MY PH is weird..

J

Justlikeapill

AC Members
Oct 5, 2006
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I have well water and the PH is about 7.2-7.3

I use well water in my aquarium and I tested in. the PH of the aquarium is about 6.0! I have no peat, I use sand and shultz aquatic plant soil as a substrate, and have yet to add any chemicals. I don't use CO2

What's going on here? How is this possible? Could rocks make the water acidic?

I have rocks that I put in vinegar and they didn't bubble, So I figured they wouldnt make the ph go up, but could they lower the PH?

Is there such a thing as an acidic rock?

I use API test strips.
 
Oh yes. My well water has a GH of abour 50 PPM and a KH of about 80 PPM. My tank water is MUCH MUCH lower, almost NIL.

The tank is only a couple weeks old. Nitrite is around 0-.5 PPM and nitrate looks like about 7-10 PPM. I just put in a lot of plants yesterday.

Is this part of the cycling?
 
I think the likely cause has to do with water fresh out of the tap versus water that has aged a few days. I am not sure of the precise explaination, but it has to do with water from the tap having high O2 content. It takes the O2 a few days to gas off, slowly lowering and stabilizing the pH. (It could be CO2 not O2... I don't exactly remember)

BTW, I highly reccommend getting a liquid test kit instead of those strips. It will be a LOT more accurate.
 
I really don't understand it at all. I live in north Georgia where the red clay is. our well water is red before we filter it. We don't use a water softenor or anything, just in-line filters. no chemicals involved.

I have had freshwater fish using the well water just fine , but i'd still like to know what's going on. This is my first attempt with plants.
 
What can I do about it? Should I add baking soda? wouldn't that add sodium?

do I add it daily or after water changed or what?
 
A low pH is no problem for your fish as long as it is stable. So, it would probably behoove you to age your water in a container for 2-3 days before you add it to your tank. That will give the gas an opportunity to dissapate, and the pH a chance to level. Adding baking soda, or any other additive will only temporarily change the pH. It won't help you in the long term thus creating an unstable environment for your fish and more problems in the long run.

Also, usually large pH swings are only seen with pressurized CO2. I would personally be surprised if the Hagen system would greatly affect pH in an "average" sized tank. At least it doesn't seem to bother my tank.
 
Really? Well as long as I don't slack off with the maintenance of the hagen system then low PH isn't a problem right?

Should I add a few tablespoons of crushed coral or marble chips to the filter bag? That way it would be stable. I really wanted this planted tank to breed cherries in, primarily.
 
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