keriboi Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 I have a 250lt tank. I water change 1-2 a week. Last change was %50 Tap water pH is 7.3ish 2 days after a change my pH has dropped to 6 or below(my test kit doesnt go any lower) I have one peice of driftwood but its had a couple of months in water now. I have some schist rocks Various fish as in my sig. Temp is sitting at 26 I use florish excell ever day. I cant work out why my pH keeps on dropping. FIsh seem happy but it scares me? tank below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 What's the substrate? Could it be that? What's the filter? Has it been cleaned recently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 filter is built in. cleaned often. its never been blocked. Substrate is a reddy small rock, got it from lfs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Is this the first time it's done this? Often you can get a low pH if your tank is overstocked (even with often water changes), but your tank doesn't look overstocked. I'd do another w/c and keep them up for a few days. Your tap water pH hasn't changed has it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 You also get ph swings if your kh is low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 stocking seems to be fine. tap is around 7.5 have tested kh, should I be ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Love your tank Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 Hmm... my first thought with pH dropping is driftwood, but a piece that size shouldn't make too much of a difference in that volume of water (unless it is rotting). My second thought is decomposing waste - either under the gravel or in the filter - but it doesn't look like that is an issue either. What effect does Flourish Excel have on pH? I know pH can drop dramatically in a soft-water tank if CO2 is added via other methods (ie injected from a tank or using a yeast reactor). Does anyone know if the available carbon in Flourish Excel might have a similar effect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 ph of 6 isnt bad in fact, it is beter in my opinion cos it ifyou have a amonia spike, its less harmfull or non lethal. in sayinig that, alot of our fish comes from asian waters and south america -so ph should be 6 ish to 7 anyways. africans you need 7.5 to 8 or more so 6 is not bad but i stabilised mine by putting oyster shells. just putit in a stocking bag, and put n the filter, this will stop it from going up and down so much. but if ts always 6 ish - unless the fish specifically needs 7 or more, i wouldnt worry i keep mostly arowanas and asian and south american fish - all requiring low ph so its handy for me. tanks tend to go low ph naturally unless you intervene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 yeah, im not to worried its just that its always sat at 6.6 and now all of a sudden its 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 ok, just went out and bought a kh/gh test kit so heres the results from my first test GH 60mg/L = soft KH Below 10 mg/L (oh dear) ????? so, this looks bad?? What should I do, i was in such a hurry in the shop i didnt ask any questions lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Your lucky Taupo water has a KH of 0-2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchKiwiCowboy2 Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Im in Manurewa and I have the same situation. My test results are exactly the same. They started at 6.6 and are now at or below 6.0. I was a bit worried about it at first but it doesn't really bother me anymore. The fish are doing allright and (almost) perfect pH is only necessary if you're trying to breed. The oyster shell trick might work if you want to try it but since I've only got a 60 ltr tank and a 110 ltr tank i'm not too worried about it at the mo. That said I'm moving to Tuakau in a month and a half so I'll be keeping a closer eye on it to start with once I'm out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 ********** PROBLEM SOLVED ************************ Thanks for the help guys. KH was my problem. Hollywood albany sold me some KH Booster Got my KH up and now my ph seems to be hang around 6.8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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