need some help

[chbak014]

alright. first of all im new here to the forums.nice to see that there are a lot of people. second, i got a gold severum today and it seemed fine when he first got in there, but after an hour or so, he starts kinda going limp and starts floating (side up). he IS alive but i dunno what could be wrong. he is just chillin at the top corner of the tank. i ran a water check and everything was fine. the only thing i can think of is that the water is a tiny tiny tiny bit hard. i also have a green/gold puffer in there. temp is at 79 degrees. can some one tell what is going on with the fish? is it just stress? any help would be appreciated thanks.
-charley

[Scotty]

Hey Charley- Welcome to the Forum. What size is your tank, and how long has it been set up? Also, when you say everything tested fine, would you elaborate on exactly what you tested for, and what readings you got. This info will make helping you much easier.

[Rex Karr]

It sounds like stress. Did you take your time acclimateing him to your tank? And like Scotty said, what exactly are the test results. I hope we can help. And welcome to the Cichlid Forums.

[chbak014]

okay, i think the pH might be off. i need to go get some pH water testing kits. you guys have any suggestions for inexpensive test kits?

[Rex Karr]

There is a test kit made by "Jungle" that I really like. It is a bottle that contains a lot (50-100?) test strips. Just dip a strip in the water and compare it to the chart to test 5 or 6 different things.

[chbak014]

thanks for the info rex, hahah i was thinking today and i remembered a chemistry lab that i did with cabbage juice!!! hahah boiling the cabbage makes a great indicator. just add a couple of cabbage juice drops to what ever you are testing and viola!! here is a page for the color codes for the water.
http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/depot/experiments/water/lessons/pH/pHcolor.html
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