So I took some water samples to petsmart to get tested free (don't have a lot of extra money to buy my own tests at the moment) and they said all my tanks PH's were below 6. I freaked out a bit and spent the 5 dollars on an API liquid test, fortunately the real numbers weren't quite as bad as the strip said. My 75 is somewhere between 6.6 and 6.8 and my 45 between 6.4 and 6.6. Do you think these numbers are acidic enough to do damage to my fish? And would it be worth getting a product like API Ph 7.0 to fix it? Thanks
PH question
- Thread starter NCStateFisher
- Start date
Depends on the fish involved and the cause of the low pH. If your tap water is just naturally soft and you are doing regular water changes with a softwater stocklist it's probably fine as long as it's stable. If your water source has a higher pH and it either degases or acidifies from waste accumulation in your tank, then you've got a problem because it's not stable and your fish are going through pH roller coasters every time you do a water change. Find out about the pH of your water source as well as the general and carbonate hardness of it. Also do the bucket test (put new water in a bucket with an airstone overnight and see how far the pH drops) to find out how much of your pH is artificial, from gas.
Looks like your stock is all softwater so that low pH is fine as long as it's stable.
Looks like your stock is all softwater so that low pH is fine as long as it's stable.
Yeah.. so i did those tests and wow i feel dumb, the water out of the tap is highly acidic and it is detoxifies from the gasses in the tank, i did a WC last night and my PH's read 7.0 on the 75 and 6.8 on the 45 so i was like hmm ok... checked this morning the 75 had dropped to 6.4 and the 45 had dropped to less than 6 :S - have any of you used API's PH 7.0 and know if it works? otherwise I guess I could try some of those PH raising reef rocks? Any other suggestions?
I don't like liquids for pH control
to raise pH some things you can do:
- remove driftwood
- add limestone rocks
- replace your BIO media with crushed coral (slowly)
to raise pH some things you can do:
- remove driftwood
- add limestone rocks
- replace your BIO media with crushed coral (slowly)
ar0wan;4689093; said:
hmm okay i'll look in to it, thanks
Just out of curiosity, what in the tank would cause high PH water out of the tap to lower so rapidly? Thanks