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sera guide - Healthy aquarium fish

Cause: page 23 Prevention/Recommenda- tion: Measure the pH value with the sera pH-Test. Too low or strongly varying values are often related to too low carbonate hardness (KH). You should therefore also check the KH level (sera kH- Test). Please be aware that the pH value may vary during the day and may become considerably lower especially at night. If required, you can raise the pH value with sera KH/pH-plus and at the same time ensure sufficient buffer- ing (due to the increased KH). Additionally, using sera aquatan or sera blackwater aquatan helps alleviate the damages and makes them heal quicker. Acidosis Cause: page 25 Prevention/Recommendation: You should by all means avoid strong conductivity varia- tions, as they may occur when transferring fish or when carrying out a large water change. The sudden change to a considerably higher or lower salinity than the usual one cannot be compensated by the fish. If fish are transferred from water with a high conductivity (high salinity) into water with a lower conductivity without an adaptation phase they will suffer from an osmotic shock (also the other way round). The mucous mem- brane comes off, and the organism of the fish is extremely stressed and weakened. Second- ary diseases occur frequently. In case of large conductivity differences, the fine cartilaginous joints in the fin rays can burst due to the high osmotic pressure. The fins then fall off in large chunks. Avoid osmotic shocks by checking the pH value and the conductivity of the trans- port water and the aquarium water before transferring the Cause: page 24 Prevention/Recommendation: Whitish skin slime occurs at pH values above 9, the fins may become frayed and the gills can get burned. Check the pH value using the sera pH-Test and lower it with sera pH-minus if re- quired, or with sera super peat in the long term. Ammonia intoxications cause symptoms similar to those of too high pH values. There- fore you should also check the ammonium lev- el using the sera NH4/NH3-Test. At high pH levels, the ammonium is more and more converted into its extremely ichthyotoxic ammonia form. The measured value should Alkalosis or ammonia intoxication 8 Preventing and remedying maintenance mistakes and intoxications ideally be below the detection level. In case of 0.5 mg/l ammo- nium or more you should imme- diately react with a partial water change and by adding sera toxivec, especially if the pH val- ue is above 7. Ammonia is fatal even in very low concentrations. Osmotic shock 42