# 1 dead gourami, two dead snails



## luresaregood (Mar 4, 2012)

My tank is coming along nicely. It is a 50 gallon with plants. everything seemed fine until I added a diy co2 generator. My gourami started acting lethargic then swimming in corkscews then died. this process took couple of days. my snails seem to have died, as they have not moved in three days. Also, I have brown algea growing. My plants have taken off very well though. I have ten swordtails, three mollies and four panda corys that all seem to be doing fine. All water tests show up well within specs although I did not check for co2 levels. Any ideas???


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

luresaregood said:


> My tank is coming along nicely. It is a 50 gallon with plants. everything seemed fine until I added a diy co2 generator. My gourami started acting lethargic then swimming in corkscews then died. this process took couple of days. my snails seem to have died, as they have not moved in three days. Also, I have brown algea growing. My plants have taken off very well though. I have ten swordtails, three mollies and four panda corys that all seem to be doing fine. All water tests show up well within specs although I did not check for co2 levels. Any ideas???


I could write an essay on this but essentially...

Carbon Dioxide is crucial for plant growth but too much can be deadly to fish. If aquarium water is not adequately buffered, CO2 will wreak havock on the PH causing fish to die straight away. Since you are not monitoring CO2 levels, I will assume you also didn't stabilize or measure the water's KH(buffering ability) prior to dosing with CO2? I know...I know...is this chemistry class or what? lol

I wonder if since you have fish living in your planted tank, if you already had adequate levels of CO2? If I were you, my next step would be to test CO2 levels and go from there. Sorry to hear about your gourami and snails...it always sux to lose fish. 

Hang in there! And welcome to the forum. I'm new here too.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

With diy co2 on a tank above 40 gal isn't going to gas a fish or snails. It won't affect the ph that much either. I would say there is an underlying issue with the gourami and snails.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Even with a DIY systems kh levels need to be in the 3-4 range. Although the amount generated can be small comparing to pressurized, it can still drop the ph one full point. Proper levels of kh would ensure that it wouldn't continue to plummet or drop too easily and potentially stay at the lowered level.


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## Subaru4wd (May 6, 2011)

susankat said:


> With diy co2 on a tank above 40 gal isn't going to gas a fish or snails. It won't affect the ph that much either. I would say there is an underlying issue with the gourami and snails.


I dont know i hear this alot but when I did my DIY on my 88gal, my PH went from 7.2 to 6.4 in a matter of days. 

Also i wouldnt count the snails out just yet, i have had plenty of snails huddle up and stay still for days on end. You'll know their dead when their patch falls off.


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## luresaregood (Mar 4, 2012)

ok, so how do you determin KH. I tested again tonight for PH and it is 7.6, Amonia is 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10ppm. The last could be an issue but not according to the master kit's instructions. Could this have cause my fish to die? How do I lower it, or is this number ok? Also, I will pick up a CO2 test kit tomorrow and report the findings.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

luresaregood said:


> ok, so how do you determin KH. I tested again tonight for PH and it is 7.6, Amonia is 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10ppm. The last could be an issue but not according to the master kit's instructions. Could this have cause my fish to die? How do I lower it, or is this number ok? Also, I will pick up a CO2 test kit tomorrow and report the findings.


Your nitrates are fine. As long as you already know your PH, it's easier to test for KH to determine CO2.

Determining CO2 levels by testing the pH and KH of your aquarium


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## luresaregood (Mar 4, 2012)

Goby said:


> Your nitrates are fine. As long as you already know your PH, it's easier to test for KH to determine CO2.
> 
> Determining CO2 levels by testing the pH and KH of your aquarium


my PH is the same as it was before I introduced the CO2


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