ph ph or ph

[billy_69]

well let me first say im still a beginner but trying hard not to screw up my fish. I bought a tank about for months ago it came with everything i needed including Fishies (125 on profile). I wanted to orignally get ride of the chiclids and go with a comunity setup but love the fish and couldnt get rid of them. So here i am. Im having a problem with Ph for some reason my tap water ph is 8.0 give or take .1, My ten gallon stays at 8.0 but my chiclid tank seems to always drop down to about 7.4 7.2ish (this has just been happening in the last week or two). i do weekly water changes and it will stay up at about 8.0 for a few days or so. My nieborhood pet store said we had hard water and my ph souldnt change, I really dont want to start adding chemicals to stabalize my ph OR should I Ive also noticed my fish seem to be getting kindof stressed lately they just are not what they use to be.Please Help!!!!!!

 

[fishwatcher]

Maybe this link can help a little. I'm sure someone else will be by soon to give more information than I can.
Good luck!
http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

 

[pnyklr3]

I am near your area, and yes, we def have HARD water! What kinds of decorations and plants do you have in the tank? Anything you recently added? Bogwood and Driftwood will lower the pH (if I remember correctly). I didn't check your profile, but is the tank strictly African Cichlids (I assume it is)? You could add some crushed coral substrate, or a few rocks that will raise the pH (shells and such...there's a pinned topic around here somewhere.....)

Oh, and when was the last time you vacuumed the gravel and rinsed out the filter media in old tank water?

 

[billy_69]

the tank came with artifical drift wood and plants.. Nothing has really changed i was thinking of changing the sub to crushed shells substrate but wasnt sure

 

[pnyklr3]

You will raise your pH by adding the crushed coral. You can either switch the substrate, or buy a smaller amount, put it in a mesh bag (or cut the foot from pantyhose) and place the bag in your filter. I guess the bigger picture is to figure out what lowered it in the first place.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
1. Do you have any aeration in the tank?
2. Do you regularly vacuum the gravel?
3. Have there been any overall changes in the way you manage the tank? (ie different feeding schedule, add/remove fish)

Artificial plants and driftwood won't affect anything (I'm sure you already knew this). Let's try to figure this one out.

 

[billy_69]

well first i vaccum every two weeks
feed my fish twice a day usually around the same time give or take 30 mins
i have a 10 inch bubbler but to tell u the truth its been off for a while (HMMM)
also have one of my discarges skimming the top of the water.

I was thinking about my filter??? I have two 2217 ehiems the one thing is the person i bought them from hadnt changed them in about a year so i ran both for about a month with old dirty media and then changed one of them. Could the old dirty filter be effecting the PH???
I was thinking about putting crushed coral in the one when i change it. i didnt want to change it since i just changed the other on three months ago. what ya think

 

[annka5]

When the bacteria in your tank convert ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate, they release hydrogen ions which make the water more acidic. This is why the Ph of a tank will drop over time, just like nitrate will build up over time, also why it increases when you do a water change.
I would reckon that a tank where the Ph drops too far too quickly which doesn't have decor which will acidify the water, is most likely to be either (a)not changing enough water often enough, (B) overstocked or © overfeeding.
Am no expert on African cichlids, so can't comment on the stocking levels particularly, but someone else may be able to advise on this one? You need to consider if you reckon there is a chance you're overfeeding or not doing partial water changes enough.

 

[pnyklr3]

When doing your next water change, keep some of the removed water in a bucket. Take out the sponge portion of the filter if it has one and give it a good rinse in the water. This will get out the gunk sitting inside.

Did the raise in the pH coincide with your turning off the bubbler? If you turn it back on, it will drive off the CO2, and raise the pH. See if that helps any.