fish loss

our ammonia is at 0 but now our nitrates are still high and our ph low. I have done several times the water changes every two days and after water change we put in the concoction of baking soda and epsom salt the hardness is really hard so the salt for that but still nitrates not budging and ph is not either HELP!!!!!!!

Jen

http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp

The above webpage contains a very useful tool for making kH and pH adjustments.

First off, Id do water changes of 25% for 3 consecutive days to get the nitrates down a bit. I'd also add a TBSP of Marine Salt for every 20 gallons of water to raise the pH a bit, and re-take the measurement. Before you do that make sure the kH is at 3 or higher, if not add the baking soda solution per my previous post on pH and nitrates, or per the link above (Remember, raising kH will also raise pH a bit). Make any adjustments small and gradual, and wait a few hours between adjustments and measurements.

Never assume the new water you add to a tank is at 0 ppm nitrates, so test the water you are adding for nitrates. My bet is that its already at 5-10 ppm nitrates.

http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp

Sorry, this is it.

I corrected the last post as well, they both work now...

Nitrate is not all that bad. Nitrite and ammonia are the reactive compounds that will hurt the fish. Most tap water contains nitrate, and if the concentration in your aquarium is less than 40 milligrams per liter, things should be OK. Anaerobic bacteria convert nitrate to oxygen and nitrogen, and plants need nitrogen to grow. If your nitrate concentration is too high, it could be that the aquarium has not yet developed the anaerobic bacteria colony. Some other common reasons are are high nitrate levels in the tap water, over feeding, over crowding, and excessive plant and animal wastes.

Not everyone will agree with this, but I think your aquarium would be better off without the salt and other chemical fixes. The frequent water changes are removing some of the chemical compounds, but they're getting put right back in. Most common aquarium fish can tolerate a range of pH and hardness, because they have been housed in aquariums for several generations. The chemical cures can help with some problems, but an aquarium with a well balanced biological load will seldom develop problems.

shearsmagic,

I need to clarify that the direction I gave you is a remedy for your immediate problem at hand, and not something that you would consider standard operating procedure.
As John said about the overfeeding and overstocking, adhere to that, and thats a big chunk of most of your problem. And ofcourse regular maintenance and water changes are a necessity. Part of your maintenance program should be the 10 minutes to test your water for Ammonia, Nitrite, kH and pH. The other parameters are not so critical with freshwater fish. If you like using the computer, maybe get yourself a little program to help you keep track of things like AquarioGest or some other equivalent software.

Thanks for listing the website. A bit of chemistry comes in handy for us fish keepers.

what is the Kh

Total alkalinity. According to my simple little test kit, it's supposed to be between 120 and 180 parts per million, although 80ppm is considered moderate. My formal training in chemistry was fairly brief and a long time ago, but I know that aquarium water chemistry can get very complicated; when you mess with one thing you can produce an effect on several other things. Aquarium shops sell cures for every known condition or problem, but most cures have side effects. Some of the safer things that improve water quality are weekly partial water changes, live plants, driftwood, Indian almond leaves, a balanced biological load, etc. Some people recommend checking water chemistry at least once a month, but it seldom changes after the colonies of beneficial bacteria are well established and the biological load is balanced. Remember that aquarium fish can tolerate a range of water parameters, but they cannot tolerate rapid changes.

I hope some of this helps. Please keep us posted, and ask all the questions you want.