PH? Tap vs tank.

[Miles]

Alkalinity makes your pH stable. The lower it is, the faster your pH drops from acids.

I am guessing your alkalinity is naturally low.. When you add your water to the tank, the dissolved waste (acids) and nitrates (even at 20ppm) bring your pH down naturally..

Do lots of extra cleaning, make sure you don't have excess 'detritus' in your filters and/or substrate.. the more brown sludge, the worse your alkalinity will be..

Think about the crushed coral idea.

 

[david503bk]

Wow I thought I knew something about water chemistry and fish keeping after 7 years. I feel like a newbie. So what is detritus? Is that that brown slime thing when cleaning my canister? So instead of monthly do I clean this stuff weekly and don't ring out my pads? I'm lost! Thought I had it down. Do I use buffer to get my ph up and then add the crush coral? Does crush coral go in my canister? My canister is full to the brim right now.

 

[Nic]

yea detritus is the brown slime thats a combo of poop food and other stuff clean the pads as they get nasty.... your gravel or sand should be cleaned weekly dont use a buffer to raise it now... do it with water changes then add a bag of crushed coral to one of the filters and leave it there.....