Ph Dropping - Now What!?

[aitchvee]

The pH in my cycling tanks keeps dropping to 6-ish, which can cause the bacteria to go dormant. Is there any way of raising it without harming the bacteria or water changes, e.g. lemon juice or something?

 

[Leitch]

strange... my cycle is making the ph go up. Is high ph a problem in a fishless cycle? ;o

 

[SJ2K]

The pH in my cycling tanks keeps dropping to 6-ish, which can cause the bacteria to go dormant. Is there any way of raising it without harming the bacteria or water changes, e.g. lemon juice or something?

I wouldnt rush to add somthing like lemon juice because for a start it would make the water more acidic (Lower Ph) I believe. Im no expert but I dont think 6 isnt toooo bad, if 7 is neutral then your only mildly acidic waiting to be corrected though!

 

[aitchvee]

Oops! How swiftly we (me) forget our A-Level chemistry. OK, more alkaline then. But maybe I'll just leave it.

 

[pauly]

I think you just do a small water change to get your Ph back up.

 

[aitchvee]

Ta. I did and it went up slightly. Just wondered if there were harmless pH balancers.

 

[SJ2K]

I dont believe there are, altering Ph is generally a bit of a minefield and best avoided if (like in your case) it isnt very urgent good luck!

 

[rdd1952]

If your pH is dropping, it means you have very little or no buffering capacity. The best way to combat that is to add a small amount of crushed coral to your filter or add something like tufa rock to the tank. Both will increase the buffering capacity and raise the pH naturally.

 

[pauly]

What's buffering capacity?

 

[zerosum]

pick up some nutrafin PH stabalizer KH booster
I haven't had a ph problem since i bought this stuff,
unlike most ph adjusters this actually works, and you need very little of it. Here's a link
http/www.amekon.com/x_C_I__P_29523220;29510001.html

 

[rdd1952]

What's buffering capacity?

Simply put, buffering capacity (KH) is a measure of the water's resistance to changes that would affect the pH. Here is a more indepth look at pH and buffering capacity.

pick up some nutrafin PH stabalizer KH booster
I haven't had a ph problem since i bought this stuff,
unlike most ph adjusters this actually works, and you need very little of it. Here's a link
http/www.amekon.com/x_C_I__P_29523220;29510001.html

Be VERY careful using any pH adjuster as they will generally just put your pH in a constant swing. Since it says KH booster, it may be ok but one of the absolute worst things for fish is a pH that is constantly going up and down because of the pH adjusters. As a general rule, I would stay away from any chemicals that require regular dosing. Something such as crushed coral in the filter or tufa rock can be added once (with a little trial and error to get the level correct) and you are set and won't have to add them again.

 

[zerosum]

The nutrafin ph stabalizer / kh booster was a one time use for me, i used it once last month and my ph has been at 6.8-7.0 ever since.
But i agree adjusters used constantly is a bad idea, but this stuff really works, and doesn't require regular dosage.

 

[aitchvee]

Thanks, all. I'll do a bit more research on the Nutrafin stuff.

 

[Tobigara]

i'd of with the crushed coral. i was having the same problem til someone one here suggested crushed coral. the ph went up slowly to around 6.8 and leveled off. works great!

remember that the ph scale is exponential, each number is 10x the acidity or alkalinity of the previous number. i.e. ph of 6 is 10 x the acidity of 7