Crazy and unexplained ph crash

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
FINWIN

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
Dec 21, 2018
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Washington DC
Had a strange situation in one of the tanks. For the last 2 days Kong was acting strange, not eating and hiding. Then he stayed in his pot (he rarely stays there). No flashing, no clamped fins. But he turned pale and wouldn't move. So I immediately tested the water this morning. Had a ph crash so acidic it was off the chart (neon bright yellow). I was like WTF...tank was clean, no poop or detrius. Nitrite 0, Nitrate less than 5. Scratching my head on this one, unless the water conditioners alter ph? Any amount I put in I add some. But Baking Soda is your best friend, I keep it on tap. I made a one gallon solution with 3/4 cup Baking Soda. Poured in in...as soon as it dissolved Kong came right out of his pot, colored up, fins out, and is perfectly normal now like nothing happened. Water in my area ranges around the 7.8 - 8 ph so I am clueless as to what happened here. Tank size 40 gallon. W/C for everyone is tomorrow on schedule. Boo boop bee doop.

Is it possible too much dechlor can cause this?
 
Did you retest the tap water? Maybe something happened prior to water reaching you?
 
When was the last water change done on this tank?
 
With those hardness levels and your water change schedule, not sure why the pH would crash. Perhaps the municipality added something to the water?
 
spotfin said:
With those hardness levels and your water change schedule, not sure why the pH would crash. Perhaps the municipality added something to the water?
Click to expand...

Don't know...we've had a lot of rain and runoff recently (I'm on a hill) don't know if they added something extra to the water for sterilization. But the baking soda did the trick, Kong is completely normal and eating like a hog again. It's why I wondered if water declorinators could do that in higher concentrations.
 
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