Ph Level Drop

[Miss Wiggle]

ok well either 1 or 2 dkh is pretty low and would explain the dropping pH. you'll need to buffer that up with either crushed coral or baking soda. Get yourself off to bed and we'll stick some details in this post ready for when you get up!! lol

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

ok well either 1 or 2 dkh is pretty low and would explain the dropping pH. you'll need to buffer that up with either crushed coral or baking soda. Get yourself off to bed and we'll stick some details in this post ready for when you get up!! lol

You're the bomb MW!

*gives another good dose of flattery before heading off*

 

[Miss Wiggle]

clicky

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

clicky

OK, so now I find out it could be the gravel that I was given by the guy who sold me the whole setup. Apparently, gravel holds Ph neutral in the water, but if its too old the effects of this will weaken. Have been told by LFS that they sell crushed oyster shells & this will steady the system over a couple of weeks if I spread some through my gravel & do regular tests. Would it be easier to put some in a stocking & place it in the filter?

 

[waterdrop]

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?

Yes, this exact thing happened to me. I initially thought the KH test was bad. But no, I was just wrong in my assumptions about my tap water and the test was right!

The first drop is correct. You have a KH of 1 german degee - extremely soft water, virtually no control of pH swings. You would not need the second drop unless when you swirled the tank water with the first drop it turned blue instead of yellow.

MW is right, you need some buffering and I see you are working on it so I'll shift to one of your later posts....

~~waterdrop~~

 

[waterdrop]

clicky

OK, so now I find out it could be the gravel that I was given by the guy who sold me the whole setup. Apparently, gravel holds Ph neutral in the water, but if its too old the effects of this will weaken. Have been told by LFS that they sell crushed oyster shells & this will steady the system over a couple of weeks if I spread some through my gravel & do regular tests. Would it be easier to put some in a stocking & place it in the filter?

This is not a good situation. You need to consider your options for replacing this gravel with a more normal substrate: aquarium gravel, sand or a planted tank substrate. It may not be an urgent thing but I still think you should consider it.

Meanwhile, since you have fish in your tank, the only reasonable option, or the best option I would think, is to use crushed corel. It would be wise to obtain this from a LFS as a bagged product as you do not want other things mixed in. It should be rinsed in tap water using gloves so you don't get cut (it can have sharp little corel and shell pieces.) It doesn't matter where it is in the tank for it to work (eg. people put large pieces or decorations in tanks or spread around gravel as your LFS said etc.... BUT) ..but there are other considerations. Two of the main ones are that because what you are putting in is an "active" substance, it is better not to mix it in gravel or other filter media or such because you may want to remove it later. Secondly, bacteria will love the rough surface of corel and crushed shells and will quickly coat it and cause it to lose its effectivness. So, much better to put it in a mesh bag and either hang it in the tank or even better, find a place for it in one of your filter baskets if you have a cannister filter or a larger HOB type. That way you can periodically (determined by visual check for blackness/buildup) rinse and brush it off to expose its surface to your tank water again.

Having it in a filter may also help it to act more quickly, as the action can be rather slow, taking a week or two before any effects start to show on your KH and pH. The effect should be that both KH and pH are raised. It is usually recommended that you start with a very small palmful, that is a small pile in part of your hand, not a full handfull. (MW, do you agree, or should he start with a bit more in this case? anyone else?)

Hope this helps explain it a little,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Go tag team MW - WD!!!!

I would firstly switch out the gravel for some new gravel or sand. easy to do even with fish, just wash out the new gravel/sand thoroughly, then drain some water from the tank into qa bucket, catch the fish and put them in the bucket, cover the bucket over, scoop out all the old gravel, add the new gravel back in, give it an hr or so for the sediment to settle, then do a massive water change on the tank (like 80%) and then add new water. when the water's up to temp add the fish back to the tank. they'll be fine in a bucket for a couple of hours.

Once you've removed everything from the tank which is sending the pH down you can fully assess the scale of the problem and take it from there.

With fish in the tank crushed coral is definatley the best option for buffering the KH, just start small and work up, it's better for it to do it steadily and it take a few weeks than rush things and have the pH become unstable or swing around.

 

[DJ_$ure$hot]

I added in some crushed oyster shells purchased from LFS a couple of days ago. Placed small amount in the palm of my hand & put it into 1 of my girlfriends stocking (shhhh, dont tell her ). I then placed it @ the end of my filter by the outlet where the water flows back into the tank. I did a test this morning & my PH is already pretty much back up to 7.0 (tap water PH is 7.2). If I use the oyster shells to raise my KH, this would surely stabilise my PH & I wouldnt have to change all the gravel?! Even so, the gravel that Ive got it really light in colour & I wouldnt mind changing to a much darker substrate to bring out the best of the colours in my fish...

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, you've now got every excuse to bite the bullet and switch to a new gravel. Glad to hear the coral is already working...

~~waterdrop~~
edit: spelling is coral, not corel, sheesh!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup glad the corel has worked and stabilised things. unless you have any particular attachment to the gravel i would switch it out. It's generally a good idea to remove anything that's not inert from the tank (unless of course you've got it there for a reason, like the corel). Anything thast's not inert is relativley volatile so the effects of it may change over time causing swings in pH or other aspects of water chemistry.