pH drop = x.x clown loach

[DeLgAdO]

Something is making my pH drop like 1 everyday in my 150 gallon tank. and ive been adding pH + everyday, but thats only slowing it down.did a 30% waterchange today, and it didnt come up. its now at 6.3 i already lost 4 clown loaches probably due to that wats happenin?? help

how often do you change water?

what else is in the tank?

 

[JD7.62]

Your tank is still cycling and that is causing the swings. It takes 6-12weeks to get a tank cycled and even then its still young and can still have swings.

 

[DeLgAdO]

Your tank is still cycling and that is causing the swings. It takes 6-12weeks to get a tank cycled and even then its still young and can still have swings.

an uncycled tank should not cause a drop in pH

an uncycle tank will not lower the ph, but a cycled tank over time with a nice colony of BB bacteria will. bacteria produce the acids that drive down the pH as they oxidize ammonia and nitrite.

 

[JD7.62]

I thought high levels of ammonia and or nitrite could cause swings in pH?

I test customers water everday where I work and its very common to see some strange pH readings when a tank is cycling. Our tap is 7.8 and 99.9% of my customers fill up their tanks with tap water. If an cycling a tank doesnt cause swings then what does when your water is as hard as a rock and has good buffering capability?

 

[DeLgAdO]

I thought high levels of ammonia and or nitrite could cause swings in pH?

I test customers water everday where I work and its very common to see some strange pH readings when a tank is cycling. Our tap is 7.8 and 99.9% of my customers fill up their tanks with tap water. If an cycling a tank doesnt cause swings then what does when your water is as hard as a rock and has good buffering capability?

there are too many vairable and unknown factors to determine, it would be impossible to know for certain.

 

[DeLgAdO]

I thought high levels of ammonia and or nitrite could cause swings in pH?

I test customers water everday where I work and its very common to see some strange pH readings when a tank is cycling. Our tap is 7.8 and 99.9% of my customers fill up their tanks with tap water. If an cycling a tank doesnt cause swings then what does when your water is as hard as a rock and has good buffering capability?

if you have ammonia and nitrite in your tank during cycling, your fish die, and your thinking it was a due to a pH swing.............

cmon use your fish keeping common sense!........

 

[DeLgAdO]

I've kept clown loaches at a 6.4 pH without problem, so I dought the lower pH is the problem, unless it is a drastic swing. Best if ya provide as much info as you can, the more info provided, the better the chance of someone here helping you otu.

What are all your water parameters? Amonia, nitrites, nitrates, Gh & KH.
What is your filtration system?
What type fish? Size & how many?
How often and how much do you feed your fish?
How is your tank decorated, substrate and decor?

Answer these best you can, the Mfk members will help ya out.

also if his pH is 6.4 he shouldnt have an ammonia problem since ammonia is still in its ammonium form in the 6.0-7.0 range

 

[GregB]

How long ago did ya add the driftwood? could it be leaching into the tank and causing issues? Is it real wood or fake stuff? 8)

 

[pupumole]

confusing... ph at 6, nitrate nitrite n amonia at 0 now...the driftwood was added like a week ago... and i just did like a 15% water change. and added more ph+(not working). Went to the LFS today, and they told me to add some rocks. Those rock r pinkish brown white marble-ish looking ... they told me itll help with ph +... so i got some of em and put it in the wet/dry. hope those rocks work... thanks

 

[bigspizz]

This is just me,....but after alot of research like a couple months just on buffering capacity,kh, alkalinity (has no relation to alkaline) I found this out to buffer water with low alkalinity just add a lil sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) like a quarter teaspoon per 50 gallons (VERY SMALL AMOUNT) it buffered my water i was able to raise and hold my p.h. My fish have been healthy bright very colerfull! No sicknesses you get the picture. I'm sure someone will read this and say noooooooooooo! but I'm tellin you try it in a sterile container your 5 in 1 does test for this on the comparison chart it will be the green shade that has been blank every time you have tested. when you do this it will turn green. the dose I recomended is very small and you can do it a couple times and watch it darken to the "ideal" range as listed on the comparison chart. In the test bucket just use a smidge to start to get results. Hope this helps worked for me!