Need Some Question Answered

[darylrob]

G'day guy's,
As the saying goes long time listen first time caller.
So Hello and pleased to meet you

Just have a couple questions I would like some help with.

First one.

I have a 31l ( 5 gallon ) tank which is housing 4 cuppeys, 2 platy and 2 dwarf gourams.

The tank has now been running for about 2 months, all fish seem in good spirit and alive.

I do weekly water changes ( about 10 - 15 litres ) and water tests ( Test kit laborett ).

However I am getting readings as follows.

Ph 5.0
NH3 + NH4 0mg/l
No2 < 0.3mg/l
GH 6 dh

Which indicators very low ph and soft water.

I use tap water with safe guard water conditioner when I change water and have tested the water start from tap.
Which has a reading of 8.5 ph

I did read that if ph is stable and fish look fine then it should be ok.
As some fish like the acidly water.

I have also read that if you have soft water the ph would fall and to add some bi-carb to pick up the gh and in turn Ph.

So I added a pinch of bi-carb in last water change with no change in readings.

Just wondering what your thoughts were on the matter.

Next question.

How do you guy's go about cleaning the tank.

Meaning every time I vac and clean the tank I seem to empty more water then I would like.

Like do you partially with the water you have just drained and top up with the amount of new water you would like add ?


Thank you reading this message and hoping you can help.

Yours Darylrob

 

[rowdyburns21]

Have you got a liquid test kit or have you got strips? If youve got strips get the liquid tester kit (bout 15-20 quid) much more reliable, dont be tempted to add certain products to try and change your PH, its very complex and my advice is dont try and mess with it! You said your PH in the tank is 5 yet 8.5 out of the tap? this cant be right way too much difference for that to be a right reading. I vac one third of my tank every time I do a waterchange so if you're doing te whole lot that might save more water coming out .
Welcome to the forum

 

[ShoC]

Some one said that PH below 6.0 stops the biological filter working!!
Don't hold me to it tho.

My ph jumps from 7.1 out of tap to 8.2 in tank so but your jump is fairly extreme...

 

[darylrob]

Thank you for the response.
The water test kits I use is a liquid one and when I test the water in tank.
It's 5.0 and today I tested the water from the tap and it was 8.5.

So does anyone think that my tank has stalled?

Again thanks for the comments so far.

Yours Darylrob

 

[ShoC]

have you checked your ammonia and nitrite readings?

and have you recently added anything to the tank?
types of wood or rocks these can have an affect on the ph levels

I can't remember if the KH controls how easy the Ph will swing
but buffing it when your ph is low is going to cause the ph to remain low,

have you considered doing 70% water change or something then buffing it

EDIT: sorry i didn't read up top fully,
have you considered either restricting the flow coming out of your pipe using a shut of valve or
maybe putting some water back into the tank you took out,
you can make sure you don't get debris back in from sieving the water with some tights,

just a random idea..

 

[Underwurlde]

Some one said that PH below 6.0 stops the biological filter working!!

This is correct. A pH of 5.0 will stall your cycle, simple as.

There is a hell of a difference between your Tank water & tap water. What is in your tank exactly?

Andy

 

[darylrob]

Again hi,
The tank is a aqua one 34 liters and there hasn't been anything added re: rocks, drift wood.

The ammonia NH4 test was 0mg/l

I don,t know if this means anything but the plants seem to be growing well and all fish are well too.

I am now thinking that I might try a 70% water change tomorrow and see what happens from thee on.

Just worried that I might lose the water cycle in the tank.

Again thank you for your input.

ours Darylrob.

 

[ShoC]

have you considered buying PH up a chemical that increases the ph!

 

[darylrob]

Dear Shoc,
Yes I have considered buying Ph up.
But other topic say not to use Ph up or other chemicals .
As it's best to let the cycle do the work and using these product can cause Ph crash.

Sometime too much information is confusing.

Yours Darylrob

 

[lilfishie]

this is going to sound stupid but what are cuppeys? i have never heard of them myself