Ph Level Extremely Low

[mwl1881]

hello. i have a 26 gal tank, 2 very small live plants bought today, plastic plants, just regular gravel (no sand or substrate or crushed coral) tetras, danios and guppies. i also have plenty of filtration (dual hang on back filters running, a bit over kill but plenty of O2). i noticed most of the fish acting a lil strange, VERY stressed and the guppies hanging out in the upper corners with what appeared to be a bit of fin rot starting, (white cotton). i took the 2 worst guppies to the store along with a seperate bag for testing (i only had kits for testing ammonia and nitrites). They checked ammonia and nitrites and all ok, then he checked the Ph. it was incredibly low! his test kit only read down to 6, but he tried a small amount of buffer in the sample and retested and it still showed 6. i bought some neutral regulator and added a bit more than the recommended dose over 6 hrs. the ph is only at about 6.7 now. he said fixing the Ph should fix the fish illness, they already seem to be better, swimming around and not in the upper corners anymore. I guess the water in my area from the tap is pretty acidic, i always add the proper conditioners when changing water (amquel plus, novaqua plus). any advice or insight as to why Ph was so low or how to keep it leveled at 7.0 without having to buy the buffing compound all the time? id rather not add crushed coral sand to my gravel as i like the color i have now (black). is there something like charcoal i can put in a stocking and place in my filter to help regulate it? would adding a couple handfuls of the crushed coral or sand gravel in my filter work? please help. thank you.

 

[mwl1881]

anyone have ideas?

hello. i have a 26 gal tank, 2 very small live plants bought today, plastic plants, just regular gravel (no sand or substrate or crushed coral) tetras, danios and guppies. i also have plenty of filtration (dual hang on back filters running, a bit over kill but plenty of O2). i noticed most of the fish acting a lil strange, VERY stressed and the guppies hanging out in the upper corners with what appeared to be a bit of fin rot starting, (white cotton). i took the 2 worst guppies to the store along with a seperate bag for testing (i only had kits for testing ammonia and nitrites). They checked ammonia and nitrites and all ok, then he checked the Ph. it was incredibly low! his test kit only read down to 6, but he tried a small amount of buffer in the sample and retested and it still showed 6. i bought some neutral regulator and added a bit more than the recommended dose over 6 hrs. the ph is only at about 6.7 now. he said fixing the Ph should fix the fish illness, they already seem to be better, swimming around and not in the upper corners anymore. I guess the water in my area from the tap is pretty acidic, i always add the proper conditioners when changing water (amquel plus, novaqua plus). any advice or insight as to why Ph was so low or how to keep it leveled at 7.0 without having to buy the buffing compound all the time? id rather not add crushed coral sand to my gravel as i like the color i have now (black). is there something like charcoal i can put in a stocking and place in my filter to help regulate it? would adding a couple handfuls of the crushed coral or sand gravel in my filter work? please help. thank you.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

How long was the tank cycled for before putting fish in?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

I would buy a test kit if you don't already have one. Check what your water is at the tap and then check your tank.

They SHOULD be the same, but if it's testing under 6 I'm thinking there is something going on with your tank. Is there anything in there other than your substrate fish and plants?

If all else fails go to your LFS and buy some "ph-up" (you can get like a liter of the stuff for $20 if you buy the pond type) a few drops will fix you all up, just make sure you keep conditioning your water when you do changes.

 

[mwl1881]

no driftwood, just regular aquarium gravel, fake rock, fake plants, and fish. thats all. i added more Ph neutralizer last nite and it balanced out around 7. then i checked again today and its back in the low 6.0 range. what in the heck causes Ph drop? can anyone help. i checked my tap water and its betweem 7.6/ 7.8.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

That is REALLY strange. I have to do some thinking on this one. let me get back to you

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Ok, Here's what I found. Just quotes from others but none the less a step in the right direction here

The property of water to resist changes in pH is known as buffering capacity. You can determine the capacity of your buffering system by measuring total hardness. A reading of 4-6 dH or higher is usually adequate to keep the buffering system in place and maintain a stable pH. A reading under 4 dH means there isn't enough of a buffering system and the pH is likely to drop. For higher pH levels, you will probably want to aim for 6-12 dH. Many hobbyists choose to measure only Carbonate Hardness (KH), which is a measure of the calcium carbonates in your water. This test is also effective in maintaining a proper buffer system. When testing for Carbonate Hardness, a reading of 75-100 mg/L is adequate for most aquariums, while a reading of 100-200 mg/L would be desired for higher pH levels. For the purpose of freshwater aquariums, measuring either total hardness or carbonate hardness is necessary, but measuring both independently would not be needed.

In general pH of a tank will drop due to a couple of reasons, for example, you have a high biological load and other living things, they breathes and they give off CO2 that turn the water acidic. They also produces lots of acidity of various kinds which lowers the buffer (dKH) and ultimately the pH.
Overfeeding also creates a high amount of organic waste that decomposes and results in a drop in the dKH and then the pH (due to acids that are produced in mineralization) Some shellfish and shell organism will extract calcium from the water column too. Driftwood or bogwood can aslo leach tannins into the water, thereby making it more acidic.

do you have a GH/KH kit?

 

[Erik]

Can you get your communities water quality report? I suspect that your water may be too soft due to a lack of solids(GH + KH) in the water to keep the pH stable. If this is the case, water that is too soft is much easier to deal with than water that is to hard.

 

[mwl1881]

thank you for the reply and interest in aiding me with my Ph problem. I dont have a kit that will test those things but i might be able to have my LFS do it with a water sample. what is your opinion, do you think putting a small sock of some crushed coral gravel in my filter box might help to stabilize the Ph? What would you do?

 

[Erik]

I would get a water quality report from your water source.

 

[Mowbz]

How long was the tank cycled for before putting fish in?

I would start by answering Al's question, since its likely the most important here.....

Its possible if the tank wasnt cycled properly, or long enought, that the tank is now undergoing "mini-cycles"

 

[mwl1881]

i am going to be going to the LFS tomorrow. i keep having to water canges daily and add neytralizer to the water daily too. it sounds like my Kh/Gh may be out of whack. if they are, does anyone recommend adding crushed coral gravle to my filter? and try this to see if it buffres the water. should a small sock of it be adequate. i waited 2 weeks after the cycle using added cycle bacteria, ammonia and nitrites spiked, then fell and are still 0.0

 

[XeroTolerance]

Are your LFS using test strips?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I would back up and start by testing your tap pH after outgassing any potential gasses that cause the pH to appear higher (or lower) than it actually is. Do this by filling a large glass or similar container with your tap water and then put in an air stone and let it bubble a few hours and then test it. If you don't have and air pump and air stone, then allow it to sit out over night- (min 12 hours) and then test it.

While you are waiting for your water to be testable I would urge you to read here to understand better what may be happening in your tank and the ways that are the most reliable and safest for adjusting one's parameters.

What You Need to Know About Water Chemistry, and Why

 

[Dieses Madchen]

What is the pH of your tap water? If it is higher than 6.0 I would do a water change. That is how I correct a low pH in my tanks now, rather than chemical means. As far as adding crushed coral, I don't know anything about that....