Would Like To Know More About Ph

[BobRivers]

Hello,

The fish in my tank were looking extremely stressed this morning so I done a couple of checks and noticed my Ph had fallen from 7.00/7.20 (which it has been for 18mths) to 6.00 I have Tinfoils and Balas I also have a Red Tail Black Shark, its tail was almost white (quite alarming)

I have added coral as In the past was told this would raise the Ph.

I was looking for more info on Ph to find out why this occurs any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Squidman]

The Ph is the acid in the water. Fish such as african cichlids demand a Ph of 7.5 to 8.0. not every fish have the same requirements though.

 

[BobRivers]

I understand that part Squidman, what i don't understand is why after such a long time does the Ph fall?

Is it purely down to the last water change that was done that my tap water in some way has got more acidic or are there other issues that can cause this?

 

[celaeno]

ph falls over time if you fail to do weekly water changes and/or if your kh is low (less than 4 degrees).

 

[k.o.d]

pH is the logarithmic scale for the availability of h+ ions in the liquid ( potential hydrogen )

The pH is the measure of the amount of ions present with pH1 being acid and pH 14 being alkali.

What you are more interested in the the buffering effect of dissolved solids in the water to counterract the drop in pH due to fish breathing living and excreting in the water they live in.

In streams etc the pollutants are washed away, in ponds or lakes the pollutants are diluted via size, rainfall and streams/rivers running into them
If you have bogwood, or worse mopani wood in the water then it leaches out tannic acids which will drive the pH down

When fish breathe, excrete and generally live in the aquarium, the products will drive the pH down, if you have pure water, this would be driven down rapidly due to the waters inability to withstand any changes, this is the buffering capacity of the water, this is why hard water ( where there is a lot of dissolved solids such as carbonates ) has a relatively high buffering capacity than soft water where there is little dissolved solids

Adding buffering capacity to the water helps, this is why people add oyster shell or coral gravel as part of the media as it will slowly dissolve leaching solids into the water and maintaining the pH, you have to remember some fish do not like hard water though

Regular water changes will keep the parameters stable.

Steve