My Ph Has Dropped Drasticly, What Can I Do?

[mark1979]

hey all.

my ph has plumeted to the bottom of the scale on the api master test kit!! 6.0 i think it is!!

why has this happened?

i no i have added a fair amount of mopani wood in my new setup,but i didnt imagine it would drop this low!!

can i get it back up somehow? and if so what can i use?

thanks

 

[mark1979]

i forgot to add i do have a fair amount of fish in the tank.

the tank is a 400L juwel rio.

is this going to harm all my fish?

 

[saltynay]

Have you got any shells if so chuck them in and they will raise the ph or baking soda works but you have to be extremely careful over quantities so I wouldn't reccomend trying.

Do you use CO2?

 

[minxfishy]

They are showing no signs of illness I assume? They would have acclimated to the lower ph as it dropped, so you should be fine, the only problem I can see, which Im unsure about, is that your bacteria may die back due to the low ph, however, ammonia is less harmful at lower ph.

Some scientific peep will be along, Im sure to clarify that, as I could be wrong. So long as your tests come back 0 for ammonia, nitrIte etc, then you should be fine, the rams will probably quite like it.

The mopani would have had an effect onit, but its not normally a significant difference, for example, my tap water ph 7.8, my rio 400 with loads and loads of bogwood/mopani, sits at 7.4.

You could do small water changes to raise it again, but if there is something in the tank lowering it, then it will drop again.

Baking soda will raise it again, but wait for a definitive answer on how much to add, as you dont want to raise it quickly as you will shock the fish.

 

[mark1979]

thanks for the reply.

1 thing that may be affecting this drop,not sure how true it is though. Ive been told that as i have " manmade " substrate as in jet black roman gravel,this isnt natural and not causing a natural buffer?

i did a HUGE change last night at 1am ish, and havent checked it again yet,but im not sure what to do!!

i could fill my juwel internal up with crushed coral maybe?

i dont use CO2

i have a 400L tank,what sort of amount of bi carb should i use?

 

[minxfishy]

Not heard of roman gravel having any effect on ph before. I wouldnt do massive changes, as it will change the ph too much in one go, even if the ph is low its better to keep it stable than to adjust it all the time, the fish will adapt to the ph, as I said they were in the tank as it dropped, so they should be ok.

You could try using bicarb but only a spoonful at a time to raise it, you could as you said add some crushed coral to the internal to raise it but unsure on amounts and how long it works for.

Test it again after each spoonful if you do use bicarb.

 

[mark1979]

right,my idea is,im going to remove the media from the internal juwel filter and im going to fill it will crushed coral in big media bags

i also have 1 more problem,in my small tank,my aquastart 320,that will be exactly the same i imagine,what can i do there?

 

[RadaR]

Why change it? Most fish are well adapted to cope with a range of pHs. Fiddling with it will make it go up and down like a yoyo.
Your worried because of the sudden change in pH. If so, then your latest action has surely done the thing which you fear.

i did a HUGE change last night at 1am ish, and havent checked it again yet,but im not sure what to do!!

pH would most certainly have shot up..

 

[mark1979]

Why change it? Most fish are well adapted to cope with a range of pHs. Fiddling with it will make it go up and down like a yoyo.
Your worried because of the sudden change in pH. If so, then your latest action has surely done the thing which you fear.

i did a HUGE change last night at 1am ish, and havent checked it again yet,but im not sure what to do!!

pH would most certainly have shot up..

will all my fish tollerate a 6.0ph?

and as for my big water change,that wouldnt of been far off from acclimatising the fish in a bag!! i trickled the water in,as my tap has barely no pressure,plus it was 1am and i didnt wanna wake anyone up

i just have never had this happen so i paniced!!!

lower ph,does it affect your bacteria?

also the crushed coral gradualy increases the ph,not like buffers that will change it very quickly

 

[Geoff1991]

Id be careful about adjusting your pH too quickly with fish in... When my pH drops in my fishless cycle, ive found 6.0 or below stalls my cycle.

Edit: Careful with bicarb, if you put too much in at once it will raise your pH quite quickly.

 

[RadaR]

I'm not sure about your fish because I couldn't find a list of them in your profile.

In my experience the bacteria shouldn't have been affected. Us hobbyists that have planted tanks and inject gaseous CO2 will experience pH changes throughout the photoperiod of about 1 (e.g a tank with pH 7 will most likely drop to 6 once CO2 concentration reaches 30ppm or so. This can happen in about 2 hours). We don't have any problems. I'm sure you bacteria and fish will be fine.

 

[mark1979]

I'm not sure about your fish because I couldn't find a list of them in your profile.

In my experience the bacteria shouldn't have been affected. Us hobbyists that have planted tanks and inject gaseous CO2 will experience pH changes throughout the photoperiod of about 1 (e.g a tank with pH 7 will most likely drop to 6 once CO2 concentration reaches 30ppm or so. This can happen in about 2 hours). We don't have any problems. I'm sure you bacteria and fish will be fine.

i have:

4 x gold rams
4 x GBR's
1 x bolivian
10 x xray tetra's
12 x rasbora's
3 x sterbai corys
3 x c.similis corys
3 x panda corys

i realy need to raise it dont i,as every water change i do will keep changing it else?

just say my tap is 7.0 and my tank is currently 6.0,changing like you said would be a big shock for the fish. If i raise the ph with a coral etc etc,to say 6.8ish,when i do a water change,there wont be to much difference. or doesnt it work like that?

 

[RadaR]

Your fish listed will actually appreciate the lower pH.

If i raise the ph with a coral etc etc,to say 6.8ish,when i do a water change,there wont be to much difference. or doesnt it work like that?

That makes sense

 

[mark1979]

Your fish listed will actually appreciate the lower pH.

If i raise the ph with a coral etc etc,to say 6.8ish,when i do a water change,there wont be to much difference. or doesnt it work like that?

That makes sense

will that make it less of a shock then on the water changes?

i oviously dont wanna harm my fish,so if i can get it to a stable reading,i wont be so bad

 

[RadaR]

It would do yes. But with even 50% water change once a week, I'm certain you would be fine without the buffer. But if it helps you then some crushed coral should be ok. Like you said, it will prevent such a large change.