Im trying to treat my fish water tank for Ph and ammonia. Can I do that simultaneously?

Question

I have a 10 gallon fresh water tank with 11 fish- 3 platies, 3 danios, 4 tetras and 1 corydora. Recently I realised that 2 of the platies have developed discoloration on their sides; they look more scaly now. It is not ick-I tried matching pics from the internet. They just look scaly. I thought they probably are stressed out. So I bought the test kit, pH balancer and ammonia remover tablets. How do I use them? The test showed that the water is alkaline. Should I use the tablets on alternate days or on the same day and wait a week to look at the improvement before I give a second dose? Please help!1

Answer 1

Keep the test kits and take the "pH balancer and ammonia remover" back to the store-- these are scams to take your money.  None of your fish will have any problem with alkaline water, as they are all very domesticated, so that isn't the problem.  Ammonia, however, is a problem, but shouldn't be handled with chemicals-- instead, more frequent water changes are the key.  In a mature, cycled tank, weekly water changes will keep nitrate levels in check (there shouldn't be ammonia), but in newly setup tanks, the nitrogen cycle ( http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/... ) is still establishing, ammonia levels will spike, and water changes may be needed every few days.

Answer 2

look dont use anything your fish need nutrients to stay alive and if you use chemicals the wont survive your fish have a natural insteanct to clean thier own tank just dont feed them as much as you do and dont feed them for 36 hours you will see this is true