Ph Dropped To 5.5

[st24rsap]

a few weeks ago i had an outbreak of Planaria Worms in my 100L breeding tank consisting of 4 addult BN plecs, after getting rid of the worms by cleaning the tank thoroughly it seems to have started a cycle again in the tank which i have been maintaining with daily water changes

i just tested the tank water and got these levels

Ammonia 0.25 - 0.5ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
PH 5.5 ? (this is the first time it has ever read below 7.4 where it normally is)
Temp 25C

there is a piece of bogwood in the tank which i have removed but the ph is way down from what it normally is and im not sure why, tap water ph is 7.2

 

[WILDER]

I would ask is tropical discussion will get more replys over there.
Good luck.

 

[st24rsap]

could a mod please move this to tropical discussion. thanks

 

[Shrimper]

Bog wood can lower the PH but that is quite a big shift...

I would test the PH again in case it was a mis-reading and do a water change to try and bring it back up.

 

[WILDER]

What test kit are you using for ph.

 

[st24rsap]

was tested with API master test kit and also a digital PH reader, both readings were the same

 

[st24rsap]

bump

 

[st24rsap]

checked ph again today and it has down down again and was at 3.4, did a 20% water change to bring this back up to 5.5ish but im really concerned now for the fish

 

[Shrimper]

3.4 Thats very acidic...

There has to be something in the tank that is bringing down the PH, Have you added any meds or fertilizer to the tank recently?

You said you removed the bogwood... What other decorations do you have in the tank?

If there is nothing else in the tank then i'm stumped! Anybody else got ideas?

 

[st24rsap]

3.4 Thats very acidic...

There has to be something in the tank that is bringing down the PH, Have you added any meds or fertilizer to the tank recently?

You said you removed the bogwood... What other decorations do you have in the tank?

If there is nothing else in the tank then i'm stumped! Anybody else got ideas?

i know ts bad. no meds or anything have been added apart from api stress coat during water changes.

only decorations are 2 slate breeding caves been in there for ages. only other things added lately are a bubble bar and air disc for the air pump and a eheim aquaball internal filter

 

[pastabake]

What did you use to clean the tank?

You need a pretty powerful acid, or a lot of a weaker one, to bring the pH down that far - especially after repeated water changes.

Like the others said your test might not be working. Take a sample of your tank water to your lfs and see if they'll do a test for you.

 

[Shrimper]

It wont be the stress coat... I use that and it hasn't affacted my PH.

If the slate was going to affect it i would of thought it would be more alkaline rather than acidic. I've not heard of a bubble bar or filter affecting a tank like this before.

Another thought - Do you dose CO2 for plants? This can lower ph...

I'm looking for other causes that can lower PH online... not having much luck at the moment.

 

[st24rsap]

What did you use to clean the tank?

You need a pretty powerful acid, or a lot of a weaker one, to bring the pH down that far - especially after repeated water changes.

Like the others said your test might not be working. Take a sample of your tank water to your lfs and see if they'll do a test for you.

my usual vac for cleaning the gravel and my usual scraper for cleaning the glass, nothing different to any other time i clean the tanks

both the liquid and digital tests are giving a reading of 7.4 on my comunity tank so im pretty sure they are working fine, totally stumped as to what has caused the huge drop

It wont be the stress coat... I use that and it hasn't affacted my PH.

If the slate was going to affect it i would of thought it would be more alkaline rather than acidic. I've not heard of a bubble bar or filter affecting a tank like this before.

Another thought - Do you dose CO2 for plants? This can lower ph...

I'm looking for other causes that can lower PH online... not having much luck at the moment.

yeah ive always used stress coat and not had any problems

only thing it could be is if i didnt rinse the new filter etc well enough before adding them and something has got into the tank from that, cant think of anything else it could be

dont use co2, no plants in the tank

had a quick look online but couldnt find anything that would have caused it

 

[Shrimper]

Just found this page

http/www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=3401

It has over feeding as a potential cause for dropping PH values and also Planaria Worms.

Of course it could still be something else, but keep this in mind.

 

[st24rsap]

Just found this page

[URL="http/www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=3401"]http/www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=3401[/URL]

It has over feeding as a potential cause for dropping PH values and also Planaria Worms.

Of course it could still be something else, but keep this in mind.

could still be something else but considering the amount of waste i found and disturbed in the bottom of the filter and the outbreak of planaria worms it does seem to tie up, good find shrimper

well the waste food and worms have been dealt with so hopefully the tank should start to stabalise with water changes and start to sort itself out