I've been trying to figure out this problem for over a month, now. I'm not having any luck and I need some help.
Here's the situation.
Started with one ten gallon tank, several fish. Wasn't really testing it for anything, just used bottled water and a little conditioning salt (I have a dragon fish which, from research and a little trial and error, requires some salt for optimum health...all fish fair well with a little salt, apparently, and none of my other fish have had an issue with the amount of salt I've added, even though they're all freshwater).
Acquired a 45 gallon tank, along with some other fish and a great water test kit. Used tap water to start the tank on, treated the water with store bought conditioning aids. All fish were together in the ten gallon tank until the large tank was safe. Obviously, not the best situation for multiple fish, but they all did fine.
Moved all the fish to the large tank. All fish did fine, except for the dragon fish, which upon more research, is a relatively adaptable, hardy fish...but must be introduced to water changes slowly. He has been in the ten gallon tank by himself for over a month, now. He is not only fine, but absolutely flourishing. He goes into shock within 48 hours if I try to put him in the larger tank, which I've tried twice. I haven't tried in the last three weeks, though, because I know he can't survive if I don't get the water in both tanks to be the same PH.
Therein lies my problem. No matter what I do, I cannot get the PHs to match in these two tanks. I have treated them both with a PH adjuster (attempting to raise the PH in the ten gallon tank to 7.0 and lower the PH in the 45 gallon tank to 7.0). I was successful in raising the ten gallon tank to close to 7.0 but can't seem to get the other tank to a lower PH. As of now, it's at about a 7.6. All the research I've done says that the dragonfish actually does better in a higher PH, but Falcor is used to the ten gallon tank, so despite the internet ideas, the fact is, he doesn't do well in the large tank.
Sheesh...I want Falcor in the larger tank with all the other fish, but I don't know how to get the PHs at least close to the same level.
I've done several water changes, including taking water from the large tank and putting it in Falcor's tank...hoping to gradually make all of Falcor's tank the same water as the large tank.
My only thought is that the filter is possibly better in Falcor's tank. It is the right size for his tank. The people who gave us the large tank said that it was only 30 gallons and it is equipped with a filter that is a little bit too small for the actual size, which we discoverd is 45 gallons. Could that be the main issue? I'm tempted to hook Falcor's filter up to the large tank, and see if the two filters together will make a difference.
I've done many many tests, and the PH really is the only big difference in the water. I've tested Nitrate and Nitrite levels, hardness levels, ammonia levels, etc. Soon, the large tank will be all bottled water, too, as I can buy five or six gallons of water at a time at this point when I do water changes, whereas 40 gallons to start the tank was a bit overwhelming.
This turned out way longer than I expected. I don't know if there's anyone here that knows that much about fish tanks and their care, but I felt like I should at least try. Falcor is my favorite fish and I would be willing to find him another home if I can't get him acclimated to the larger tank. He's really a cool pet and deserves more room.
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