What is affecting my PH????

[nshockeyplaya]

Hey guys everytime i try and get my ph to go up, it always goes back down to 6.0. I did a water change (my tap water is 7.0) and right after the reading was 6.4 and then the next day it went down to 6.0. What could be lowering it, and what do you think is the best way for me to keep it around 7

 

[FrAnK3333]

Whats in your tank? Live plants, and driftwood bring down ph.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

No live plants, and 1 piece of driftwood (been in there for about a month).

 

[WILDER]

Take a look here.
http/www.fishprofiles.net/faq/disease-fw.asp

 

[nshockeyplaya]

LOL that doesnt have anything to do with ph, thats just a list of diseases and preventing them.

 

[WILDER]

Ph is further down it tells you abit about low ph.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Okay so i shoul;d add baking soda?? IS KH the same as DH??

 

[WILDER]

Science isn't my thing sorry.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Does anyone else know what i should do, has anyone used baking soda before, and if you have will it affect the cycle, or ammonia, or nitrite, etc.?

 

[WILDER]

This might answer some of your questions.
http/www.aquariumsite.com/freshwater/chemistry.php

 

[reg2k2]

dH = degrees German hardness, a unit often used to measure KH & GH.

It's KH you want to measure. I personally use crushed coral, tho this can raise GH as well...mine's so low, don't matter. Baking sode shouldn't affect the levels you mention (I don't think), but does need to be added w/ each new addition of water.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Yes, but thats like reading japanese to me, i just want my ph to ber a stable 7.0 or around there, and was wondering if i should use baking soda to do this. or will it just go back down?? Im at the end of my cycle so would baking soda screw that up???

 

[nshockeyplaya]

I have crushed coral, would that raise my ph??? MY ph of the tap is 7.0 ythats why i dont get why its 6.0

 

[Paul_MTS]

don't worry about it, if your geting any sensitive fish take some time adjusting them to your PH.

but i would dream to have PH that low. Mines at 8.4 with a tap of 7.3 this is because there's alot of water movement and aeration from my sump plumbing and O2 raises PH, by pushing all CO2 out of the water which lowers PH.

 

[reg2k2]

Yes, what you're likely experienceing is 'pH crash'...maybe search this.

It will raise the KH, and in turn, raise pH. Do check your KH first.

I was getting readings of 6.0 also before adding the coral.
I believe the 'break' for coral is 7.6, but as a rule my tank's read 7.0...I had readings maybe 7.2-7.6 in between, but was doing many tiny wc's for a while (tap's 8.0). Just checked....7.0.