CO2 Poisoning?

[renrub]

My fishes are still dying even though i've raised the pH from 4.5 to 6.2 to 6.5. Now I'm suspecting that its either a form of internal bacterial infection or co2 poisoning.

Fishes exhibit rapid breathing and stays either at the surface of the water or the top 1/4 of the tank. They also show some kind of decolourisation, ie the silvery colour turns slightly whitish.

I've tested my water so that experts here can help me identify the problem.

kH: 1dkH
pH: 6.2
NO3: Below 25mg/litre
CO2 lvl: 14mg/litre (just tested with azoo test kit)
CO2: 1bps
Lights: 32watts x2 PL
Tank: 2x1x1.5 (feet)

I've already bought WATERLIFE MYXAZIN, supposed to lower harmful bacterial count. If its not CO2 poisoning, i'll dose the above medicine. Btw does this medication harms shrimps?

Please advice, thanks in advance

[TBI]

u raise your ph from 4.5 to 6. something????
how u get a ph of 4.5 man???
that is crazy ph! 4.5 no joke
sudden swing of ph mite also kill fishes man!
anyway me no expert but don knw how u get that ph of 4.5![]

[woodduck]

Rapid swing of ph will stress the fishes,
should increase the ph gradually.

[renrub]

i added baking soda bit by bit, increasing the kH from 0dkh to approx 2dkh. The pH value went up to 6.5 the next morning when i woke up

[sherchoo]

The reading in the morning seems ok. Maybe you should test again during CO2 supply is on. I suspect it is CO2 overdose. Do take care of this ASAP.

[renrub]

how many mg/litre of co2 then do i consider it overdose?

[chua]

Your KH is 1.
I think may be less than 1 since the first drop change to yellow already.
Try to increase your KH to at least 2.
KH less than 1 is not a good buffer.
Then work out the correct range for the KH/PH/CO2 relationship.

[sherchoo]

Chua,
I think he has raised his kH to 2dkH already.

Renrub,
Recommended is about 20~25ppm of CO2. Problem with low kH is that pH will swing rapidly causing fish to be stressed. Try getting it up to 4dkH gradually. This should give you a good buffer on your pH.

[chua]

oop.

I looked at his first thread.

[renrub]

hehe... but my kH always drops whenever i do a partial water change. Everytime i've to add baking soda to increase the kH. Do you guys face such problems?

[budak]

I use ADA Aquasoil which lowers the KH and PH.... so I have to add in baking soda each week to keep my KH at about 4. Otherwise I get 0-1 dKH as well. Just take it as part of routine maintenance, like fert addition.

[renrub]

ok thanks for all the help

[hobbit6003]

Hi renrub,

Generally, CO2 concentration less than 40ppm should be alright for most fishes. If some literatures are to be believed, fishes like mollies can take up to 800ppm, and this not a typo error!

From the signs that your fishes are exhibiting, an infection seems like a likely cause. It can possibly be coming from gill flukes. What fishes are you keeping?

Cheers,

Kenny