Ph At 8.2! How To Bring It Down

[loveforfhishies]

i just stocked my tank full of rocks and the ph is at 8.2.. i have heard of ph down but how well does that work and how often to i have to add it.. whats the best thing to do.. i want a ph of about 7.5

 

[Castellop123]

p[

 

[loveforfhishies]

im not sure it was a rock i found outside in my woods.. i broke it up with a sludge hammer and put the pieces in my tank


they have been in the tank about 5 days now

 

[loveforfhishies]

could someone answere im goin to the store now and i just want to get what i need so i can fix this tonight

 

[gpgscott]

If the rock is lime based it will drive pH up. Was your pH neutral before you put this rock in? All in all a slightly high pH can be an advantage as the natural shift with fishy respiration, feeding, and waste is down. Do you know what the buffering capacity of your water is, a water which is mineral poor is subject to rapid pH flucuation. Need more information to give an informed opinion. Scott

 

[loveforfhishies]

can you refresh me what buffering capacity is?

 

[gpgscott]

Buffering capacity refers to the amount of dissolved mineral in the water. RO water has no minerals most other water has some amount of dissolved mineral. This is refered to as kh. If your water is extremely pure anything which is added will cause the pH which refers to the acidity/bascisity to shift rapidly. It sounds like you have added a rock which has a high lime content which is causing the pH to be driven up. Unless the rock is very soft the lime shouldn't be leaching out of the rock this fast, I suspect your water has a low mineral content based on the rapid shift in pH you are describing. pH down is an acid solution, In my opinion chasing pH is dangerous particulary if your water is not stable. I would first determine what the numbers are on your water before adding the rocks and then go from there. What is most dangerous to fish is rapid changes. Scott

 

[loveforfhishies]

my kh is 14.. should i empty the tank and take out the rocks and start over and pay closer attention to my stages?

 

[gpgscott]

I'm sorry I do not test for kh the way most fishkeepers do I operate a wholesale greenhouse and have water analysis done at least once a year by a lab and work from tds (total dissolved solids). If you can find a chart to corelate the two it is my understanding that for pH stability you need a tds in the area of 120 ppm. As I say if you can correlate your number to ppm you now know where you stand. If your base alkalinity is less than 120 ppm your water needs minerals to be added to prevent rapid shifts in pH. In short find a cross reference of ppm to kh and know that you should not be less than equivilent 120 ppm. I do not know what the upper limit is. Hope this helps. Scott

 

[loveforfhishies]

darn,, im kinda stuck.. cuz it looks like i cant keep the rock in the tank if its causing high ph.. but then i cant keep my cichlids cuz they love the rocks in there.. im stuck?

 

[gpgscott]

Don't get frustrated, it just takes a little work. Before you add anything to the water you need to know your baseline. Do some googleing you will find all kinds of information on alkalinity, not to be confused with basicity. Just please don't start adding stuff to up and down the pH without knowing more about your water. And it sounds like you don't have any fish in this tank yet which is good. Learn how to make a good environment for them and then when they go in they will be happy which will make you happy. Scott

 

[thegnu]

whoa there, whats the pH of your tap water and what fish do you keep

 

[loveforfhishies]

actually

right now there is a convict, kenyi, firemouth, and a malawi in my tank.. i belive the ph was at 7.3 when i put them in and it looks like now it has went up cuz of the rocks.. my tank was fully cycled and ready to go. the only thing i did is add rocks and now things are a hairball..

what should i do to save my fish and get my tank back in order?

ill do a search on alkalinity right now..

thanks scott

 

[thegnu]

i think the problem lies in you other post, "sand." you state you are using "ultra reef marine sand" that, i think is why you are seeing a sharp rise in your parameters. you could try lowering them but with the problem still in your tank it will not stay as you want it. i would remove the sand

 

[gpgscott]

i think the problem lies in you other post, "sand." you state you are using "ultra reef marine sand" that, i think is why you are seeing a sharp rise in your parameters. you could try lowering them but with the problem still in your tank it will not stay as you want it. i would remove the sand

I didn't notice the post about the sand and am not aware of how this effects pH, would you explain further. Scott