I Need Help Please!

[rocknurworld2006]

I feel liking giving up i am having great dificultys with pph for a while now and haveing trouble maintaining a stable ph.

Basically last time i checked my water was ph7.2

and in all my tanks i have to keep shells or limestone to keep the ph up, if i dont have this in the ph drops right down gradually to 4-5.0.

i really dont know why this is happening i have several tanks different set ups and this is happening in them all ive tried removing the shells and im just getting a ph crash again.

i really need help as feel like giving it all up as i just dont know what to do.
please help guys

 

[tim1]

Do you use Liquid tests or Strip-based tests? I've never seen a rating that low for Ph. Do you have a lot of bogwood, or some "special" sand? What size is your tank? Any fish? Plants?

 

[rocknurworld2006]

all my tanks have fish and plants in them if thats what you mean.

always use liquid test kits and have more than one kind of liquid test kit so i can double check it to another and its the same.

no bog wood as cant keep it because of this problem

and no special sand etc i either have normal aquarium gravel or argos playsand!

 

[Tolak]

From what I understand it sounds like you have typical Scottish water, practically zero hardness, low pH. Why not try keeping species that appreciate that sort of water, discus, along with some of the other Amazonian cichlids come to mind.

I would kill to have your problem, I'd be breeding discus.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

From what I understand it sounds like you have typical Scottish water, practically zero hardness, low pH. Why not try keeping species that appreciate that sort of water, discus, along with some of the other Amazonian cichlids come to mind.

I would kill to have your problem, I'd be breeding discus.

but ph of the tap water is 7.2, so why in my tanks is it so low?

 

[Tolak]

Take a bucket of tap water, add water conditioner as usual, then test the pH. Run an airstone in the bucket for 24 hours, test the pH again. If it remains the same, there is something in the tank that is causing a drop, you will have to try process of elimination with this. Just start pulling items out of the tank, start with a fresh bucket of water with each item, and go through the decorations & such.

If the bucket of water does drop overnight, your water company is using something to stabilize the pH, you may want to contact them. Not that there is anything you can really do about that, other than letting the water aerate overnight before water changes.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

Take a bucket of tap water, add water conditioner as usual, then test the pH. Run an airstone in the bucket for 24 hours, test the pH again. If it remains the same, there is something in the tank that is causing a drop, you will have to try process of elimination with this. Just start pulling items out of the tank, start with a fresh bucket of water with each item, and go through the decorations & such.

If the bucket of water does drop overnight, your water company is using something to stabilize the pH, you may want to contact them. Not that there is anything you can really do about that, other than letting the water aerate overnight before water changes.

ok thanks agin tolak!!

oh just to let u know my angel fry are still with parents they are protecting them and doing a good job still, its been 9 days since they became free swimiing

 

[shelaghfishface]

mine is a low 6.8( from tap and in tanks). its never been an issue with any of the fish i keep and i have never worried about trying to adjust it.
i have a tub of stuff called ptoper pH 7.0 if you want it(( expiry date 2010)), its made by aquarium pharmacuticals inc,never used it so it has the instructions and scoop in there,,i dont think tampering with the ph is recommeneded but as you say it higher from the tap so tolaks method may work, but your welcome to it if u want it.just pm me

shelagh xxx

 

[Tobigara]

i have the exact same problem with my pH. it was always different when i would test. i'm not sure who it was but i think it was tolak or cfc but they told me to do the same thing. they also told me that i could use baking soda. 1 tsp per 10 gallons. i was told that it should raise the kh by 4 without changing the pH. it didn't work out that way but it's still a huge help. i have a 3 gallon bucket that i use for water changes. i just put a 1/4 tsp spoonful into the bucket fill it with water, add conditioner and pour it into the tank.

out of the tap my water is ph-7 kh-0
after baking soda it's ph-7.3 kh-between 3 & 4 and it's always the same

i don't know if you really wanna do this but it is an option that i can vouge for personally

 

[Miss Wiggle]

have you tested your kH? that's probably the problem, you should be able to buffer it up.

for tanks with fish in i recommend using crushed coral as it raises the pH gradually which is better for the fish. just add a small handful either into your substrate or your filter if you don't want it on show, give it a week or so for the pH to adjust, re-test possibly add more coral, keep tinkering until you get it right but make sure you leave a few weeks between each addition/removal of it.

 

[Anele]

I'm not an expert but did you try adding moon rocks - my pH went up to 9.8 when I put them in a fish tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I'm not an expert but did you try adding moon rocks - my pH went up to 9.8 when I put them in a fish tank

cos they contain calcium, same as the crushed coral.

however you put a big moon rock in it'll send your pH sky rocketing, send it too far in the other direction and it's bad for the fish to have such a pH swing. this is why i recommend crushed coral, same substance, same effect, much easier to control

 

[Tobigara]

the only problem with crushed coral is that it gets a film over it and doesn't release the calcium at a steady rate so you still get swings. this is why i started to use baking soda. it's directly controled by me so there is no fluctuation

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the only problem with crushed coral is that it gets a film over it and doesn't release the calcium at a steady rate so you still get swings. this is why i started to use baking soda. it's directly controled by me so there is no fluctuation

what exactly is this film? i'd imagine if you put it in the filter with a heavy flow through it the film would be broken up.

i've never had swings using coral.

not used baking soda, not brilliant for fish to have the rapid change that it gives when you first use it and i don't like anything that you have to add every week when you do changes, inevitably at some point you'll forget or run out and have to do it without and then things can go to pot. You build a reliance on it, if you've something constantly in the tank it gives more stability.

Just my opinion though, i've heard of plenty of people running tanks with baking soda effectivley

 

[Tobigara]

the only problem with crushed coral is that it gets a film over it and doesn't release the calcium at a steady rate so you still get swings. this is why i started to use baking soda. it's directly controled by me so there is no fluctuation

what exactly is this film? i'd imagine if you put it in the filter with a heavy flow through it the film would be broken up.

i've never had swings using coral.

not used baking soda, not brilliant for fish to have the rapid change that it gives when you first use it and i don't like anything that you have to add every week when you do changes, inevitably at some point you'll forget or run out and have to do it without and then things can go to pot. You build a reliance on it, if you've something constantly in the tank it gives more stability.

Just my opinion though, i've heard of plenty of people running tanks with baking soda effectivley

you're probably right about a high flowrate breaking up the film but it didn't work for me so i asked on here and was told about baking soda.

what about tap water conditioner?

http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/229141/0-Kh/
this is the thread that i got my info from if you're interested