pH leve at 6.0 in betta tank dropped alot

[HarusGirl]

Hey there, i have a ?. My 6g betta tank has been testing at 7.0ph since May when i started it. tonight it is at 6.0. i just did a 25% H20 change and changed the filter. i changed hte filter last 2 wks ago. i dont understand. there are are no real plants i the tank.

inhabitants are Haru my betta and his harem of 5 glofish.

please tell me what to do. shoudl i completely change the water and start again???/ or should i jsut let it be. they seem ok, swimming about and eating........:confused::confused: thanks,

[stephstar]

I would not completely change the water. Do another water change tomorrow, 50%, let it sit for a couple of hours and test again.
Did you do anything different with your filter?

[HarusGirl]

no, same filter the K filters, i bought 2 weeks ago. i just dont want them to get sick or anything worse :(

[avionics30]

Did you change your water source? Tap water in San Diego, CA has a Ph of about 8.4 right out of the tap. If you use bottled water from the store, the Ph may be different due to KH an GH in the water. Your Ph is base on the KH of the water. The higher the KH the higher the Ph. You can add a pinch of baking soda to the tank. This will increase the KH and you should see a rise in your Ph. Don't add too much too quickly as to spike your Ph.

[HarusGirl]

Really? a pinch of baking soda?
i didnt change the source, same NYC tap water with conditioner. And i only replaced about 25%.

[HarusGirl]

thanks i will do the water change tomorrow and then if it doesnt work, put in the pinch of baking soda.

[Star_Rider]

how often do you do water changes?

low pH is not always a bad thing.

pH is determined by carbonates in the water.

or kh.

gh is probably a bit more important.

but a dropping pH may indicate a problem in the tank.

adding baking soda may only mask another issue.(see question above)

[SchizotypalVamp]

1) When you say change the filter, did you keep the cartridges/stuff inside? Or did you throw it away? Or did you mean that you changed the cartridge.

2)How often do you change your water?

3)What are your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

4) Five goldfish?! These are messy fish that grow from 10-12''...or larger. You are most likely experiencing an ammonia spike, which is deadly to the fish.

[Star_Rider]

glofish

[HarusGirl]

hi there, i change water about every 3 weeks. too much? too little? so change the water first thing tomorrow, should i do a 25% or shoudl i do a 50%. am thinking 50%. what do you think?

[SchizotypalVamp]

Generally most people do 25% water changes every week, though it does depend on the tank(stocking, buildup of organic dissolved compounds, plants, etc). Depending on your KH, without water changes, your PH will crash at a certain point.

Lol, sorry about the "goldfish".

[HarusGirl]

i change the whole cartridge, and they are glofish. not goldfish.

GH 4 drops to turn the water green in the test tube
KH 1drop for the water to turn yellow, it never went to blue.
Ammonia 0ppm from the test kit
and the NH3 is safe (fresh tag hangs in tank)

the KH usually matches the GH at about 3 drops for it to turn the color of the test.
i know NYC has hard water.

what can i do now? thanks for all your help, i sure do appreciate this!!!!

[HarusGirl]

when i changed the water 2 hrs ago, there wasnt much debris in the vaccuum. but the walls i do notice are a little icky. not too noticeable but now that i am looking really hard. aaaggghhhh!!!!!!!!! thanks haru

[AshK]

:headshake2:

First things first: tank is way over stocked. I've said that before, but maybe it didnt sink in. Glofish, aka Zebra Danios, have NO place in a tank that small. You need to rehome them asap and only keep the betta. No other fish in that tank, just the betta.

Every single week you need to do a 25-30% water change, without fail. Since you have not been doing that, it is best for the tank to start doing smaller water changes more often than 1 giant water change. Do a 10% water change everyday for a week and then start doing weekly water changes after that. Make sure you treat the water with dechlorinator and match the temperature.

What type of filter do you have? If you have a hang-on-the-back filter, it is an awful idea to throw out the cartridges inside of the filter. When I mention "cartridge" I mean the fuzzy thing you put in the filter, it probably looks something like this:
http://www.aquatichouse.com/FILTRATION%20MENU_files/ML%20cartridges.gif
When you throw it out, you discharge a large amount of the beneficial bacteria keeping your tank stable. From now on, when you do your weekly water changes just rinse the gunk off the cartridge in the old tank water from your water change. Do not rinse it in tap water. Put the same cartridge back in the filter. Look into getting some filter floss or suitable sponges you can use to eventually replace the cartridge.

[SchizotypalVamp]

NH3 is ammonia, what is the nitrite? What type of test kit are you using?

Changing the whole cartridge is bad, it will cause the tank to recycle, which is extremely dangerous to the fish. Generally, it's best to soak the cartridge in old tank water to clean it, and only replace when it's falling apart.

The more stable KHs are around 4 and up, but regular water changes will most likely solve your problem.

[HarusGirl]

what happened? i wrote back and then it didnt make it on to the board.
I change the water every 3 wks and have been doing that for 5 months, never been a problem. should it be changed more often, no problem.

ok tested the ammonia that was in the safe zone 0ppm according to the test tube and 8 drops of testing. and the hanging NH3 tester in the tank says its safe.
the GH and KH
KHwas only 1degree of dKH as the solution went from clear to yellow after one drop
the dGH was in the 3 to 6 degree range, which says suitible for most tropical fish.

anything else i can look at??

[HarusGirl]

OK, i will start with teh water changes, and not throw away the filter. bad info from the petland disc shop....

ok will move the danios to another tank.

I dont have a tester for Nitrite. will get one tomorrow.

the ammonia test is a kit and i also have an ammonia monitor in the tank.
thanks

[HarusGirl]

and the filter is the third from the top of your pictures. i have always replaced it. every 2 weeks. again. bad info to the newbie. now i know. thanks

[SchizotypalVamp]

Sometimes the board hiccups :/. The hanging ammonia testers are generally not reliable. I found this out from personal experience and from asking others on the board(was angry at the wasted money..). Is your ammonia test kit a liquid drop test kit?
GH is good.
Thanks for listening! It's what makes posting on these boards worthwhile.

[HarusGirl]

the ammonia kit is a liquid drop
thanks all of u guys for the helpl :)