PH question

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DB junkie

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Jan 27, 2007
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Why would the PH level go up once it goes from tap to tank? Is the aeration causing something to gas off or is the water just stabilizing now that its no longer under pressure? I'm going up a consistent .3 in both tanks and the pond. Is this normal?
 
It could be CO2 off gassing. Fill a cup of water and test it, then test it again in 24 hrs.

Also do you have soft rocks in the tank that could be rasing the pH?
 
I just got done testing tap and tank. I have 8.5 out of the tap and 8.8 in the tanks. No soft rocks, just sand and a few round river rocks. This isn't good. I'm amazed my rays are tolerating this so well.
 
Thats wierd... Is the tank new? If its a big tank, you could try a small piece of mopani wood just to add a little tannin & suck up a little KH. Other woods do the same, but mopani is loaded with tannin & seems to absorb KH much faster. Just an idea.
 
Tank is 300 gallons. Been running over a year. Several pieces of Mopani in it. Nothing budges this PH.
 
im having the same issue with my tank it is very small but i have 3 small peices of mopani wood and one large one about the size of a boot in just a 30 gallon tank and have even tried ph down and its not helping?????


running out of ideas
 
The round black rocks aren't limestone. This is an issue with every tank in my house including the bare bottom pond. Doesn't matter if I have these rocks in them or not all tanks have the same PH readings.
 
Wierd. I think I agree with the other post above: do a control test on a container of tap water & see if the same thing happens. At least that will let you know if its the tank or the water...
 
If I had to guess, I'd say that since the municipal water is under pressure, it has a higher concentration of various gasses (such as CO2), which outgas once the water is discharged into the tank. As the CO2 decreases, this shifts the equilibrium and carbonic acid beaks down to form CO2 + H2O. The pH will rise accordingly. It's probably something like this.
 
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