Ph Won't Go Up?

[puffin3]

Hi there,
I have a 10 gal. tank with a 'bottom feeder', a tiny cat fish, five tiny neons, 1 danio and 4 tiny tetras a carbon filter a heater and and a air stone bubbler.
The tank has been operating for about 2 months. At first I had some goldfish to get the bacteria started then a month ago I got returned them and got the new fish I have now.
I can't get the ph to go up and stay up. I add 20 drops of 'ph up' almost daily but the ph stays at about 6.2. I did a water change a week ago but that didn't help. The tap water here is about 6.2 ph.
I took the 'ph up' kit to the pet shop. they tested it and said it worked fine.
The amonia level is constant at about 0 ppm.
I'm concerned about the fish living in such high acid water.
Can anybody explain what I'm not doing to make the ph 7.0?
I have standard aquarium gravel and I bought some round granite river rocks from the pet store to put on the gravel. Is there any chance those rocks migt be giving off a chemical that makes the water acidic?
Thanks

 

[piratedninja]

the phUP stuff never works, at least not for me

my tap water is 7.6 but once i put it in the tank it drops to about 5.8 in a couple of hours
ive noticed that once i put the conditioner in the water thats what really seems to slam the ph almost instantly, can maybe be for your case too

dont put phUP in there more than once a day because the ph swings will harm the fish, but a constant ph wont

 

[vinylman]

If you're keeping mainly Tetras, I can't see a problem with a ph of 6.2; adding anything to alter it will make your fish suffer a lot more than having a stable ph. I really wouldn't do anything.

 

[rdd1952]

For the fish you have, a pH of 6.2 is fine. Most tetras love slightly acidic water. The worst thing you can do is use the pH adjusters as they only make the pH swing up and down. They can adjust to pretty much any pH as long as it's stable.

 

[Yazan]

I have standard aquarium gravel and I bought some round granite river rocks from the pet store to put on the gravel. Is there any chance those rocks migt be giving off a chemical that makes the water acidic?

Did you wash the rocks ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

If you're keeping mainly Tetras, I can't see a problem with a ph of 6.2; adding anything to alter it will make your fish suffer a lot more than having a stable ph. I really wouldn't do anything.

For the fish you have, a pH of 6.2 is fine. Most tetras love slightly acidic water. The worst thing you can do is use the pH adjusters as they only make the pH swing up and down. They can adjust to pretty much any pH as long as it's stable.

both correct

stop wasting your time and money with the pH adjuster, throw it away

 

[Yazan]

I hate PH adjusters, they just don't work.

 

[puffin3]

Thanks very much for all your replies.
Yes I did wash the rocks.
I will forget about trying to adjust the ph.
My little family of fishes seem happy and I am getting a lot of pleasure watching them dart in and out of the bubbles and chase each other. The Danio is always chasing someone.

 

[discodave]

i'm having a big problem with ph just now too Thank god i havn't gone out and bought a PH up thing yet!

sorry to hijack the thread a bit but does dechlorinator effect the PH? I keep doing water changes and when i put the new water in i add the dechlorinator. The ph won't go up though? very little at the least and i think it drops again

Does moapi wood effect ph? i removed mine as i thought it was a problem

 

[rdd1952]

Dechlorinators should not have any effect on pH. Most all wood though will lower pH, depending on the buffering capacity of your water. What fish do you currently have in the tank and what is your tank and tap pH? Also, do you know the KH & GH of your tap water?

 

[discodave]

Dechlorinators should not have any effect on pH. Most all wood though will lower pH, depending on the buffering capacity of your water. What fish do you currently have in the tank and what is your tank and tap pH? Also, do you know the KH & GH of your tap water?

hey, well i only have 1 adf left in my tank due to a betta and another ADF dying going to get new fish this weekend provided the Ph is back to normal!

I don't have anything to measure KH and GH sorry, how would i find that out? M

My tap water PH 7.2 is and my tank PH currently is 6.0

Cheers
Dave

 

[rdd1952]

You can take a water sample to the fish store and they should be able to test the KH & GH for you. I imagine the wood has lowered the pH to the point that only a big water change will get it back up. I don't know how ADFs handle pH changes so I don't know if it's wise to do one or not.