Ph Level Drop

[DJ_$ure$hot]

Ok, so I bought a master test kit today as I felt this was important! FYI - Im still cycling my tank with 8 lemon tetra...

Test after a 30% water change this evening:

Ammonia 0

Nitrites 0.5-1 (somewhere in between)

Nitrates 0.50

But, to the point...

When I tested my PH, it was measuring @ 6.6

The water from the tap measures roughly 7.2 I have driftwood (petrified wood) in the tank, could this be whats lowering the PH?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes it could be, did you get a KH test kit too? would be very helpful to find out what your KH is.

You do need to bring the pH up from there though, if it drops much lower your bacteria will die off and you'll be back to square 1.

Best bet for now, remove the driftwood, do a large water change, monitor the pH over the next week or so and see what happens, try and lay your hands on a KH test kit and post the results, if pH drops this low again keep doing water changes to bring it back up.

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

yes it could be, did you get a KH test kit too? would be very helpful to find out what your KH is.

You do need to bring the pH up from there though, if it drops much lower your bacteria will die off and you'll be back to square 1.

Best bet for now, remove the driftwood, do a large water change, monitor the pH over the next week or so and see what happens, try and lay your hands on a KH test kit and post the results, if pH drops this low again keep doing water changes to bring it back up.

Cheers MW,

I just did a 20% water change, but there was no change in the PH. I removed the driftwood too. Could there be any other factors or reasons for this drop? I will do another 30% change tomorrow.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

could be that your water has a naturally low buffering capacity (KH) and the water company add's stabilisers so that the water come sout of the tap at a higher than natural level, these stabilisers will then 'gass off' when the water is left to stand for any period of time. testing the kh would prove/disprove this. It could also be something else in the tank leeching into the water and dropping the pH, the effect of ammonia on the water also pushes pH down, it's fairly common for pH to drop while cycling.

Can do a control experiment by putting a cup of tap water out somewhere and testing it daily and seeing if the pH drops on that as well. If it does then it's most likley KH, if it doesn't then it's something in the tank.

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

could be that your water has a naturally low buffering capacity (KH) and the water company add's stabilisers so that the water come sout of the tap at a higher than natural level, these stabilisers will then 'gass off' when the water is left to stand for any period of time. testing the kh would prove/disprove this. It could also be something else in the tank leeching into the water and dropping the pH, the effect of ammonia on the water also pushes pH down, it's fairly common for pH to drop while cycling.

Can do a control experiment by putting a cup of tap water out somewhere and testing it daily and seeing if the pH drops on that as well. If it does then it's most likley KH, if it doesn't then it's something in the tank.

What would I do without your valuable input & experience Will test again & see what happens... I'll also try that experiment!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you'd have to wait for someone else to post!

 

[waterdrop]

Is it possible DJ is being too timid about the water changes? I know we've got the lemon tetras in there to worry about, but a 20% and then a 30% are not necessarily going to have much effect on that pH I don't think, some, but not that much. Assuming it takes a while to get a KH kit (and MW, I agree, that is always some good info in these kinds of questions..) I think perhaps staying up at 30% and doing some more frequent changes (you can safely do another change as soon as an hour later) would also be another way to find out more information about what kind of pH your source water can give you and how long it will stay that way.

Since the nitrates are so low at this point, that would not be much of a contributor (the nitrate is acidic) to the symptom you are seeing. Its got to be the driftwood or something else in the tank or a low KH contributing to a smaller tendency to go acid.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

well to be pragmatic about it, there's no possible harm from larger water changes and a lot to be gained. so I'd always say do some bigger changes.

You know me though, I'm firmly of the belief there's not a lot you can't fix with water changes!!

So yeah, DJ, do like an 80% water change and that should bring the pH up a bit more. So long as you run water back into the tank relativley slowly so as not to shock the tetras with cold water it'll be fine.

 

[waterdrop]

Well I was seeing if I could nudge you into saying 50% MW but I got you to say 80%...

Hopefully DJ wouldn't be so successful at quickly raising pH that the lemons would be unhappy with it? Of course, lemons have always struck me as rather tuff, at least for tetras...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, I'm not having the best day at all today, had some bad news earlier so I would not be at all surprised if my judgements off!

Maybe a slightly more conservative 50% followed by 50% a day or two after would be better. But yeah, not kept lemons myself but I think they're pretty tough.

 

[waterdrop]

Can't believe there's a fish I've kept and MW hasn't!

Lemons are another of those tetras that can look kind of boring in pictures or in LFS but later in their own tank at home, with comfort and the right lighting conditions, the school can take on a beauty that just pops out and really gets you sometimes! MW, you'll just have to try a bunch some time!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

there's LOADS of fish I haven't kept WD. I'm only 25, not been doing this all that long

come back and talk to me about it when I'm 40......

 

[waterdrop]

40 goes by fast... (but you don't feel any different)

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

OK,well I did a 30% water change this morning, PH only went up slightly. I'll go & purchase a KH test kit today & take a sample. I'll then do a 50% water change & let you know how I get on

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

OK,well I did a 30% water change this morning, PH only went up slightly. I'll go & purchase a KH test kit today & take a sample. I'll then do a 50% water change & let you know how I get on

So Im really tired & the bed is calling me...

Just thought Id post my KH test results, although Im not quite sure which yellow colour to go off??

1 drop (1 dKH) 17.9ppm - Pale yellow.

2 drops (2dKH) 35.8ppm - Bright yellow.

I just took the cap off & looked through the bottom of the test tube after turning it a few times. These results dont mean anything to me though, so please somebody explain?! Do I need to put more drops in?