Wood Added Please Help

[owen.h.lewis]

Hi all,
I have just added an imported magrove root to my tank, i have boiled it, soaked it etc done everything i need to do.

Lately my water has been a bit weird in its parameters.

The last i checked (pre wood) they were:

P.H: 6.4
Ammonia = .25
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10 - 20
GH degree: 4

I keep guppies, an angel fish, and some platties.

The tank just had a large 40 - 50% water change and I treated the water with biotopol & another thing.


Is my PH too low? Can i use my "PH Up' product to increase it slowly? or possible a ph tablet?

Are my water parameters ok? I assume the wood will bring my ph down so i will try my best to keep it as close to 7.0 as possible.

I have never had ph issues or any other water issues so really need some help on this one.

The fish look ok at the moment, i am at work so as soon as i get home i will try and raise the ph.

 

[waterdrop]

I forget, you're fish-in cycling, right? ..would make sense re the ammonia level.

The angel will enjoy the 6.4 and the guppies and platies won't care. The important thing is that pH be relatively stable and not swing way up and down, has that been the case?

If your tap water has a higher pH then more frequent water changes will be a double win I would think in that not only will ammonia be diluted but the pH will be raised a bit too and the gravel clean will tend to reduce the tendency for the pH to fall.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[owen.h.lewis]

I forget, you're fish-in cycling, right? ..would make sense re the ammonia level.

The angel will enjoy the 6.4 and the guppies and platies won't care. The important thing is that pH be relatively stable and not swing way up and down, has that been the case?

If your tap water has a higher pH then more frequent water changes will be a double win I would think in that not only will ammonia be diluted but the pH will be raised a bit too and the gravel clean will tend to reduce the tendency for the pH to fall.

~~waterdrop~~

Hi Waterdrop,
I was going to cycle on a new tank, this is my existing tank that i have. I have re-designed it, and now have the following fish:

4 x neon tetras
2 x glowlight tetras
1 x angelfish
1 x guppy
1 x platty
6 x guppy fry (at last count)



I did a massive water change when i redesigned the plants etc, and only added wood last night.

Pre-wood you can see my results, the only thing i am worried about is the ammonia being .25 and the ph being low at 6.4.

I am worried that the wood will reduce my ph further, so could i just get one of those PH tablets and drop it in the tank so that it neutralises it all?

I will test my tap water tonight and post on this thread, along with my latest results.

I appreciate your opinions

 

[waterdrop]

You're probably just having a blip because of the large water change where the debris in the gravel got stirred up. It should be settled when you test today.

I would not use pH adjusters.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[drobbyb]

Agree with Waterdrop. pH chemicals generally do more bad than good. pH up and pH down are temporary and your pH will go right back where it was (especially if you have a low KH.)

It's more important to have a steady pH than a correct one.

 

[vinylman]

You may find the Angel takes a liking to those Neons. Please don't mess around with the ph; what if the shop runs out of the adjuster, or you can't get out for any when you need some?.