Ph Problems

[andyw823]

I'm having trouble maintaining my PH level, it keeps dropping to around 6. I have been using Interpet PH up which does work for a short while but then slips back to 6. Tank is planted with good water surface movement, I have some bog wood and mpani wood which has been in there for around 3 years. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mo1959]

I'm having the same problem here. Trying to do a fishless cycle and it is coming to a halt every time the ph drops. It is 6 or could be lower. That's the lowest the test shows. I have ordered some crushed coral and will gradually add some to the filter and try and bring it up slowly. Might be worth a try in your case too??? Bogwood is know to reduce it a bit as well but as you have had it in for so long I can't see it being the culprit at this stage.

My thinking is that the crushed coral will just be enough to buffer the water a bit and stop it dropping quite so far. I think that will be better than continually changing the ph by adding any chemicals. Better for the fish too if you have an established tank.

 

[PDSimon]

Andy,

It sounds to me although you have water with a low carbonate hardness. This means it doesn't resist changes in the pH very well. Bogwood and mopani would sound like the culprits... They lower my pH to around 6 too, but I like that because I keep south american fish that prefer the acidic water.

Why does the low pH not suit your tank? A simple solution would be to take the wood out. If you don't wish to remove the wood you could use crushed coral as mentioned. It depends what fish you have though and it may not be that effective anyway.

I'm having the same problem here. Trying to do a fishless cycle and it is coming to a halt every time the ph drops. It is 6 or could be lower. That's the lowest the test shows. I have ordered some crushed coral and will gradually add some to the filter and try and bring it up slowly. Might be worth a try in your case too??? Bogwood is know to reduce it a bit as well but as you have had it in for so long I can't see it being the culprit at this stage.

My thinking is that the crushed coral will just be enough to buffer the water a bit and stop it dropping quite so far. I think that will be better than continually changing the ph by adding any chemicals. Better for the fish too if you have an established tank.

When fishless cycling, the excess of nitrites causes the water to become more acidic, it is very common and bicarbonate of soda is a quick, easy way of keeping the pH at an optimum (approximately 8) and the KH level high enough to resist changes to pH. I had to use bicarb 1-2 a week when i was fishless cycling, although I have soft/moderately soft water. Crushed coral is quite gradual and I would recommend using bicarb for fishless cycling, not so much when you have fish in though.

 

[Mo1959]

@ PDSimon. So do you think that perhaps when my tank has cycled it may stabilise slightly higher than 6? It worries me that most of the bacteria will die back with such a low ph. I am finding at the moment that the cycle comes to a halt when it gets so low, indeed if I open the filter and look at the media I am sure I can actually see less mulm on the sponge and ceramic media which makes me feel that it is dying back. I was kind of hoping that if I just slowly add some crushed coral I may get it to come up a bit so I can get my cycle finished.
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[PDSimon]

@ PDSimon. So do you think that perhaps when my tank has cycled it may stabilise slightly higher than 6? It worries me that most of the bacteria will die back with such a low ph. I am finding at the moment that the cycle comes to a halt when it gets so low, indeed if I open the filter and look at the media I am sure I can actually see less mulm on the sponge and ceramic media which makes me feel that it is dying back. I was kind of hoping that if I just slowly add some crushed coral I may get it to come up a bit so I can get my cycle finished.
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When fishless cycling the pH will want to drop and will drop if your water isn't hard enough to resist it. Whats your tap water pH? Normally, unless you have rocks that higher the pH, or wood that lowers the pH, the tank water will only be slightly less than your tap water pH.

The bacteria don't die off at a low pH, when the pH gets to 6.4 and lower, the crash causes them go to into a dormant stage which takes it a few days to get back going (thats if you've brought the pH back up). Unless you've repeatedly been having this problem for say, a week... where the bacteria simply aren't processing enough ammonia then they should be dying. If I were you, i'd get some bicarbonate of soda from your local store, ensure it has no additives and add accordingly. This depends on your tank size? I think the right sum is 1 tablespoon per 50Litres of water but I or someone else would need to double check that.

edit: The conditions are quite different from fishless cycling to just keeping fish, my pH is 6 now with all my bogwood and the filter is still cycling perfectly as all the fish are healthy.

 

[Mo1959]

Thanks. I will definitely have to try either the bicarbonate of soda or coral I think. I seem to have extremely soft water. I already had the opposite problem when I had gravel in the tank at first. For some reason it shot the ph up over 8 and, as I eventually want to stock tetras and corys I decided at that point to change to sand. After doing this I have the opposite problem and it is now remaining extremely low. I have been trying to do a fishless cycle for over 2 months now and I'm getting a bit fed up. I can see me just giving up and doing a careful fish in cycle before long as I am getting fed up looking at an empty tank.

 

[PDSimon]

Do you have a log in the new tank section? If you don't it might be worth doing... I use argos play sand in my tank, which is inert... The pH should stay steady when you stock unless you have something in the tank that changes the water chemistry.

 

[andyw823]

Hi PDSimon, I keep 4 clown loaches, 10 rainbows (Boesiman/Parkinson), 1 red tail shark and one BN plec. My rainbows seem to thrive at around PH 7 and I know the clowns suit PH 6.5 so somewhere between the 2 would be a happy result.

 

[PDSimon]

If your fish are used to the pH they won't really be that effected by it but I see where you are coming from... try removing the bogwood or some of it? It should do!

 

[andyw823]

If your fish are used to the pH they won't really be that effected by it but I see where you are coming from... try removing the bogwood or some of it? It should do!

The bogwood and mopani wood are my main setup in the tank and i don`t really want to take them out, also the plants i have have grown over them. I have read that crushed coral can maintain a steady PH? If so how much is suitable in an external filter in a 290L tank?