My ph
- Thread starter faststang1
- Start date
RadlyMiller brought up a good idea on another thread with the crushed shells. If you were to put them into a media back or some old panty hose and stuff that into the back of your filter it would help to raise the alkalinity along with the pH quicker. As for the salt, I dont think it will directly effect the pH enough to raise it, and it definatly wont effect alkalinity.
Don't use any additives or buffers they can be be dangerous, I think you need an increase in maintaince and water changes. A ph from 6.0-8.0 is fine the important thing is that it is consistant, and changes are minimal. I think your low ph is from organic waste loading, here's a few questions:
Whats the ph of your tap water?
Whats your maintaince route now?
What the rest of your water parmameters ie: ammonia,Nitrite, Nitrate?
Filter media used?
Whats the ph of your tap water?
Whats your maintaince route now?
What the rest of your water parmameters ie: ammonia,Nitrite, Nitrate?
Filter media used?
I would add some aragonite gravel if I were you, or you can add some crushed coral/shells to the filter box for buffering capacity. I have 25 lbs of coral in my tank, 60 lbs of lace rock, and 15 lbs of drift wood and pH is constantly 7.8 even after water changes and pH out of the tank is ~7.0
What is the pH of your tap water? Best bet is to keep your tank at the same. your fish will adapt to the pH. only reason to adjust is maybe if you are breeding.
If you do go the route of modifing your Ph, it is best to do Ph test before water change, after water change, mix your water and buffer in a seperate container(30 gallon rubbermaid trash can or similar) and test that water before added to the tank.
If always modifing pH of your tank, one simple mistake could be a disaster
If you do go the route of modifing your Ph, it is best to do Ph test before water change, after water change, mix your water and buffer in a seperate container(30 gallon rubbermaid trash can or similar) and test that water before added to the tank.
If always modifing pH of your tank, one simple mistake could be a disaster
I do 25% water changes a week.My ammonia,Nitrite, Nitrate were a little high but most of the time really low.I have 1liter bio in each canister and the rest is filter pads.My tap water is 7.2.I put half of the cichlid mix,I will put the rest in tonight.
I think you should go to 40-50 % water changes weekly, and let the tap water maintain your ph. Using buffers add additives can misfire if you make a mistake, and in most cases ph shock is fatal. Your ph is lowering because of high organic waste concentrations, more bio media like bio max will help and clean the foam or ploy filter media in your filter every couple weeks in the water you take out from the water change. With doing bigger water changes your ph will stabilize around 7.2 your tap water ph. I guess what I'm trying to say is the low ph isn't your problem, doing larger WC's will lower organics in the water and nitrates which affect the ph by lowering it. Arowana's are very dirty fish they make alot of waste and the bigger they get the more waste there is, more waste more water changes
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Aro's are alot of work, but well worth it
.
Good luck,
.Aro's are alot of work, but well worth it
.Good luck,
Man you should have ZERO ammonia and nitrites, think your main problem is your lack of filtration. Your filter may be rated for a 150 gallon tank, but that's not taking care of the bioload. That filter would be Ok if the Aro was the only fish in the tank. I would get more filtration as soon as you can.
Do 50% water changes weekly and your pH will take care of itself and be at what your tap is. with this much w/c you should be able to keep nitrates down around 20ppm
Do 50% water changes weekly and your pH will take care of itself and be at what your tap is. with this much w/c you should be able to keep nitrates down around 20ppm
