Urgent help needed!!!!

Hi experts here...

Need some urgent help here...

My wife keeps a 1.5ft marine tank. Earlier she tested the PH and reading was about 7.7. She finds it too low and put in some "Proper PH 8.2" buffer into the water...

Now all the fishes are behaving stangely... seems to be jerking non stop...

I quickly asked her to do a 50% water change and currently monitoring the fishes...

Anything I can do to help my wife save her fishes??

has anything else been done to the tank?
waterchanges are a good idea. drastic ph swing is more stressful and deadly than constant low ph.
remember that the ph scale is logarithmic. 8.0 is ten times more alkaline than 7.0

[monsterfishman]

Originally Posted by radiolite22

Hi experts here...

Need some urgent help here...

My wife keeps a 1.5ft marine tank. Earlier she tested the PH and reading was about 7.7. She finds it too low and put in some "Proper PH 8.2" buffer into the water...

Now all the fishes are behaving stangely... seems to be jerking non stop...

I quickly asked her to do a 50% water change and currently monitoring the fishes...

Anything I can do to help my wife save her fishes??

1)for marine, ph7.7 is ok, there is no need to increase the ph (fishes only is ok).
2)marine tank is much complicated than fresh water tank, requires to check salinity, temp, add chiller, and most important skimmer. I run a 6x3x3ft marine tank and it takes quite a while to have the water stable for fishes/ coral.

In long term, i would suggest u upgrade to a bigger tank and proper equipement inorder to keep the fishes healthy

in the mean time check salt level and let the fish settle down...

Originally Posted by monsterfishman

1)for marine, ph7.7 is ok, there is no need to increase the ph (fishes only is ok).
2)marine tank is much complicated than fresh water tank, requires to check salinity, temp, add chiller, and most important skimmer. I run a 6x3x3ft marine tank and it takes quite a while to have the water stable for fishes/ coral.

In long term, i would suggest u upgrade to a bigger tank and proper equipement inorder to keep the fishes healthy

in the mean time check salt level and let the fish settle down...

Thanks for the advise bro...

Managed to help my wife save her fishes... heng ar... haha

Will advise her against adding buffer un-necessary in the future... She was so sad and worried when she saw the fishes jerking...

BTW she is running an undergravel filter with coral chips on top as the base of the tank. Is skimmer still required for this set up? There are about 8 small fishes with one prawn in the tank... bio load should be still quite ok right? But sometimes a fish juz die for no apparent reason... can shed any light on this possible problem?

Thanks

[monsterfishman]

Originally Posted by radiolite22

Thanks for the advise bro...

Managed to help my wife save her fishes... heng ar... haha

Will advise her against adding buffer un-necessary in the future... She was so sad and worried when she saw the fishes jerking...

BTW she is running an undergravel filter with coral chips on top as the base of the tank. Is skimmer still required for this set up? There are about 8 small fishes with one prawn in the tank... bio load should be still quite ok right? But sometimes a fish juz die for no apparent reason... can shed any light on this possible problem?

Thanks

great to hear the fishes are ok.
for long term, i still suggest to have skimmers and bigger tank to avoid sudden fish death. There are some hang on filter with build in surface skimmers that u can used for the 2ft tank. i do not suggest using undergravel filter at all, it trap all the dirt under the filter and increase armonia level. Coral chips and live rocks are good as it buffers PH level and cultivate good bacterials. You can ask aqua-marine staff and they shld be able to introduce u some skimmers for small tank set up. Try to minimised feeding because any armonia rise, will instally killed the fishes. Good Luck and enjoy marine fish keeping...

Hi bro, protein skimmer is a must for marine tank becos it will help to remove organic compounds from the water before they break down into nitrogenous waste. It physically removes organic compounds before they begin to decompose, lightening the load on the biological filter and improving the water's redox potential. To said it simple, it actually to clear ur fish waste like urine and etc which u can c wif ur naked eye. U will hav crystal clear water if u r using a powerful protein skimmer right for ur tank size.