Back with pH issues again

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zanytomato

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Jul 31, 2007
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Vancouver
Hi everyone!

Sorry this is so long... kindly bear with...

Just got back from Australia. My parents did an okay job looking after the aquarium while I was gone (sadly I don't know any fish people in the area), but I did end up losing my pleco. :(

My best guess is that he responded to the pH problems that continue to plague me.

Awhile back I posted that the water in my building was coming out of the tap around 5 all of sudden, down from around 6.6. I got everyone's advice and was able to get everything stabilized again. A few months later it slowly returned to the previous 6.6 and didn't change again. When I left for Australia it hadn't changed one bit in several weeks, which I took as a good sign.

However! On getting home and testing all my levels, my pH is now 7.8 and coming out of the tap at 8!! This is what I think did my poor pleco in. I was gone for 2.5 weeks, and my parents did 2 water changes for me of about 30 percent, each a week apart.

I tested my hardness as well... KH and GH hardness have both been at 0-1 since I started the tank 6 months ago. I had added some crushed coral to stabilize things (about a half cup gradually), which seemed to help a tiny bit, but it never got over 2 or 3 for the KH. Today I just tested it and the KH is 0, and the GH is 11! How on earth did it get to 11 while I was gone?? I'm so baffled.

All of my other levels are fine... 0/0/<5 The fish seem fine, too.

Right before I left I had two minor disasters... my heater quit and my filter quit (cheap starter kit, sigh). I replaced the heater (works great!) and the filter with an AquaClear (with the ceramic layer, carbon, and sponge). The water looks terrific and it seems to be pulling out so much junk.

In the tank I have two small pieces of driftwood for my pleco, the crush coral mentioned above (no longer fits in the back of the filter, so I put it in the back of the tank), and a fair few plants (heavily planted).

That's about all the information I can think of... anyone have any advice on what to do about the ph? Just pick a ph to stay at and have all the supplies on hand to manually adjust it before water changes? It's so frustrating... I have no explanation for why it keeps changing out of the tap! And I miss my pleco.

Thanks everyone....


-zt.
 

davexstumpe

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Mar 8, 2007
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the crushed coral could definately raise your pH, and hardness as well.

If you leave the crushed coral in, i don't see the pH going below 7 .
 

zanytomato

AC Members
Jul 31, 2007
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Vancouver
Yeah, I knew it would raise it... but it just seems strange as I've had that crushed coral in there for about 4 months, unchanged. The jump in the GH happened only in the last 2.5 weeks.

Additionally the ph change is from the tap, not the tank (which is why it's so annoying, because it keeps changing).

I'm so confuzzed.
 

zanytomato

AC Members
Jul 31, 2007
357
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46
Vancouver
It tests right out of the tap at 8, and after about 24 hours is about 7.8 or so.

I'm just not sure what is best to do. Clearly I can't simply go with tap water... I'll have to be treating it to match what is in my tank as it fluctuates so much.
 
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