever happens again. 
thanks again.
-Matt


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