PH question

[BigSchallz70]

not trying to thread jack or anything but how can the ph be lowerd on a steady basis i have the mopani wood like i said before, live plants, river rocks, gravel from pet store, and a sunken ship

should i take any of this out???? i need to get this down asap

 

[JakeH]

not trying to thread jack or anything but how can the ph be lowerd on a steady basis i have the mopani wood like i said before, live plants, river rocks, gravel from pet store, and a sunken ship

should i take any of this out???? i need to get this down asap

First off, avoid the temptation to use "pH Down" or other acid products in your tank. They do more harm than good to your fish & your clothes (acid burn holes). The Mopani will start to do its thing soon enough. When talking (in general) about pH, consistency is much more important than hitting the perfect pH & then watching it bounce right back up the next day... Your fish HATE pH swings!

Is the tank new? If so, just let the pH drop slowly on its own. Hi pH is common in new tanks & again you will do more harm than good trying to fight it. The easiest & safest way to help this is by "aging" your tapwater in a clean bucket/trash can with an airstone for a few days before you use it for a water change. You should see great results with that method.

 

[BigSchallz70]

thanks for the reply no this is a tank i have had running for about 6 months or more the ph has always been high but is now starting to get out of control and its making it where i cannot have the fish i want


and the mopani wood i have had three peices in there that are about 3.5 inches each they have been in there since the start of the tank

the larger one that is about the sice of a size 10 boot i have only had in there for about a month ish and its still just way to high somewhere at the 8.5 range what are some ph lowering buffers that are safe??

 

[DRD62]

I agree with Jake about that. I do have pieces of Mopani and other bogwood in my tanks and I think it is water depending if you live in a city municipality where some of the water parameters are different. I do keep CA and some SA cichlids together with no issues with my ph at 7.8-8.2 with my tap water at 7.6 I do use African rift lake buffers with a little baking soda and I have had good luck with no problems with my fish at all.

 

[BigSchallz70]

baking soda? just add a small ammount to the tank because i again just had another three fish die on me and due to this i did not catch it for a day so now the cycle is out of wack

 

[JakeH]

I'm not sure pH is the issue if you lost 3 fish in a day. Start a new thread about it & list your water parameters. Pics help, too.

 

[scorp]

Hi guys.

Just to clarify some things:

mopani is one of the woods to change ph the least, compared to mangrove/oak etc.

Second of all, every tank has its own balance, so it's not the tap water changing the ph of the tank water, but rather the other way around. Even with a 100% waterchange it's almost impossible to change the ph, once established in the tank.

Not to go into detail, just to mention it, without breaking down carbonates, adding CO2 etc. over a longer period of time, there is no sustainable way to change the ph.

And I have to agree to the others who already mentioned that nearly all fish are fine with higher phs as long as they have time to adapt to it. Better a high ph than an ever-changing one!

 

[kent hansen]

Tank is 300 gallons. Been running over a year. Several pieces of Mopani in it. Nothing budges this PH.

i had the same problem with my 125 using mopani i put about 3 pounds of gapevine in it i went from 8.8 to 7.4 and am just maintaining a 7.4 my ray tolerated it to but now that my water is at a 7.4 my ray just swims around and hasnt buried himself once she just plays and seems much hapier i duno if it will work for you but this grape vine seems to be doing amazing what type of sand are you using arogonite and some other types of sand may buffer up your ph im not a pro this is just what my research has told me

 

[BigSchallz70]

I'm not sure pH is the issue if you lost 3 fish in a day. Start a new thread about it & list your water parameters. Pics help, too.

im not sure of the parameters ill start another thread about the death issues and check the parameters tonight when i get home

what section should i post that under this site is so huge compared to other forms im a part of i get lost lol

 

[JakeH]

im not sure of the parameters ill start another thread about the death issues and check the parameters tonight when i get home

what section should i post that under this site is so huge compared to other forms im a part of i get lost lol

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