cerebus Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 I've lost both my German Blue Rams in the last two weeks. Water parameters are fine (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, temperature constant). I do weekly water changes so the tank is very clean. I think the problem is that my PH ranges 7.6 to 8.0 out of the tap and my suspicion is that the PH is what finally got to these guys (I had them for about 2 and 2.5 months respectively). The obvious thing to do would be to add peat and lower the PH if I want to keep Rams. The trick is that I have a Discus in this tank also, who seems to have acclamated fairly well to the higher PH. On the one hand I want to get the PH lowered in case the Discus is just biding his time to die as well, but on the other hand I'm a little concerned about the effects of a sudden shift in PH on the fish. I'm wondering if any water experts out there can give me the pros and cons of adding peat at this point to lower the PH in my tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 If you are conditioning the water with peat moss; I strongly suggest you make up the water in a seperate container and then slowly add the BlackWater to the ram/discus tank. Lowering pH in an established fishtank can be dangerous. Lowering pH should only be at a very minor rate. say 0.1 to 0.2 per day.[ just a suggestion] ALSO - peat moss removes the salts from water. the GH / KH ppm levels are also very important. Discus like a KH of 45ppm - 60ppm. Osmotic balance. I am not aware what the rams like for water numbers. Do you know what the hardness numbers - HG / KH of your water is[??]. I have a few formulas for peatmoss use. Smokey Black Water rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerebus Posted October 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Thanks for the reply, Smokey. I'd actually PMed Oxquo for some advise as well, and think I have things sorted out. I believe the problem was that I've been conditioning my water with Hagen's Aqua Plus, which doesn't treat chloramine especially well. I've switched to Prime, and Oxquo also suggested scaling back my water changes since my tank is so heavily planted. So far so good. I have added peat to my filter with no adverse results, but I haven't tested water hardness. I can check that tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerebus Posted October 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Here are the numbers: 48 gallon (peat in filter): 160-180 GH 50 KH 7.4-7.6 PH 20 gallon (no peat): 160-180 GH 70 KH 7.9-8.0 PH Looks like my KH range in the larger tank is fine for my discus. No other casualties since the Rams bought it, so I'm thinking they were just especially fragile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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