Ph Lowered

[happyannie]

I have a question regarding the tank I maintain at the local forest preserve educational center. For those of you who haven't read my other posts regarding this, too many other hands are going in there and taking part in the process so I'm never sure what causes what in there.
I got the PH stats on it and they WAY low no exact number but on the strips it showed that the level was acidic which is NOT good. The PH level is very good as it comes out of the tap so the question is ; What could lower it to such an extent? The pads have been changed and are good. I've just cleaned out the bottom too. New water was added in 30 days ago or so. The only thing I can think of is that I've kept some tank treatment liquids in the cabinet and someone felt the tank needed some... The stuff I'm wondering about is Nitraban which I've used with some success. I think it could cause the PH to go down though.
I'm going to leave this open to other members who have more experience than I do with such matters. Note: I took ALL the tank treatment materials HOME so there isn't anything there which can cause such problems.
Thanks in advace.

 

[WILDER]

Need other stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
What substrate in the tank.
Ornaments.

 

[Cian McLiam]

The pH of the tap water may be fine but if its soft water it will be very vulnerable to dips and spikes which can be caused by many factors. Bog wood and decaying plants will cause the pH to drop, adding carbon to the filter or coral sand or strong aeration will cause it to go up. If your water is very soft, allowing the pH to drift down with infrequent water changes, decaying plants, bog wood etc and then every so often popping in carbon into the filter, fresh water and lots of aeration could cause drastic swings which are much more damaging than a gradual lowering of pH. Dont forget plants provide oxygen during the day and Co2 at night which can cause changes in extremely soft water.

First thing you need to check is the hardness of the water (Gh and Kh), then examine whats in the tank, ie. bog wood/substrate/plants, whats being added, co2 (for growing plants but will drop pH), additives (Nitraban is no substitute for regular water changes) etc.

If the fish are found in naturally acidic waters the low pH may not be a problem, causing drastic changes by adding stabilzers or removing bog wood/co2 would be much worse. If the tap water turns out to be very soft you might want to consider getting fish that like the water the way it is rather than making the water suit the fish which requires dedication and experience.

 

[Yazan]

Do you have any rocks in the tank. I heard that if there not cleaned properly the can cause PH to go crazy.

 

[rdd1952]

I would suggest getting a liquid test kit as strips are terribly inaccurate. Acidic isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most fish can adjust to a wide pH range as long as it is stable. And quite a few of the most common community fish such as tetras, corys, etc. prefer slightly acidic water.

As a general rule, we worry way too much about pH. As long as it is stable (don't us pH adjusters), most fish won't have a problem with it. I almost never test the pH of my tanks and probably hadn't in over a year until I tested them a week or so ago for another post. My 29 gallon was at 6.2, 75 gallon at 6.8 an the 2.5 gallon at 7.2. Large tanks have tetras, angels, corys, Siamese algae eaters and shrimp. Small tank is a betta. All tanks have been set up for over 2 years and all fish are doing quite well.