New Tank...rasied Ph

[philak]

I'm currently seeting up my Roma 240 tank. The tap water is PH 7.4

Afrer adding a clay pellet substrate and covering it with Silica sand, then adding some Dorset pebbles the PH has gone up to about 8.0

As i want to keep Tetras and Bosemani ranbows , maybe, i would prefer the PH to have stayed lower (towards 7)and i was to be adding bogwood later to help bring it down a bit from tap levels so i was disappointed to see it raised.

My question is, which of the clay/sand /pebbles could be the culprit in raising the PH?

I have put all 3 in seperate containers with cold tap water and so far all three containers are still at 7.4 . Obviously the heat and agitation of the propper tank may have speeded the process up but so far i see no sign of any of these things changing the PH. I didnt vinegar test the pebbles but the bucket is crammed full of them so it should be a good test.

Finaly , the Fluval external has 3 sachets of carbon in it which came with it. I know they aren't strictly needed but i've also read they can be a good medium for bacteria growh so i left them in. Could the carbon in the filter be the PH culprit? Sadly i never had the tank runing with the filter on before i added the substrate so i didnt test like that.

Cheers.

 

[fatheadminnow]

I don't believe the carbon is the culprit.

Are you cycling your tank at all? IF you are, nitrate that is produced as the end result to the nitrogen cycle is alkaline, or basic. Meaning it will raise the pH of your water slightly.

I would do the vinegar test on all the decor in your tank.

-FHM

 

[JustFrozen]

Are you cycling your tank at all? IF you are, nitrate that is produced as the end result to the nitrogen cycle is alkaline, or basic. Meaning it will raise the pH of your water slightly.

hmm i thought nitrate was an acid. guess i learn something every day here

 

[fatheadminnow]

Are you cycling your tank at all? IF you are, nitrate that is produced as the end result to the nitrogen cycle is alkaline, or basic. Meaning it will raise the pH of your water slightly.

hmm i thought nitrate was an acid. guess i learn something every day here

Nitrate alone is alkaline, but when in the water it may produce small amounts of nitric acid, which will lower the pH.

-FHM

 

[philak]

I'm not cycling the tank. It's going to be planted, some plants are already in, and there are no fish in yet.

I'll be adding media from another tanks filter and fish soon after so hopefully i won't need to cycle.

I'll be checking the results on my 3 buckets (sand, pebbles and clay) soon so will get back if any change there.

 

[fatheadminnow]

I'm not cycling the tank. It's going to be planted, some plants are already in, and there are no fish in yet.

I'll be adding media from another tanks filter and fish soon after so hopefully i won't need to cycle.

I'll be checking the results on my 3 buckets (sand, pebbles and clay) soon so will get back if any change there.

Even if you add mature filter media, you still need to cycle the tank! Just because you add mature filter media does not by all means, mean you tank will be fully cycled. Most times, since the bacteria are in a different water source, it will take a little while for the bacteria to begin processing ammonia and nitrite again.

Just check my fishless cycle thread here. The entire compartment where filter media goes, was ALL mature filter media from one of my larger tank. But is still took about 18 days for ammonia to begin to start processing!

So, get that mature filter media in the filter asap, and begin a fishless cycle! It will, though, speed up the cycle with mature filter media. It just won't be an "instant" cycle.

-FHM

 

[philak]

Cheers Fat, i'll have a read. Disappointing in that it may take so long to cycle again for sure.

In the meantime though i have a definite winner in the PH stakes. Having retested all 3 buckets the pebbles and sand still show 7.4 and the clay is 7.8-8.0

Tomrrow i'll start stripping it all down again to remove the clay and now i'm in need of something to go with sand or under it as plant fodder and rooting material. Anybody here use sand in a planted tank? If so ,how do you manage?


Cheers

 

[fatheadminnow]

Glad you found the culprit!

-FHM