Quite a peculiar situation, some input needed

[zoraak]

I have 4 angle fish about 1.5" in size in a 37g (US) tank. along with them are three 1.5" clown loaches. There is a small ambulia plant along with some java fern. The back glass and the sides are covered in a thin lyre of green algae, which i have deliberately left unclean. I do 20% water changes every week.

Now to the situation: i just checked the water stats and its quite peculiar.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 *

But,

ph has gone to 8.2 (my tap water ph is 7.5)

well, my immediate thought was that the plants and the algae are making short work of the nitrate, but since I don't have a carbon defuser and my tank is well aerated (I have an Emperor 280 filter) the plants and algae are breaking down the carbonate hardness of my water therefore this increase in the ph? I say that based on reading few books on aquarium plants.

My question is whether I should just leave the situation as it is (all the fish are fine) or should I do something about the ph to bring to 7.2-7.5... Is there anyway I can increase my carbonate hardness to buffer such swings?

... And what are some causes for increase in ph (I have nothing that could leach in the tank).?

 

[Teelie]

To buffer it would mean it'll almost certainly go high and stay high. Try to lower it with R/O or other purified water sources. That will lower the pH more gradually without any sudden changes or adjustments to shock the fish.

Your tank is also over stocked (or rather will be once those fish get closer to adult size) which will pose a bigger problem in the future than higher than normal pH. Most fish can adjust to pH too high or too low to their natural environment, they won't be able to adjust to a smaller than normal housing though.

 

[Fish Buddy]

To lower the pH, try adding more plants (depending on the lighting) and if you don't mind a 'tea coloured' look then add peat moss. Both options lower the pH ( plants are acidic and rocks are alkaline)
What kind of gravel do you have? And do you have any rocks in your tank?

 

[zoraak]

To lower the pH, try adding more plants (depending on the lighting) and if you don't mind a 'tea coloured' look then add peat moss. Both options lower the pH ( plants are acidic and rocks are alkaline)
What kind of gravel do you have? And do you have any rocks in your tank?

I have black colored gravel which I bought from LFS, it is suppose to be totally inert... I have a few pebbles (like beach pebbles) in the tank.

 

[Fish Buddy]

That doesn't sound too bad then. Do you have enough light and room for more plants then? That is the only thing that I can think of that really works to change the pH -organic matter. I find that the pH changers that you can buy in the store really don't do anything.

 

[zoraak]

That doesn't sound too bad then. Do you have enough light and room for more plants then? That is the only thing that I can think of that really works to change the pH -organic matter. I find that the pH changers that you can buy in the store really don't do anything.

I agree with you, my best is to go with more plants and parhaps a DIY C02 injector.

 

[cation]

Peat moss/ bogwood will naturally lower the pH.

 

[Fish Buddy]

Oh yea, I forgot about bog wood!

 

[zerothemouse]

Hi Everyone,

My guess would be that something in the tank is making the PH go up. If you don't have any decorative rocks I would suspect the gravel. My tap water has a PH of 8.2. I used to just have gravel with decorative rocks in my tank. After a few days the PH would drop a few points, which I think is normal.

Try to experiment with a bucket and some gravel before you tear the whole thing down. Leave some of the gravel your using in a bucket for a week and see if the PH still goes up. If it does, empty the bucket and try different gravel. Retest and see if you get a different reading. If you are using a test kit that comes with test tubes make sure you test the same way each time. Clean the vials the same way, measure the same way, rinse the same way. If you do anything different when you test it could throw off results.

I don't know if more plants will make the PH go down. I do know that the Peat or Bogwood will do the trick but the brown tint in the water may cut on the lighting to the plants. You could try RO water but if something in your tank is leaching minerals you'll still have the same problem.

mouse