Ph Crash...

[The Taffy Apple]

Good day to you all, and a very happy 2011 !

Quick update- my 3 Amano shrimp and 1 Cherry Barb have been living in my cycled, plantless 30L corner tank (no 'bog-wood' or any other type of decorative wood) now for over 2 weeks...Ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte readings are being checked on a daily basis and are all fine and as expected.

But My PH is a totally different issue. It crashed once a week during my fishless cycle (4 times overall) and i simply 'buffered' it up using Bicarb/Soda....

My daily water tests have proved that the PH went from 7.4 down to 6.0 almost overnight 2 days ago... i done a 50% WC which brought it back upto 7.4, but it crashed once more overnight, so i completed a more thorough 75% WC... The shrimp and fish haven't died, but they certainly do not seem to be very happy about it.

What on earth could be causing such a crash?

As always, any help highly appreciated, Terry.

 

[KittyKat]

Stop trying to force your pH, let it stay at 6.0. In the short term, constant changes will do more harm than good.

What is your tap water pH after letting the water sit in a glass for 12-24 hours? I wouldn't be surprised if it is quite low.

Worst case will be that you will have perfect water for keeping SA fish..

 

[mark4785]

Good day to you all, and a very happy 2011 !

Quick update- my 3 Amano shrimp and 1 Cherry Barb have been living in my cycled, plantless 30L corner tank (no 'bog-wood' or any other type of decorative wood) now for over 2 weeks...Ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte readings are being checked on a daily basis and are all fine and as expected.

But My PH is a totally different issue. It crashed once a week during my fishless cycle (4 times overall) and i simply 'buffered' it up using Bicarb/Soda....

My daily water tests have proved that the PH went from 7.4 down to 6.0 almost overnight 2 days ago... i done a 50% WC which brought it back upto 7.4, but it crashed once more overnight, so i completed a more thorough 75% WC... The shrimp and fish haven't died, but they certainly do not seem to be very happy about it.

What on earth could be causing such a crash?

As always, any help highly appreciated, Terry.

What is your KH level and do you have any algae within the aquarium? I've read before (not from a trusted or reputable source) that algae use up the carbonate hardness/KH levels of aquarium water, and the lower the KH level goes, the more susceptible the tank is to massive PH swings. The biological processes whereby ammonia is converted to nitrite also can influence the KH.

Given that you have a small amount of water, the KH levels will be becoming exhausted quicker.

Some people are against manipulating the PH level artificially, but if you conduct a KH test of your water and find it to be below 4dH, you will need to replace the water with water that has a KH value between 4-5dH. If it was me, I'd do daily KH tests to work out the KH level trend; on the day that you find the KH level to be lowering, that is the day you ought to be doing a water change to top up the KH.

My KH level 'changes' every 14 days in a 120 LT aquarium; since you have a 30LT aquarium I'd guess your KH is fluctuating every 3-5 days (or 25% of 14 days).

 

[AstonN24vantage]

bicarb soda lowers pH, that could be par of the problem

 

[mark4785]

bicarb soda lowers pH, that could be par of the problem

Are you sure? I've been using that to higher my PH during a fishless cycle and sure it works.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

it does not. it makes it more acidic.

 

[Essjay]

Actually, it raises the pH.

I just tried it. Went from pH 7.2 to well above the upper limit on the tester.



Edited to say that I've lost the high range colour chart, but I finally found it on-line. I added quarter teaspoon bicarb to 200 ml water and it raised the pH from 7.2 to 8.2.

 

[KittyKat]

it does not. it makes it more acidic.

Definitely raises it.

 

[Skins]

it does not. it makes it more acidic.

Definitely raises it.

Agree

 

[hillmar77]

Good day to you all, and a very happy 2011 !

Quick update- my 3 Amano shrimp and 1 Cherry Barb have been living in my cycled, plantless 30L corner tank (no 'bog-wood' or any other type of decorative wood) now for over 2 weeks...Ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte readings are being checked on a daily basis and are all fine and as expected.

But My PH is a totally different issue. It crashed once a week during my fishless cycle (4 times overall) and i simply 'buffered' it up using Bicarb/Soda....

My daily water tests have proved that the PH went from 7.4 down to 6.0 almost overnight 2 days ago... i done a 50% WC which brought it back upto 7.4, but it crashed once more overnight, so i completed a more thorough 75% WC... The shrimp and fish haven't died, but they certainly do not seem to be very happy about it.

What on earth could be causing such a crash?

As always, any help highly appreciated, Terry.

I know alot of people in the fish hobby are against buffers but for the health and well being of your fishes.... you might want to see what aragonite does to your water over a few days. Aragonite acts as a PH buffer giving you a rock solid PH no matter what ( adds KH and GH too). But the cost is high PH but a steady PH. My readings from my tank with my water is 7.4 just before a water change with the aragonite as you can see here.....

 

[loraxchick]

Get some clams, have a clam steam and save about a dozen shells. Boil the empty shells and give a good scrub. Smash with a hammer and then either sprinkle the shell pieces in the tank or put in the filter (better place, but either will work). Works as a natural buffer. May take a week or two to see results but it does the trick. Have used it myself when I was running CO2 in a planted system.
And for the record baking soda is a buffer so raises or lowers depending on where you start (just like the clam shells...just adds to the hardness is all)
cheers

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Good morning all. many thanks for the helpful replies...

I took a sample of tap water and left it overnight ready to be tested in 24 hours, yet Mrs.Apple loves to get involved and cleaned the test tube, i love her really...

I understand the PH of a tank cannot kill a fish, yet the constant, sudden fluctuation in PH levels can (and are!) stress them out.

What i am seeing happening though is that the bacteria that i have taken sooooo long to grow seems to stop working when my PH crashes, my daily ammonia readings are proving that i am getting 1PPM every couple of days (50% WC's soon sort that out though). I am planning on going away for a week very soon, but the health and well-being of my fish and shrimp realy do have me worried....

Ay help highly appreciated, Terry.