Oh yes, sorry, forgot to mention, the nitrates straight out of my tap are about 20ppm. I can understand why i see some people buying water in bulk from their LFS now! I will check my ex's tap nitrates though my sons fish have been fine

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They should be safe given the circumstances. Personally I wouldn't rsk it, but that's just me; I tend to be a bit "belt and braces"

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Yes, best to let the meds do the job unhindered by any other additives.

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6.9 is a good deal lower than the level in the tank so what may happen if your kH is high is that 50 litres of water with pH 6.9 will reduce the tank pH by 2 or 3 points, only to swing back closer to the starting level within a few hours if there's sufficient carbonate hardness to buffer the pH to a higher level.

First, check a sample of the water from your ex's after standing for 24 hours in case the pH changes. If that's a bit higher - say 7.2 you should be OK. If it doesn't change, or goes lower, you'd be safer mixing it with your own tap water until the tank level has started to come down closer to the level of the new water supply. If pH yo-yos up and down it's very stressful for fish, so taking it slowly to minimise that is the best way.

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If you keep the more typical community fish then at that level from the tap you should be able to stay below the safe limit of 40ppm in the tank by regular partial water changes and having plenty of plants as long as you don't overstock or choose especially heavily polluting fish.

Right.....Thanks again. I understand all that youve said about the PH alterations affecting the fish. I will bear that in mind when getting water from her house and will check it after letting it stand for 24 hours. Im going to get that hardness testing kit and i will post again in a few days, hopefully after my meds have worked

Just so i get this right......If i remove 15% of my PH 7.7 water with its equivelent from my ex's tap at PH 6.9, that isnt much water so the PH wont change much AND if its a different hardness then as its added to the tank it will all mix altogether and not cause any problems? This is all a bit strange to me though i think ive got the gist of it

It's best not to add water that's so vastly different in pH directly to the tank when changing over to a new supply. The buffering effect of the carbomnates in the existing water won't work instantly, and you may get a bit of a yo-yo effect which would be harmful. The thing is that while 7.7 to 6.9 doesn't sound much it's almost a whole point more acidic. As the pH scale is logarithmic, that means the new water is 10 times more acidic than what's in the tank.

It would be safer to start by mixing your ex's tap water with yours in a greater volume (say 20% of tank) such that the pH of the water you'll be putting in is closer to the existing tank pH. I would say if you mix them to get a pH of 7.4 and do a water change with that you'll be safe.

Do water chages every couple of days like that, adjusting the mix to within a couple of decimal places lower than the tank pH each time and eventually you'll get to the point where you can water change with just water from your ex's quite safely. Doing it like this will reduce the risk of pH shock and osmotic stress on the fish.

HTH

OK thanks.....im going to do as you say because i dont want any foul ups Im getting some water off her on Wednesday. Ive ordered some of those big water containers with taps on the bottom so i can fill at her house and use here.

Hi I am new to the forum also.

I have recently won a fish from the fair :( I know already he is probably riddled with problems but as an animal lover I couldnt just leave him.

I set him up in a small tank which is I am reassured suitable for him and the second goldfish fish I have recently added.

Before adding the second fish I was sure to treat the fair fish for any diseases and to make sure the quality of the water was sufficient.

I added the second fish and the once lethargic fair fish came to life and seemed much happier!! :)

However, recently he has sarted to become very lethargic barely moving from the bottom of the tank, not even to eat. More worryingly this behaviour has now caught onto the new fish. I have tested the water and the pH level is perfect but the level of nitrate in the water was too high, I have changed the water and thoroughly cleaned the tank, and increased the force of the filter system, which does seem to have sorted this issue. I did notice white spot disease on their tails and so have done a water chage, removed the carbon from the filter and added medication. Seeing as he was from the fair I used an all round medication which has cleared up the white spot, but I think has now moved on to having fin rot. The new fish seems un affected by the fin rot, but the two are still lethargic, still and uninterested in their food.

Help!!! I have literallly no idea where to go from here!!

Also, Is there a treatment I can use to remove excessive ammonia from the water as I am concerned that food which is being left may be causing excessive waste in the water.

Thanks for any help you can provide

Im now about to medicate for the 5th day.
Ammonia approx 0.2
Nitrite zero
Nitrate 30 [water starts out at 20]
The ill fish dont seem to be getting any worse, but ive still got spots on those affected although not quite as many. No spreading of the disese[s] to other inhabitants.
The instructions arent too clear on how long i should continue treatment. It says "In severe cases the secondary dose, [days 2 & 3] may be continued for a number of days"

Do you think i should continue until spots have completely disappeared and fins are showing signs of regrowing, or should i do a water change and continue? I dont want to do a water change if it will dilute the medication in there, but then again i dont want to medicate too much without a water change if it will cause over medication affecting water quality. Your guidance is much appreciated

Post #17. I cant help you im afraid other to say dont overfeed and only feed what they will consume within 2 minutes. Any food they dont eat will foul the water. Im sure someone with vast experience will be along shortly to help you

Hi Luckyfish

First off we need to know a few things.

Size of tank
Filter being used
Water treatment being used to dechlorinate the water
How often and how much each time for water changes
Water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH

My goldies were behaving like yours when the water quality had gone bad. This is usually caused by having one or more of the following: too small a tank, too small a filter, not cycling the filter before adding fish, excess feeding, lack of water changes - hence the questions above.

Seachem Prime locks ammonia into a less toxic form in an emergency. eSHa2000 and eSHa Exit are effective treatments for both whitespot and finrot, but you must have removed all the previous medication before using these.