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pH dropping to 6


keriboi

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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

img0392qk0.jpg

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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?

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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?

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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

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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.

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