learning the hard way

Well I lost my first fish. My white comet died last night. Everything seemed normal, they are all eating and acting normal. Picked him out this morning as soon as I found him. No visable signs of damage or disease. So I got to googling. Found that I needed to test for hardness and alkalinity. Just tested everything else(all normal). Well they were both way low, so I guess I'm lucky I only lost the 1 fish. Also found that the floating algea that I been having is a bad sign of the 2 being low. As of now I'm doing the 1/3 cup baking soda per 1000 gal treatment. hopefully in a couple days everything will be within normal perameters.

oh sorry to hear about whitey .... i do hope the others will be allight ...

Me too. Just was out checking on them and they all look to be happy. Really upset me to lose one. I make it a point to trim the dead plant leaves, test the water, and keep the filter clean.

What did your PH test at? I get some floating algae but only in the heat of the day.

ph is 7.4 and thats when i get the algea. Goes away over night.

7.4 to 7.8 is about right, give or take a few tenths.
My floating algae is gone when it cools off and the water is pristine in the mornings. Best time to take pictures.

Yup thats exactly what my algea does. It hasn't been there for 2 days now though.

As hot as it has been mine is clcling up and down.