pH Trouble?

N

nato435

AC Members
Oct 22, 2002
26
0
0
Fresno, CA
I just tested my pH and it is at a 6.2, do I need to worry? I currently have only 2 Silver Dollars in this 100 gallon tank. The tank has been operational for over three years and I have never seen a pH this low before (usually a 7.2-7.6) Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate is 20.

I am planning on taking out the Silver Dollars and turning this into a Cichlid or Discus Tank, but before I do just wanted to see if there was anything I should or can do about this low pH.

TIA
 
I learned to use test kits. they have a kit that measures kh and gh(carbonate hardness and general hardness)
my water runs around 7.2 + I tested the kh to 3 degrees of hardness and the gh is about 89.5+ (approx 5 degrees0
my pH is very stable and remains 7.2 in my tanks..and drops only in my CO2 injected tanks.

the kh helps you determine the stability of your pH.

In Seattle the water will test pH of 7.4 from the tap but 24 hrs later will show lower pH..the city adds buffers to the water to make it less acidic(helps reduce erosion of the pipes)

you can raise the pH by adding crushed sea shells/coral in a bag and place that in the filter..keep an eye on the pH when you do this.(I'm sure someone else can give you more information on this)
 
How often do you check for Ph? The reason I ask is I am wondering if this is a sudden drop or something that has taken a while to happen.

Usually, I would say that as long as the Ph is above 5.5 and below 9, most fish can acclimate to the change and be healthy as long as it isnt changing real quickly which can shock the fish.

If this is going to stay at 6.5, then it might be a great Discus tank.

Have you added anything to the tank recently or any changes been made?

What type of substrate are you using?

Do you have drift wood in the tank?

Do you have any rocks in the tank (other than substrate)?

Star_rider is right, knowing the Gh and Kh is good because it will tell you how well the water is going to keep its current Ph and how much you will be able to change or buffer it. I believe the lower the Kh, the easier it is for the water to change Ph.

Try putting some baking soda in the tank and see if the Ph changes a lot, a little, or not at all. This will give you an idea of the waters ability to change Ph without having to do a Kh/GH test. I would still get one though so you can be more precise later on. The baking soda will have the same effect as using coral in your filter or substrate.

Like I said, just dont try to change the Ph too quickly or all at once so your fish have time to adjust.
 
how often have you been doing water changes? if you've been doing less than about 50 % weekly along with gravel vacuuming, your nitrate will slowly turn into nitric acid and lower your pH. i'd suggest increasing your frequency and volume of water changes to the above, and perhaps add some crushed coral to the gravel as a buffer. coral is esssentially CaCO3 and the carbonate will buffer your pH against acid reduction, thereby stabilizing your pH.
 
I do about a 25-30% water change every other week. I'll have to check on the kh & gh not sure I have ever check those. For some reason I was under the impression that was only needed with live plants.

I have not added anything or changed anything in the tank for quite a while. Only change to note is that I stopped using the bio-chem zorb that I put into my Filstar XP3 and replaced it with regular coal from the same manufacturer.

Substrate is just gravel, no other rocks than that, no driftwood either. I'll be going to the store later today and I'll buy the other kits to get those numbers out and track them for a while. Try to post those by the end of today.



-Thanks
 
You call a pH of 6.2 in a tank that houses silver dollars and will eventually house discus "trouble?"

6.2 a great pH for silver dollars, discus and angels. You should actually be happy about it.
 
You call a pH of 6.2 in a tank that houses silver dollars and will eventually house discus "trouble?"
Click to expand...

it's not the ph that is the problem, it's the sudden change in ph when until now it had been stable at a higher level. a ph of 6.2 is no good for the discus if it is randomly going to change between 6.2 and 7.6
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom