2 Tanks, Same Decor, Different Ph?

[Proxo]

This isn't really a problem but more of a why?

55g tank sits at 7.6+ pH, playsand and a massive piece of wood that's turning my water to a cup of tea with no milk but still no pH drop.
20g tank sits at 6.8-7 pH with the same playsand and less wood.

Now the 20g was set up using RO water but that was years ago and the 55g had some ocean rock in years ago, has this maybe set some kind of pH buffer and it can't be shifted unless i do a 100% water change? As i always thought if you removed something after time the pH would change

Muchas gracias

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I dunno if it helps but since I'm local I just thought I'd let ya know that my pH is somewhere around 7.6-8.0, probably more towards the 8.0 mark - I haven't checked it in a while.

 

[MBOU]

Using the same water in both tanks?

Also, do you do the same percentage water change using the same water on the same day?

If not, maybe thats a small cause? Because the water might vary coming out the tap (same as nitrite and nitrate tend to be higher in tap water in the summer).

Also, if the water is coming out the tap the same but you are doing water changes in different days, the tests will vary depending on what in the tank is effecting the pH. Like you would expect the wood to lower the pH, the sand might well be buffering the pH as some sands do.

You have bogwood in both tanks that lower ph but are both types of wood the same?

If you do a bigger percentage tapwater water change on the big tank and a smaller percentage change on the smaller tank, that will account for different readings as tapwater is a higher ph than your tanks because of the bogwood.

The tapwater will buffer the tanks ph up and it will drop again over time as the bogwood works its magic.

I hope that made some kinda sense!?

- % water change on tanks
-is it done at same time
-is it tested at same time

etc...

EDIT: if your small tank is now tapwater and not RO, that wont account for anything, now will the ocean rock in the big tank if the rock is no longer in there and certainly if you have done water changes since!

 

[Proxo]

MBOU has thrown the book at me , I'll try my best to answer all of that.

Both tanks are water changed with the same tap water on the same day, i've got the big tank hooked up with hose while i do the small tank with a bucket . I'd say the water change % is roughly the same, give or take abit.

I'll run some pH tests over the next few days after a water change and see what's going on?

Planned on growing a pleco in my 20g for the 55g but not sure it'll manage in a higher pH so hopefully i can get to the bottom of this without going into too much trouble as i'm not one for the pH altering
"a stable pH is better" - quoted by all fish keepers

AA where in carlisle you at? don't worry i wont stalk you but i might steal a fish tank

 

[MBOU]

Depends what sort of plecs you want mate, lots will be ok!

I guess fish like Golden Nuggets etc might be a little more tempermental as they are a lot more sensitive... but L numbers like Blue or Green Phantoms, Chocolate Zebra Plecs, Peppermint Plecs, Candy Stripe Plecs etc are a lot hardier and would like as not be fine.

We keep them on our systems that run at between 8.2 and 8.8 the delights of living in a really hardwater area!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I'm over Caldewgate kindy way

 

[Proxo]

L183 white seam starlight was the plan of pleco, after doing a little reading a few people say they really need a low pH but then some people say they're not too fussy. So now i've stopped reading before i get a headache

55g pH never really seems to move, plan on stripping it down to move it soon though so might be a different story after that.

I'm at currock, not too far from you really.. small world uh

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I know! Peter C grew up in one of the houses across the street from me haha - that's a small world!

 

[MBOU]

Depends where you plan to get the plec from! Online is less reliable but in a shop you can check their pH!

To be safe, just drip acclimatise the plec, should be fine

 

[Proxo]

Depends where you plan to get the plec from! Online is less reliable but in a shop you can check their pH!

To be safe, just drip acclimatise the plec, should be fine

Last time i checked my LFS was running around 6.5pH, i've got some wild caught apisto panduro currently in my 20g at roughly 7.2pH.
They normally sit at around 5.5pH in the wild, i think?

Guess the only way i'll know is if i try it uh? lol.

 

[MBOU]

Get some airline and an airline tap or clamp and set it up to drip once a second. Slow drip acclimatising and you'll probably be fine, though would take long enough you'd want a small heater or something.

 

[Peter C]

Haha Kyle ya Jew! An yeah this Peter c is me! Nice tank pal, small world eh!

 

[minnnt]

Proxo, I would hazard a guess that the reason it is lower in the 90 litre is due to the co2.

 

[Proxo]

Get some airline and an airline tap or clamp and set it up to drip once a second. Slow drip acclimatising and you'll probably be fine, though would take long enough you'd want a small heater or something.

Will give it ago once i get a hold of a pleco, thanks for help

Haha Kyle ya Jew! An yeah this Peter c is me! Nice tank pal, small world eh!

LOL, wasn't sure at first then kay mentioned you was after a tank or something on facebook then the picture of your baby fish finished the puzzle off .
Might see you at fish addiction anonymous too uh

Proxo, I would hazard a guess that the reason it is lower in the 90 litre is due to the co2.

It's always been lower though but you could be right, just have to get some co2 for the 55g now uh?