Huge Ph Problem

[Ashley1991]

Hey all here comes the story

Right i fishless cycled a 60 liter tank and when it uflly cycled i added 1 female guppy which also came with a fry from the shop

one day a week and a half ago my mate was around i was showing off my tanks to him and we sat down to kcik each others behind on computer games turned my head a hour later dead female guppy on the floor even though a hour earlier she was fine and happy no problems my mate can vouch for this

took her out checked stats ammonia 0 nitrite 0 ph about 20 ppm i think so just though it was a one off since the fry was fine

couple of days later got another female and put her in and today my gf was looking at her then we sat on the sofa watching tv she turned her head and noticed the fry was dead(was not a fry no more was pretty big with colour it was male was going to set up a grow out tank when she dropped) checked the stats after i took him out ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10ppm BUT i did one thing different i tested the PH

the PH was down to 6.0! it comes out my tap at 8.2!

all thats in there is a couple of pieces of bogwood,2 anubias nana and a sponge filter

im lost at what to do dont want to do a water change in case the change back up to 8.2 kills her

suggestions anyone?

cheers
ash

edit: sorry i forgot about the template! was in such a hurry tog et this written up sorry mods

 

[mattlee]

pH usually drops during a cycle and when cycled a large water change is required to get the water back to your tap conditions.
was this done before adding any fish?

 

[mike_980]

Have you done more than one test? test a few times to make sure you arnt getting a false reading, also make sure you stand tap water for 24 hours before testing the PH as it will change quite alot from straight out of the tap, if you still have the same problem try putting some coral sand in a clean sock and stuffing it in the filter, not done it personally but its supposed to bring PH up

stay away from the chemicals though

 

[Ashley1991]

pH usually drops during a cycle and when cycled a large water change is required to get the water back to your tap conditions.
was this done before adding any fish?

yup did about 95% after it fully cycled

and is there a faster way than letting it stand 24 hour? dont want another dead fish

i cant put anything in the filter as its a diy sponge filter basically just a big block of sponge with a tube and airstone lol

thanks for the replys

ash

 

[mike_980]

pH usually drops during a cycle and when cycled a large water change is required to get the water back to your tap conditions.
was this done before adding any fish?

yup did about 95% after it fully cycled

and is there a faster way than letting it stand 24 hour? dont want another dead fish

i cant put anything in the filter as its a diy sponge filter basically just a big block of sponge with a tube and airstone lol

thanks for the replys

ash

you can try to add a level tea spoon of baking soda to the water once every hour or so so slowly bring the PH up, dont add loads at once or it might shock the fish

 

[mattlee]

i would just do a few smaller water changes over the next few days to try and get it back to normal but slowly so not to shock the fish.

 

[mike_980]

pH usually drops during a cycle and when cycled a large water change is required to get the water back to your tap conditions.
was this done before adding any fish?

yup did about 95% after it fully cycled

and is there a faster way than letting it stand 24 hour? dont want another dead fish

i cant put anything in the filter as its a diy sponge filter basically just a big block of sponge with a tube and airstone lol

thanks for the replys

ash

you can try to add a level tea spoon of baking soda to the water once every hour or so so slowly bring the PH up, dont add loads at once or it might shock the fish

I'd do abit of research onto it though as its just something ive heard of doing lol, i think baking soda is ok for freshwater fish and not marine but id double check

 

[Ashley1991]

baking soda is ok to use in freshwater tanks i used it ot raise the ph when i was cycling but it raises it so fast i would not really want to do it with fish in the tank thanks for the suggestion though

think ill do the small water changes thanks all

does anyone know why my tank is doing this?

my main tank is not

ash

 

[mark4785]

You ideally need to raise your KH level as it is likely very low. A higher KH level induces more alkalinity and more of a buffer against PH swings. If you placed your bog wood into water with a PH of 8.2 and your KH reading was 1 dH then it is likely that the bog wood (which decreases PH levels to about 6.5) was able to lower your PH at a much faster hazardous rate.

The ideal KH level, without inducing too much alkalinity is 4dH I believe.

 

[Ashley1991]

how do i go about making it higher? guessing i need another test kit?

why would this be happening in one tank but not the other?

thanks

ash

 

[mark4785]

how do i go about making it higher? guessing i need another test kit?

why would this be happening in one tank but not the other?

thanks

ash

Well baking soda or bicarbonate of soda raises the KH (AKA carbonate hardness) and PH but it isn't safe for use with fish. You could use your own tap water to raise the KH providing the KH of your water is reasonable; somewhere between 4-6 dH. In this case, a typical 20-30% water change will top up the KH level if it is beginning to fall below a reasonable level.

If your tap water has a low KH and therefore lower ability to hold the PH at a certain level, you should consider adding something like this product to your top-up water as it will add the bicarbonates for you. I've personally used this product in my pond to raise the KH and it definitely works and didn't cause any issues. It gives you directions with reagards to how much of the mixture needs to be added to the water to achieve a KH rise between 3-4dH. I used this 'pond product' in the aquarium also and it did exactly what it says on the tin, however it interfered with my API nitrite test liquid.

You can test your KH level with this test kit..

The PH of your water may have crashed if you didn't do a full water change after cycling your aquarium as the processes involved in the fishless cycle whereby waste is neutralised uses up some of the bicarbonates in the water, and by completion of the fishless cycle you will probably have a low KH reading and this is why many people doing fishless cycles (including myself) will experience a PH crash. Plants (through photosynthesising) and the fish themselves directly absorb the KH I believe (someone please correct me if i'm wrong) so it's vital to keep your KH level in check just as much as ammonia and nitrite.

 

[Ashley1991]

until i get that test kit should i do a little water change everyday to make sure the ph stays up??

and then when i get the test kit ill post the results here

oh my PH for my tap water after it has been standing all night is 7.4 or just under wow i did not realise how much it could change!

all this chemistry stuff dont half confuse me

ash

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Given the pH differences involved between your tank water and tap water, there may well be a need to drip-feed the fresh water into the tank, so as to acclimitise your fish gradually.

 

[PDSimon]

So this was sudden? can you be sure that the pH hasn't been dropping slowly over a longer period and now your surprised because you havn't tested it for a while?

When you did the 95% waterchange, how long ago was that and did you use boiling water/rain water or something along those lines?


You can use bicarbonate of soda safely with fish (note: not baking soda as it often has extra additives). You'll need to research it though as you have to use it carefully as it can change the KH and pH so quickly...

I think a better route would be to used crushed coral depending on what fish you have in there.

 

[Ashley1991]

it could have dropped slowly the day i tested (yesterday) was water change day just like it was last week but i did not do it yesterday due to the ph problem and i make sure i do water changes every week on my big tank its between 10 and 20% and on the tank in question i do 50% since it has a pregnant guppy init and did have a fry.

i did the 95% water change with tap water and declor just like i do on my big tank which has a ph of 7.7 just tested it

so for some reason this tank is dropping ph maybe taking out one of the pieces of bogwood would help??

im going do be doing daily small water changes to bring the PH back up slowly until i get the KH test kit then i will post the results which hopefully will help in figuring out a solid solution to the problem

thanks for all your help so far i appreciate it

ash

edit: did not do a water change yesterday on the big tank either as im seeing if leaving it a bit longer helps with my small algae problem (carbon dioxide and all that) im keeping a close eye on stats so the PH reading is after a week of no water change just like this smaller tank