Eddieb Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hi, title says it all really. 90 litre 3 foot tank, been running for a year now, 85 x 30 x 40 cm. Current stock 7 neon Tetra's, 4 glowlight Tetra's, 4 Golden Barbs, 8 various striped and spotted Danio's, 2 Bristlenose, 7cm & 5cm. Nothing new added in the last 4 months or so. Jebo external filter been running for about 3 months stocked with standard media as included in the original box, was running in parrallel with my hang on back filter for 6 weeks to bed it in. Half a dozen plastic plants, 2 plastic logs, 1 plastic rocky outcrop ornament, 1 large piece of bog wood, ~4-5 cm of stones purchased from LFS, Riverstone I think?. Tap Ph 7.4 - 7.6 and seems consistent in this range. 25-30% water changes every ~10 days. I know my stocking is close to the limit for this tank size, depending on which calculator method I use I'm either pretty much on the limit or have about 8cms spare, however I wouldn't have expected a drop of 7.6 to 6? This has only been occuring in the last 2 months or so PH was stable before that. Any suggestions from the learned forum members? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 bog wood lowers the PH. What colour gravel is it? Any Peat in the filter tank etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieb Posted October 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 bog wood lowers the PH. What colour gravel is it? Any Peat in the filter tank etc... Bog wood has been there since day one with no previously seen effects. Does it get worse as it gets older? I notice the wood is getting pretty soft. The bog wood is L shaped, about 30cm long one length with 10cm the other No peat anywhere Gravel is gray with the occasional white vein in a very small amount of stones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 bog wood lowers the PH. What colour gravel is it? Any Peat in the filter tank etc... Sort of on the same subject I've heard before that wood lowers the pH. By how much?? Because I have a reasonably large piece of driftwood in my tank that has been there for the best part of 2 years and the pH is always about 7.4... and it comes out of the tap at 6.8-7.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Sort of on the same subject I've heard before that wood lowers the pH. By how much?? Because I have a reasonably large piece of driftwood in my tank that has been there for the best part of 2 years and the pH is always about 7.4... and it comes out of the tap at 6.8-7.0 it is not just the wood other things in the tank comes into it too. have you got light or dark gravel as that affects the PH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Have you measured the kh of your water out of the tap? It basically equates to the waters stability or ability to keep the ph the same.. Your water may come out of the tap at a ph of 7.4 but if the kh is low it will fluctuate. Things like your bog wood can lower the ph. Fish in general will also lower the ph with the waste they produce. Is your tank a steady ph of 6? If so and the fish are happy I wouldn't mess with it.. I don't measure the ph's in my fish tanks unless things go wrong and have all manner of things breeding it in, as long as the fish are happy and its not extreme it doesn't really matter. If you really want to mess with it, then you need to add something to buffer the water you can add baking soda to your water as you add it start with 1tbs for a water change disolve it and add it slowly see if that fixes it.. Another alternative (what I would do) is to add something to the tank that will buffer it (coral/crushed coral sand/argonite/sea shell's/limestone..) Add a very small amount at a time until you achieve what you want, as if you add too much it will cause your ph to swing the other way.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 pH of 6 sounds ok for those fish, just acclimatise any new fish gradually. Or you could add a small amount of crushed coral to your filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Some reading.. Obviously its aimed at rift lakes but the explinations still stand.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/w ... mistry.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieb Posted October 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 pH of 6 sounds ok for those fish, just acclimatise any new fish gradually. Or you could add a small amount of crushed coral to your filter. The fish seem ok generally although I lost a neon earlier in the week, he was one of the originals though. It's more I want to understand why it's doing it, Ph was measured at 7 a month ago and had been stable at that for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 I would say it is doing it because your water has a low kh (maybe the council changed something in your water lately) and something in your tank is tending to make the ph acidic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 my water comes out the tap at 7.6 but the tank normally sits at about 6 - 6.2. If I want it higher I have to do water changes daily. My fish are happy at 6. A stable pH is better than one that goes up and down all the time. If your fish are happy at what it is just leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Uneducated opinion I had a lowish pH, around 6.4 - due to all the wood in my tank. So I got some seashells from the beach, white ones, and just threw them in the tank. So far they seem to have raised the pH to a healty 7.0 (plus the shell's sharp corners are smoothing off)... something to think about if you can't rectify the problem through science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo1 Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Add some oyster grit to your filter and that will raise the PH gradually and keep it there for quite some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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