Advice On How To Fix My Ph Please

[DJH584]

Steve

Here in the UK some of our "garden centres" have a LFS "attached" to them in that they rent area from a garden centre to run a LFS.
Two local to me are like this - one is damned good and the other I wouldn't touch with a bargepole!!!
It could well be that Phil's local garden centre also has such a facility, but until he clarifies this we won't know.

David

 

[snazy]

Considering the low nitrAtes, it is highly unlikely you are overfeeding because they'd shoot through the roof, unless the plants ate all of it and then again not that likely. At the moment it looks you need to invest in a Kh and Gh test and see if your water is actually soft and not capable of buffering the Ph causing a crash. In that case you would need some crashed coral in the filter in a bag to slowly buffer it back higher and start small slow water changes as the tap water will buffer it back up too but careful not to shock the fish. It should take weeks to bring it back up. Not sure what test are you using to measure the Ph, but the API test can't measure anything below 6ppm so you maybe having quite a low value and it may still be going down. Glad the fish are ok, hopefully the change went slow but at 6ppm the beneficial bacteria gets inhibited early or later.
Whats the Ph of the tap water? You need to test it after it has stayed in a glass for 24 hours to get the right value.

 

[Yanks15]

Hey Snazy. I understand the possible KH/GH issue if the pH isn't holding over a period of time. I had this issue in the past while living in a different part of the country. But how is that the case here if the pH rose back up after taking out the plants? Have you ever seen this before? Is this common with planted tanks as I'm not familiar at all?


Thanks,
Steve

 

[justin85]

I also find it weird the pH droped so fast once the plants were added and then went back up once they was removed.....Like I mentioned earlier a KH/GH test kit is a must for cichid tanks imo, also I would say your pH is a little low anyways so I would look in to buffer mix, but thats up to you and if your willing to keep up with it.

What plants were they? and was there anything around the roots?

 

[tobywoof]

Hi everyone,

Just to confirm, the garden centre has an aquatics section, the plants are definitely for tanks. I'm not able to give the names of the plants as I don't know what they were. If you follow this LINK, look at the top picture, and the plants were the tall, large leafy ones on the very left of the picture. Apologies I can't give a straight answer for this.

The water comes out of the tap at 7.6 but I didn't realise I had to leave it in a glass for 24 hours before taking a reading. I've just done another pH test and the result is still 7.6

I was really hoping that the answer was overfeeding as that is easy to solve! Can anyone clarify what I should be feeding. I've read about people feeding one a day every other day, to people feeding 2 - 3 times a day. Who is actually right? Ever time I walk past the tank, all the mbuna flock to the surface, you can almost hear the pleading "feed us again!!!"

 

[DJH584]

Every time I walk past the tank, all the mbuna flock to the surface, you can almost hear the pleading "feed us again!!!"

And our lot do it too, particularly the danios. If i go anywhere near the tank all three of them will be up at the surface demanding to be fed and our fish are fed two times a day.

A quick google search came up with this.
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feeding_mbuna.php

Perhaps this will assist you as regards feeding your mbuna???

In respect of your Ph problem, I can't really suggest anything. Your profile does not tell us if you are in the UK or not, but judging by your eply about garden centres I think you are.

Check out your local water authority website and see what they have to say.

Regards

David

 

[justin85]

In the winter, I turn the heater down to 25c and feed once a day, 6 days a week ( 1 starve day ) and on the 6th day they get a treat of frozen brine shrimp.
In the summer, I turn the heater up to 27c and feed them twice a day, 6 days a week ( 1 stave day) and on the 6th day they get a treat of frozen brine shrimp.

You will find everyone will tell you something different when it comes to feeding, and as long as your not over feeding your fish you will be ok. I only feed small amounts at each feed, I want my mbuna to graze and keep healthy.

The plants you got, was the roots in a pot ?

 

[tobywoof]

Hi again,

Thanks for that article link, I've read through it all and it makes a lot of sense. I was feeding 2 -3 times a day but it would take a couple of minutes for the food to be cleared. I didn't know about starve days but the article provides the reason as why to do it. I did a lot of reading before getting my tank set up, but I really focused on aggression issues and tank cycling etc, and somehow overlooked feeding guidelines!!

As for the plants, they all came in small black plastic pots, with a spongy inside, but the roots were there too. Also, yes, I'm UK - West Yorkshire to be exact.

Thanks for all the pointers.

 

[Yanks15]

I also feed one time per day, enough so they completely consume within 2-3 minutes and have 1 starve day. I also will feed blanched zucchini or romaine lettuce as a treat.

 

[lalo99]

Just to add. Is your test kit expired? They do go bad after a while. If it is you could be getting a fasle reading.
 
My guess is you have a very low Kh or almost none in your tap water.  The Nitrifying process does use some carbonates in the water. If its very low, its possible for all of it to be used up and the you'll have the potential for ph swings.  You can't have ph swings with a high Kh.  Kh affects Ph. Gh doesnt affect Ph. Although, you should have planty of GH ( Calcium/ Magnesium)in a rift lake tank.
 
Add baking soda to your water. You cant really overdose with baking soda. It will max out at a ph of 8.2 Your kh should always be above around 3 deg or 54 ppm. Anything below you run the risk of ph swings.  You should also know what your Kh and Gh are out of the tap.
 
I suggest bring a water sample of tap water and tank water to a good LFS. They should test teh water for you.