Please help PH increasing problem?

[Bamma]

Can someone help me out please? The problem i have is that my water was very clear the other day and when i tested my PH it was like 6.2 so the guy at the fish store told me i had to get it to 7.0 and to add this powder like stuff called PH increaser. I have been adding it a little at a time for the last couple days and now my PH is at 7.0 but i now have a different problem my water is very cloudy and it seems like my light colored gravel in the tank has like a dark kinda covering like their dirty almost look to it now. What can i do to get my water clear again and my gravel back to normal? Should i just wait it out or is there anything i can do? Thanks in advance.

[pinballqueen]

The fish-store guy has sold you something you don't really need.

Don't feel bad, we've all got a half-used bottle of something or other in our cabinets.

The best way to deal with a non-ideal ph is to put fish in your tank that like those water conditions, either that or find the source of the non-neutral ph and take care of it from there. Chemical intervention is usually a last resort.

Do you already have fish in your tank? If you do, the dirty gravel probably just means you need to do a partial water change, which you will need to do regardless...

The cloudy water is probably because you have added the equivalent of baking soda to your tank. Either that, or it's a bacterial bloom, which there isn't a lot you can do for that....

There's a lot of things which could be happening. Maybe if you were to give us the rest of your tank parameters, such as size, temperature, ammonia, the fish you have, etc., we could provide a little more advice....

[Bamma]

Thanks for the reply. My readings for nitrate etc. the guy at the store checked also he said those were all set but he said the PH was what i needed to raise. My tank is a 125 gallon with 2 eheim filters on each end. The temperature is about 78 degrees. The fish in the tank are a few blue and black neons,few lemon tetras,zebra danios,tiger barbs,cherry barbs/albino barbs, and a few small cat fish. The tank was setup before i put these fish in with convicts and dempseys but i sold them to the fish store because i wanted to switch it up. The tank was running for like a year with the convicts and stuff and has been running for like a month with these fish. The cloud in the tank seems like it has a whitish tint. Also that covering on the bottom seems like maybe it is just that powder that settled on the bottom maybe because when i move the gravel the rocks underneath are clean and normal colored. What do ya think is the best thing for me to do?Thanks in advance.

[pinballqueen]

It sounds like you're going through a mini-cycle. That would explain the milky water. My advice is to do a water change of about 30% or so (enough to clean out the gravel if you're using a gravel vac...). If you don't have a gravel vacuum, stir up the bottom with your hands or a net and try to get as much of the gunk out as you can. Don't get too gung-ho and empty the tank, though! Just do this every few days, and things should start looking more normal. Adding a little crushed coral to your existing gravel should help with your ph issues, but like I said earlier, it is always preferable to pick fish that suit the environment than to try to alter the water conditions to suit the fish...

[Bamma]

I tested my regular tap water that i use and it is like 6.4 PH. Would the fish i named be able to survive that or do ya have any suggestions on fish that are suited to that PH? My convicts survived pretty good and seemed happy.

[pinballqueen]

6.4 isn't too bad at all. It could be worse, my tap ph is 7.8.... limits me a lot on what I can and can't keep without some really harsh intervention when dealing with freshwater...

I would say that if you haven't lost a bunch of fish already, chances are they can handle the ph just fine. Ph shock would've left you with a lot of dead fish by now if they had a problem with it....

[JSchmidt]

I agree that the pH increaser you were sold is unnecessary. Most fish will do fine in your water, and you may find some of the low-pH, soft water fish (like many species of tetra) will do very well in your water. Attempting to change pH, and the resultant swings in pH, are much more stressful to your fish.

Your lesson for the week: Never, never trust what the LFS person tells you, particularly if it involves purchasing something to solve your problem. Some LFS workers are quite learned when it comes to fish, but the majority are not (IME). Most have little clue as to how to keep fish healthy over the long term, and they almost always have something, usually at $5-10 a bottle, to sell you. Resist the temptation to accept their simple explanation! Come here, tell us the problem, and you'll get a number of responses. It will save you money and aggravation!

HTH,
Jim