I was talking to my LFS today and we were talking about PH, She told me that because we live in scotland we have quite soft water but thats also a cause of a sudden drop of PH. I've had a issue with a massive drop in my PH which in turn is really bugging my corys. The LFS suggested I look into coral to make it even/stable. Is this something I could look into?
Uneven Ph
- Thread starter techen
- Start date
scotty
Fish Herder
why would you say it is bugging your corys,the water in my tank has a low ph and corys are fine.
i would definately not put coral in,do you have bogwood in your tank as that will lower the ph aswell.
i would definately not put coral in,do you have bogwood in your tank as that will lower the ph aswell.
I have driftwood and am unsure the other is bogwood. It may well be. One of my corys are freaking out lately, hitting the glass, trying to leave the water and we believe it to be related to the massive drop in PH level.
One of the problems with soft water systems is that the hardness tends to keep the pH at a certain level. Without it the pH tends to swing more easily with natural acids and such like.
This is great news for the hard water keeper (although they have their own water issues) but doesn't mean the making the water harder is necessarily the solution, especially if you accidentally overcook the correction and end up with hard water.
Also, water changes become an issue with tampered with systems. You add coral, the pH rises, you water change, it drops again, then climbs during the week.
If you want to solve a pH crashing system then you need to look at the water going in, or decaying organics that are crashing the pH, and my old mantra, that anything you do to the water you need to be willing to keep doing.
This is great news for the hard water keeper (although they have their own water issues) but doesn't mean the making the water harder is necessarily the solution, especially if you accidentally overcook the correction and end up with hard water.
Also, water changes become an issue with tampered with systems. You add coral, the pH rises, you water change, it drops again, then climbs during the week.
If you want to solve a pH crashing system then you need to look at the water going in, or decaying organics that are crashing the pH, and my old mantra, that anything you do to the water you need to be willing to keep doing.
The corys and any fish would be very bothered by swings in the Ph.
The question is what's the Ph at the moment, have you tested ammonia and nitrItes because drop in Ph to a certain level can cause the good beneficial bacteria in the filter to die, so your fish could be double hitted by Ph swings and ammonia/nitrItes.
If the Ph is changing day to day without your intervention, I would go with the coral suggestion to keep it stable which is the most important thing. You can add a tiny ammount of crushed coral in a bag in the filter. If you are not satisfied with the result, put a bit more eventually but do it gradually so the Ph rise doesn't shock and kill the fish. Don't put too much as the Ph will shoot through the roof. Monitor your ammonia and nitrIte and make sure these are 0, otherwise the rising Ph will make the ammonia more toxic to the fish and kill them in turn.
The question is what's the Ph at the moment, have you tested ammonia and nitrItes because drop in Ph to a certain level can cause the good beneficial bacteria in the filter to die, so your fish could be double hitted by Ph swings and ammonia/nitrItes.
If the Ph is changing day to day without your intervention, I would go with the coral suggestion to keep it stable which is the most important thing. You can add a tiny ammount of crushed coral in a bag in the filter. If you are not satisfied with the result, put a bit more eventually but do it gradually so the Ph rise doesn't shock and kill the fish. Don't put too much as the Ph will shoot through the roof. Monitor your ammonia and nitrIte and make sure these are 0, otherwise the rising Ph will make the ammonia more toxic to the fish and kill them in turn.
ColR1948
Fishaholic
Is it just the Cories that the PH is bothering, what I mean is if they were not in the tank are the other fish OK in soft water?
Sometimes it is easier to keep fish that are best in soft water rather than buffering but it is your choice but does it swing that much that you need to keep hardening it up any way?
Sometimes it is easier to keep fish that are best in soft water rather than buffering but it is your choice but does it swing that much that you need to keep hardening it up any way?
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