When I started feeding Mr. Tailer today I noticed he was 'jittery' shooting around a little bit so I immediately tested everything. I had a slight (less than half a point) increase in ammonia since yesterday, nitrites zero but pH is almost 6.5 now...could this change cause his unusual behavior? I have taken a gallon and a half out of the old tank (water is perfect) and added it to the new one. I can feel myself starting to freak out :S

I have a pH-raising product, you add 5 ml per 30L of aquarium water at most once per hour, and at a maximum of twice/three times a day. His strange behavior is most likely due to an uncomfortable change in the aquarium water, so just change maybe half of it and add lots of beneficial bacteria Those pH-changing products, imo, are a waste of money, since you will need them incredibly seldom.

Aside from that, Minde covered it all I'd ask the same questions as she does

HI APRIL,

just reading this before going to work.
Mr. Tailer is darting around because pH 6.5 irritates him. Water is too acidic for him. I had this happen too a few months ago when Hump and Hep were in the small tank and once even in the big tank. Ever since I use those "Neutralizer Blocks" they buffer the water and keep the pH at 7.0 which is perfectly fine.
Please don't move Tailor back, this would be too much stress for him again. Get those blocks, they disolve slowly and keep pH stable

Here is a link which explains different reasons why pH can drop ( but don't be confused when they talk about pH 7.8 and higher ) We want the pH to be 7 or 7.6 ideally. It is about the principle.

Another thing: did you test in the evening? Evos and night times pH is lower due to more CO2.
You can increase the aeration and maybe a tad less food for now.

To spend money on pH UP or pH DOWN depends on the water you,ve got. Our water out of the tap is over pH 8.0, so I have to adjust it.

You could feed your fish a bit of orange pulp.

Oh thank you so much for your quick responses! I managed to switch out another 4 gallons using the perfect cycled water from the little tank and it has made a difference. It is sitting around 6.9 now thank goodness my throat was starting to close my poor Tailer. He just looks up at me with those huge circle eyes like 'it's ok Mama it wasn't too uncomfortable and thank you for trying...oh and you wouldn't happen to have any more snacks would you?'

I will check it again in an hour to see if there's any further change Thank you so much for your support regarding my sweet pudgy boy ♥ Will get me some neutralizer blocks for sure I tested the water around 1:30 this afternoon Hanna, and turned the bubbles way up so he's more or less surfing!

Just to get you started: pH 7.0 is neutral.
Anything below it is acidic and anything above it is alkalinic or basic
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. 
The pH scale is logarithmic, not linear. This means that each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value.
For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 6 and 1000 times more acidic than 7 ( neutral ).
Going from neutral up to pH 8, this one is ten times more basic ( alkalinic ) than pH 7.0

As a definition of pH :  pH is the measure of the concentration of Hydrogen Ions in a solution: H+ (= protons)

I usually test once a week the whole test kit before I do a water change to see what need to be adjusted and how much water if any needs to be changed.   I test again during the week if someone is acting a little from the normal behavoir.

I do exactly the same  like Mind mentioned. Once a week the whole test kit and also as soon as I notice a different behaviour of one of the fishies, I test asap

I feed him a few soaked pellets at about 6 hour intervals throughout the day for a total of usually 10 pellets. I'm home all the time now as contract finished and probably going back to school in the new year .

April, You could get a betta and once they are transfered to clean water sometimes they perk up! LOL!
C'mon where is your fishaholic spirit?

Aww thank you Minde and Nossie *sniff I guess I needed to hear it again as I was losing steam. Mr. Tailer was floating on the surface last night because of air trapped in his belly. I told him "Tailer, I expect to see bubbles streaming out your cute butt after this worry!" and I fed him a few peas and he is good today. Little stinking fishtailer! Karma fest 

Thanks Hanna He is better today but that darn pH is being a real bastige grrr. I read that I could just drop a few sea shells in the tank to gently bring it back up. The drops are so strong they will burn your skin D: the horror. Not that I did that directly LOL but it says on the bottle to wear gloves. I added the exact dose so waiting again for the 24 hr mark to add more or the shells what do you think? Online on that other face like site if ya wanna chat

No worries sweet dreams for you maybe see you later on there. Yeah I'm don't know either and not prepared to risk anything at this point. I did read last night on another site from an apparently experienced fellow that goldies can handle pH anywhere from 6.5 to 8.0 so wth??? who knows except the fishies! If they act jittery I would guess they are NOT diggin' the levels!

I know someone who uses to keep her pH on 8.5, and her fish are thriving, so yes, anything as long as it's stable

Have you tried to simply change more water? Like, smaller but more frequent water change. If you'd take out maybe 25-30% every second day and seeing if that would work?

(Btw, I have extremely low blood pressure )

My pH is high and all my fish are thriving...even my tropicals.  My pH ranges around 7.8-8.0 all the time.
Sometimes I lower the pH a bit when I treat with medication because some work better with a lower pH.