Ph Emergency

[notg2009]

Hi all,

I am posting this again in another way, since I have not found the answer to my problems yet. Sorry if it is a long read, but I appreciate it if you help me out

(1) My pH goes from 7.8 (tap water) to ~6.0 in about 24 hours!!! I feed small ammounts twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening (flakes+shrimp pellets for cories+algae disc for the snal and the cories). I have also tried feeding once a day, but still the pH drops no matter what. I added baking powder (Ingredients: cornstarch, bicarbonate of soda, sodium aluminum sulfate, monocalcium phosphate), but no change at the end (well, the snail got a little happier, but still low pH). I added about 3 table spoons of the baking powder and nothing happened, except my water got cloudy. I believe the pH is BUFFERED around 6, that is why it doesn't change much.

(2) I have been getting higher readings for ammonia levels, although nitrites and nitrates are ok as usual (nitrite=0, nitrate<20). I know that 0.25-0.50 ppm ammonia as measured by API master kit at a low pH is kinda safe for the fish, but I have 2 carbon filter cartridges and a biowheel in my Penguin 200 filter and they should have enough bacteria on them to take care of any ammonia. I take out filter cartridges and the biowheel from the tank and keep them in some tank water while doing water changes (once a week). I'm guessing the bio filter is having a hard time to

(3) On solving the mystery of my dropping pH, I have come to the conclusion that plant matter rotting in the tank brings pH down from 7.8 to 6.0 in about 24 hours!!!!

(4) I have 2 water lily bulbs (now all grown), 2 batches of egeria densa (one all grown, the other miserable), 2 cryptos (one growing fine, one stopped growing), and 2 anubias.

(5) I cut the long stems of the surface leaves of both lilies, since they were blocking all the light and I thought they might grow back, but they didn't. Also every once in a while I see a lily leaf floating around with the stem torn and chewed (gold gourami's fault? rasboras' fault?) Lily bulbs look fine, but should I throw them out and get new bulbs and start fresh?

(6) Recently I have been noticing small tears and openings on the leaves of the lilies and the anubias. it is like some"thing" is eating the leaves from the center to the edges. I don't think a fish can do that; usually they nip at the edges!

(7) When vacuuming, I get a lot of egeria densa parts from underneath the gravel substrate. I would gladly toss my egeria plants if I find out that they are the reason for such drastic changes in pH.

---> The bottom line: My pH used to be around 7.4 and all inhabitants of the tank were happy, so I would like to go back to that situation, or best: be at 7.0 and have happy fish and happy snail.


MY TANK:

29 US gallons with LED lighting
Tetra whisper 40 air pump
Penguin 200 Active 2 carbon filter cartridges (2 for clear water, and also a better bio filter) + biowheel

- Fish:
1 male gold gourami
7 neons
7 rasboras
5 peppered cories
1 inca snail (apple family)

-Temp: ~78-79
- Hydrometer reading: 1.002
- I use Amquel ammonia detoxifier to treat tap water (ammonia+chlorine+chloramine+etc detox) + API tap water conditioner (chlorine&chloramine detox)
- I add 6 table spoons of API aquarium salt (per directions)
- I use stability by seachem when changing water
- I use Tetra FloraPride as plant fertilizer (KOH+Fe)

OK fishmen and fishwomen, help me out and I shall reward you with....let's just say I won't be bothering you guys again

 

[notg2009]

no pH/plant experts here?

 

[furry catfish]

Sorry i know next to nothing about plants so I cant really help you there. But to start, any ammonia in the tank is somthing you want to avoid,Do frequent water changes to bring that level down.But as for the ph most of those fish (if not all) prefer slightly acidic conditions so a ph of about 6 shouldn't be to worrying,but if you really want to increase it add some hard rocks to the aquarium. Again i know next to nothing about plats but if they are dying i would replace them(not the anubias) with easier plants to take care of like java fern. But as i said,I'm not an expert so please dont treat my advice as fact,just an opinion. Good luck

 

[kporteo]

Have you tried just putting some conditioned water (exactly the same treatments as you usually would add to your tank) in a bucket and leaving it for 24-48hrs then testing your pH? Tap water pH does naturally changes as CO2 etc gasses off once its out of the pipes.

K

ps, could you change your text to black or a darker colour, its really hard to read.

 

[notg2009]

Sorry i know next to nothing about plants so I cant really help you there. But to start, any ammonia in the tank is somthing you want to avoid,Do frequent water changes to bring that level down.But as for the ph most of those fish (if not all) prefer slightly acidic conditions so a ph of about 6 shouldn't be to worrying,but if you really want to increase it add some hard rocks to the aquarium. Again i know next to nothing about plats but if they are dying i would replace them(not the anubias) with easier plants to take care of like java fern. But as i said,I'm not an expert so please dont treat my advice as fact,just an opinion. Good luck

I think the reason for ammonia to show up is that the bio filter cannot fully perform at such low pH levels. I know the low pH is better for my fish, but the snail's shell shows signs of pH stress. This is why I like to have a pH of ~7.0, since everyone will be happy in the tank.

Have you tried just putting some conditioned water (exactly the same treatments as you usually would add to your tank) in a bucket and leaving it for 24-48hrs then testing your pH? Tap water pH does naturally changes as CO2 etc gasses off once its out of the pipes.Kps, could you change your text to black or a darker colour, its really hard to read.

I will do as you say and see if anything changes, but how come I didn't have this situation about 3 weeks ago, with the same setup. Maybe cutting the lilies down resulted in their disintegration and also maybe my egeria might be another area of problem.



Thanks for your replies.

 

[anon02]

A couple of things I spotted ...
You should be using bicarbonate of soda not baking powder
If you have ammonia in your tank you should have nitrite unless you`ve lost your n bacs
I would replace the carbon in the filter for bio media to help the bio wheel out
I would remove any iffy plants
I would stick to one good water concitioner
I would drop the salt, the corys wont appreciate it

 

[notg2009]

A couple of things I spotted ...
You should be using bicarbonate of soda not baking powder
If you have ammonia in your tank you should have nitrite unless you`ve lost your n bacs
I would replace the carbon in the filter for bio media to help the bio wheel out
I would remove any iffy plants
I would stick to one good water concitioner
I would drop the salt, the corys wont appreciate it

I did a water change yesterday and threw away the iffy plants, planted new bulbs and added some seachem stability and tetra florapride. so far just a little drop in pH which I think is natural. Will update later.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[anon02]

I think you may have ongoing issues with the corn starch clogging your bio media

 

[notg2009]

I think you may have ongoing issues with the corn starch clogging your bio media

I had the filters out of the tank and inside some of the tank water for about an hour while I was doing the water change and maintenance. I might leave them in some treated tap water for a while to get more junk out of them.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I think you may have ongoing issues with the corn starch clogging your bio media

I had the filters out of the tank and inside some of the tank water for about an hour while I was doing the water change and maintenance. I might leave them in some treated tap water for a while to get more junk out of them.

Hi..i have the same problem as you.The water out of my tap is 7.2 on the PH chart. It stays at 7.2 for 2/3 weeks then 'crashes' down to 6.0 overnight, sometimes stalling the cycle process (which it did on my smaller tank).

If AT ALL possible, get hold of a Kh/Gh water test kit (10 American dollars on Eay).I'm pretty certain your results will be similiar to mine, IE; 'soft water' maybe on the scale of 3-6.

Hope this helps,
Terry.

 

[notg2009]

I think you may have ongoing issues with the corn starch clogging your bio media

I had the filters out of the tank and inside some of the tank water for about an hour while I was doing the water change and maintenance. I might leave them in some treated tap water for a while to get more junk out of them.

Hi..i have the same problem as you.The water out of my tap is 7.2 on the PH chart. It stays at 7.2 for 2/3 weeks then 'crashes' down to 6.0 overnight, sometimes stalling the cycle process (which it did on my smaller tank).

If AT ALL possible, get hold of a Kh/Gh water test kit (10 American dollars on Eay).I'm pretty certain your results will be similiar to mine, IE; 'soft water' maybe on the scale of 3-6.

Hope this helps,
Terry.

Great someone with the same problem Thanks for letting me know. I will look into the hardness issue and see if I can get my hands on a liquid test kit (preferably by API). By the way can you tell me how hardness affects the whole situation, or direct me to a website with info.

Thanks a lot