Need to Lower the pH for My Ram. Need Some Help.

**SwordTaleLair** · 11-06-2010, 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by thedeanorama

Wouldn't crushed coral have the opposite effect? I may be wrong and it also lowers pH down to the 7's, but I just used it to raise my pH up to 7 from 5

If I am not mistaken, lowering PH means to reduce the numbers [more acidic], and raising means to increase the numbers [alkaline]. I lived on the coast and used seashells to increase my PH. They are made of calcium carbonate like coral, and were very cheap to get.

**Mrs.JayMay23** · 11-06-2010, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by SwordTaleLair

I have empirical experience with HITH with my first albino veiltail oscar many years ago. He was so bad, his head looked like swiss cheese and he was very listless. The lfs I went to was an encyclopedia of information, and they said to increase the salt to 1tbsp/10gallons and increase the temp to 85 for a week. Additionally, and they said this was real important, increase oxygenation/air bubbles as much as possible to keep the water oxygenated during this time because the warmer waters hold less oxygen. I saw improved results within 48 hours and within 10 days, he was much much better.

So if nothing else, I can empirically support the advice you have here.

Hope it helps, and good luck.

STL.

Thanks for the info.

I didn't know about the aeration for treating HITH. The only type of treatment I had heard of was the salt and raising the temperature. Good advice to know1 :)

**teddscau** · 11-07-2010, 07:14 PM

Mt one ram died from HITH because he quit eating. My other one has an unusually dark colour and dark bars. She has small pin prick sized holes in her head and she's not getting anymore and they're not getting bigger. She hasn't been very active and spends most of her time in one spot. She hasn't been eating very much lately.

As for my 90g having dropsy, I feed them perfectly healthy food and keep the water nice and clean. I feed them freez dried mysis shrimp, blood worms, seaweed, shrimp pellets, veggie rounds, homemade fish food (I feed once every couple of days. It has 1 avocado, 1 mango, several cubes of watermelon, and bok choy), and fresh fruits and veggies a couple times a month. The fish food I feed them doesn't contain any fillers and only contains easily digested ingredients.

**Mrs.JayMay23** · 11-07-2010, 07:30 PM

Sounds like it might be a little too much food. I know you said that you feed them every couple of days but that might be too much for them to eat at once, unless you feed them all these things but on different feeding occassions.

From what I know, when you feed fish stuff other than flake food that you need to clean the tank more frequently because of all mess the food makes in the tank.

Maybe spread out the feeding a little bit more like once or twice a day and less food.

A little more info please on the feeding.. How much do you give them each time you feed them?

**teddscau** · 11-10-2010, 12:57 AM

I meant I only feed my homemade fish food every couple of days. I feed a variety of the other foods twice a day. None of the food gets wasted. I make sure my shy fish get enough to eat by feeding more than the mollies and guppies can eat before it begins to sink. I skip a feeding once a week or so. Some of my fish are getting overweight. I can't skip feedings too often because I have juvenile mollies in the tank.