pH balance

[Lspooky4]

Hi there, as some of you know I'm taking care of my boyfriend, Gooda's fish while he's gone. The 210's pH is usually about 6.9-6.7, but it looks like its sitting slightly lower than that, at about 6.5 or 6.4. I've done a 50%+ water change and that didn't bring it up. Is this a significant enough difference to cause acidosis? What other suggestions to raise that pH again, I've heard its bad to use chemicals becuase that risks a jumping pH.

Thanks,
Lindsey

 

[Vitaliy]

pH only has a dramatic difference on wild caught fish, as far as captivity raised fish.. it almost means nothing to them and most should be able to tolerate this no problem. It does not matter how many water changes you will do if your tap pH is low, which appears to be so.

You are right, it is not safe to use those chemicals that they sell in pet stores to stabilize the pH. What I have done in the past was simply drop a little crushed coral in the tank, or at times I would even take a small piece of coral and just throw it in there and it maintained the pH no problem.

Perhaps someone has a better suggestion.

 

[guppy]

Ih you are worried you could drop in some oyster shell or clam shells after boiling them clean. They will help bring the tank to neutral ph but won't go overboard like commercial preparations do, I would go with clams myself to avoid the sharp edges that oystershells have.

 

[Ornatapinnis]

How was the ph being maintined at 6.7-6.9 originally?

Test your tap water to see what it's ph value is, if it's in the 6.7 to 6.9 range, continue to do small water changes untill you achieve the results your looking for. It is common that ph values drop in aquariums due to the acids associated with food and waste braking down, keep the pre filters clean, vacuum the gravel often to keep debris minimal.

What is acidosis?

 

[xrtg]

here in singapore we use coral chips. place them in your filter and it can either stabilize your pH or increase your pH. usually we use our judgment and slowly increase the amount of coral chip to get the desired pH level.

 

[Lspooky4]

The tank was in a different house when the pH was higher, we had to move the tank when my boyfriend left.