One more thing to add.. And I believe i did this when the ph was already being low was I removed the carbon bag out of the rena as I read it could cause hole in the head in blood parrots. The rena has the 3PPI foan in the bottom, the second tray is filled with fio chem starts and ceramic rings nad the top try is microfiltration pad.
pH keeps dropping to 6.0
- Thread starter MichelleL
- Start date
Baking soda is the easiest way to increase kh, which is the buffering capacity of your water. Buffers resist changes in pH.
thanks very much. I Guess the bottom line is I'm going to have to add something. I use to add a bit of salt into the tank when i first started fish keeping... till I learned it is not good for pleco's at all. I kinda thought I would have to add a buffer to the water. I still just wish i knew why the difference in the tank. Thank you for all your responses. 
MichelleL;3204596; said:thanks very much. I Guess the bottom line is I'm going to have to add something. I use to add a bit of salt into the tank when i first started fish keeping... till I learned it is not good for pleco's at all. I kinda thought I would have to add a buffer to the water. I still just wish i knew why the difference in the tank. Thank you for all your responses.
This is quite common.
Closed biological systems will generally acidify over time (sometimes quite rapidly) due to the following:
1. Generation of CO2 by fish and bacteria, which then reacts with water to form carbonic acid.
2. Release of various organic acids by fish and bacteria.
The water in the tank generally has limited KH, which is often quickly overwhelmed by the biologic activity.
I would recommend that you buffer your change water with some sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and add another aliquot mid-week to prevent the pH drop. This is the cheapest and easiest method to counteract the pH drop. It probably won't take much...maybe 1-2 teaspoons to stabilize the pH...but you'll have to determine. Be careful with the sodium bicarbonate...a little will go a long way.
MichelleL;3204524; said:
yes i know its freshwater, mine is too! one whole basket in my FX5 is crushed coral. 2 lbs should be good for u
use a paint strainer bag to hold the crushed coral. you could use baking soda but i prefer the crushed coral method.
i don't have to add anything... once its added ur all set, done! with baking soda u have to add it after each water change.
crushed coral raised and stabilized everything for me, i owe my fishes life to it!
it will raise ur PH, ur KH and GH!! crushed coral contains extremely high amounts of calcium carbonate. its also very porous so it makes alright bio media as well..
p.s. i wouldn't use activated carbon...
Hey. I just fixed this, too. My 75 would drop to 6.4 during the week, though my tap water is around 7.3. The issue was apparently a lack of hardness and after adding half a cup of crushed coral to a filter box, the tank's pH has climbed to 6.8 over the past two days. I got help on Oscarfish.com since my tank is a one Oscar operation. I was told baking soda is a weaker buffer and requires more attention. Good luck whatever you choose to do! Remember to make all changes gradually.
Basic chemistry guys: Crushed coral/Aragonite/Coral chunks are all basically Limestone. For the sake of the example, the pH of these rocks/coral is between 8.0 & 9.0. The water is acid @ 6.0. Placing these solids into an acid liquid will cause the basic rock to dissolve into the acidic water. This will continue until the water becomes basic enough that it no longer reacts to the basic rock. At this point, the reaction stops itself (usually around 8.2). If the water tries to go acid again, it will just dissolve more rock & neutralize itself. It doesnt take long & it will automatically buffer itself during WC's with very short lag time. Much better than baking soda IN MY OPINION.
If you want to see this work, just drop a hunk of dead coral into your 6.0pH tank & watch closely as it bubbles & dissolves very slowly.
If you want to see this work, just drop a hunk of dead coral into your 6.0pH tank & watch closely as it bubbles & dissolves very slowly.
yeah baking soda is not as good since you need to dose it accordingly. i would say stay away from this method b/c it can change the water faster than crushed coral, which could shock the whole tank.
Actually don't. My first Oscar went into shock when I did that. The pH climbed too fast. Just add a little bit and wait a week.
It won't always raise it that high. If you use a small amount, it will continue to battle the pH and end up with a sort of compromise. My 55 has just a pinch of shells and stays around 7.2.
knifegill;3205973; said:
hmmmmm... welll....i put 5 lbs of crushed coral into my filter all at once, three weeks ago and my fish have never been better...
5lbs of coral in my 120 gallon raised my ph from the low 6's to the mid 7's.. and i was using some brand new, pretty damn good flordia crushed coral..
it also brought my KH up from 0 ppm! to 150 ppm! which is a miracle if i ever saw one...
