Is This Possible?

[NoahFL]

I've been battling low PH and low alkalinity for months and I don't know why. I lost my Pleco about 3 weeks ago for unknown reasons. Every time I told my problem to someone at the LFS they had no clue why it was happening. Finally, last week I talked to a guy and he said that it was possible the low alkalinity was bringing down the PH. He said it was possible that my Whisper 40i was sucking up all the "dirt" and not allowing my UGF to function fully. I asked him if I should stop using the 40i and he said no to just use Cycle by Nutrafin either weekly or monthly depending on my readings. I've put 2 doses in the past 2 weeks and my PH and Alkalinity are finally going up. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[George Farmer]

Have you tested your pH, KH and nitrates?

If your KH is very low i.e. <2 degress or 40ppm then the action of the decomposing matter and nitryfying bacteria in your undergravel filter may be acidifying your water to dangerous levels. Old UGFs are notorious for this.

Another classic symptom of pH crashes may also be high nitrates which may also contribute to your health issues.

Compare your tap and tank pH, KH and nitrates levels. They should be similar. If they're not then more maintenance may be required i.e. larger, more frequent water changes, more gravel vacuuming etc.

If your tap KH is low then you may need to buffer it.

To raise the KH without raising the GH, add sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), commonly known as baking soda. 1/2 teaspoon per 100 Liters raises the KH by about 1 dH.

The Nutrafin Cycle may only be hiding the symptom and not the underlying cause to your problem. LFSs are great for selling such products .

Regards
George

 

[NoahFL]

Have you tested your pH, KH and nitrates?

If your KH is very low i.e. <2 degress or 40ppm then the action of the decomposing matter and nitryfying bacteria in your undergravel filter may be acidifying your water to dangerous levels. Old UGFs are notorious for this.

Another classic symptom of pH crashes may also be high nitrates which may also contribute to your health issues.

Compare your tap and tank pH, KH and nitrates levels. They should be similar. If they're not then more maintenance may be required i.e. larger, more frequent water changes, more gravel vacuuming etc.

If your tap KH is low then you may need to buffer it.

To raise the KH without raising the GH, add sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), commonly known as baking soda. 1/2 teaspoon per 100 Liters raises the KH by about 1 dH.

The Nutrafin Cycle may only be hiding the symptom and not the underlying cause to your problem. LFSs are great for selling such products .

Regards
George

Thank you SO much for your reply. Here are some readings.

Prior to using Cycle (2 weeks ago):

Nitrate - 80ppm
Nitrite - 0
GH - 75ppm
KH - so low, <0ppm
PH - < 6.2 (off the scale)

Just prior to starting the Cycle, my daughter dumped a bunch of fish food in the tank and I did a 50% water change and that brought my Nitrate level to 40ppm. About 4 days after that, I started the Cycle.

Two weeks later after 2 doses of Cycle, here are my readings (today):

Nitrate - 80ppm (took 2 weeks to go from 40ppm to 80ppm.. no water changes during that time)
Nitrite - 0
GH - 75ppm
KH - 80ppm
PH - 6.2
Ammonia - 0

Tap water readings:
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
GH - 75ppm
KH - 180ppm
PH - 7.8

In the past, I have used tablets to raise the PH, but that only temporarily fixed the PH to about 7.0. Within 2 weeks, it would go back down.

As far as the fish I have, I have the following in the 55gal tank:

2 Pearl Gourami
5 Turqouise Danios
4 Zebra Danios
3 Platys
2 Molly's
10 Guppies
2 Cory Cats
1 Sparkling Gourami
2 Bleeding Heart Tetras
4 Neon Tetras

Again, thank you so much for your reply. This is a real frustrating problem. I really want to get 2 more Plecos, but not until my chemistry is stable.

~Rebecca

 

[pokagon55]

With the nitrates at 80ppm you need to do more of a gravel vac to remove more of the waste in your tank. That reading should be 20ppm. I would do a 25% water change bi-daily until your readings are stable the every week at 30% with a 40% gravel vac.

 

[NoahFL]

With the nitrates at 80ppm you need to do more of a gravel vac to remove more of the waste in your tank. That reading should be 20ppm. I would do a 25% water change bi-daily until your readings are stable the every week at 30% with a 40% gravel vac.

I will do that. Thanks so much.