Looking for longterm PH solution.

[fishe]

In my 29 gallon the ph from the tap is about 7.0 but by the time the week is over it dips to around 6.0 and then back up to about 6.8 after a water change and then keeps going back down, i want to keep it at about 6.6 ish. How can i keep it from dropping? I add baking soda like once a month but this stresses out the fish, im looking for a longterm solution to keep the ph steady.


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[spike38]

What's in the aquarium. Rocks? Substrait?
Limestone will raise the PH
My 150gl stays about 6.5.
I use pea gravel, And a bio filter

Spike

 

[Kujiraya]

Firstly, understand why pH keeps dropping over time? Could be too much fish? Too much tannins from driftwood? Not sufficient filtration? Inadequate gas exchange? More frequent water change? Unsuitable substrate? Substrate too deep creating naerobic pockets? Of course, fix any and all these problems first.

Check KH / GH...if too low, can add crushed oyster shell, crushed coral, limestone pebble, real pearls in sunken treasure themed decor, etc, to increase buffering capacity to keep pH stable.

 

[fishe]

Its a planted tank with eco complete substrate, double filtered, not overstocked cuz all i have is 3 hatchetfish, and a one inch pleco, i just added a piece of driftwood that i know just makes it worse, ( but i need it for the pleco). I cant find crushed coral anywhere, i have some old petrified coral laying around, will that work? I recently re did the tank but this problem happened in the old setup too, im getting some rare wc fish in a couple of weeks so id like to solve the problem before that, thx for the help


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[Gill Blue]

did you run eco-complete in that set-up as well? I got acidic water and lots of algae with it. I pulled it out and switched to colorquartz. no more problems.

 

[fishe]

No, before i had sand, same problem


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[Kujiraya]

OK not know about planted tank here but suspect CO2 / HCO3- and CO3-- balance in your tank favoring towards side of low pH. Using fertilizer / CO2? If using CO2, can use CO2 system keep pH stable? Hope plant tank expert give more advice.

Also, if want even more stable pH, rather than pH go up approaching 7.0 every time you add water from tap, can try adjust water from tap first to desired pH (or maybe to pH little bit higher than pH you want in tank, to compensate for tank pH too low), before adding water to tank, so keep pH more stable, less overshooting what you want, then come down over week, then overshoot again, etc. However, this not help prevent your tank pH dropping bit by bit over week, hmm...

 

[fishe]

No co2 or ferts, once the ph drops to about 6 the fish start to get affected by it, and after i re ajust it it takes them almost a full day to recover


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[Kujiraya]

If using idea to pre-treat tap water make it pH similar to what you want in tank, then be VERY careful which chemical you use to lower pH. Too many "pH down" treatments, especially ALL cheap brand ones and even many expensive brand ones, are phosphate / phosphoric acid based. Even SeaChem Discus Buffer is phosphate based! Do not use phosphate / phosphoric acid based!! Because phosphate will encourage algae to bloom, smothering and killing all plants all decoration all everything all everywhere!! SeaChem Acid Buffer is NOT phosphate based, so can use this. Or, just use dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) is good and cheap for big tank!

 

[knifegill]

It's normal. Your tap is either degasing and losing its temporary hardness, or your GH is so low that biological reactions eat it all up right away. Add 1/4 cup crushed coral per 5 gallons, and replace every six months or so when the buffering is gone from it. Add the coral very gradually, like over the course of a week, and check the pH the next day to see how high it got.


A little hardness goes a long way. You can still do 50% water changes and the fish won't care, in my experience. Especially if you add just enough crushed coral to raise it to the artificial pH of your tap. Unless you're trying to breed wild altums, this solution should suffice. It's what I do, and it's good for everybody, from my softwater amaz0n fish to my hardwater livebearers. It's stable, that's the goal.

Edit: VigLink turned my word into a commercial.

Edit: Is NOTHING sacred?!