pH Won't stay stable....Help!

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steffandmike

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 21, 2012
5
0
0
Orange Park, FL
New to this forum and desperately need some help. I have been a hobbyist for 20 years and never ran into this situation. I have a (120) gallon with angels and rams. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite are all ok, but my pH will not stay stable. Substrate is pool filter sand and it is decorated with lava rock and slate. Tap pH is 7.6 and every other tank in the house (there are many) stay between 7.4 and 7.6 with the same substrate and water source. The tank is filtered by a wet/dry system and a large canister filter. Both of these I recently broke down and rinsed to remove any organic matter that may be driving down the pH. I didn't wipeout the bacteria colony, just rinsed the "sludge". I do weekly 10% water changes being sure to "turn" the sand bed to save from any "dead spots". My problem is the ph keeps dive bombing to 6.0 and I can't get a handle on it. The tank ran great for 8 months prior to this situation with no changes in filter, substrate, or decorations. I personally am at a total loss not to mention the loss of prized fish to date. The fish are also showing signs of ammonia burn like fin rot and cloudy eyes. However, as mentioned before these levels have been tested with a quality test kit and are fine. Any ideas? :confused:
 
Ok, we know what the water is, we know what the substrate is... any plants? Any driftwood? Anything like river rocks you got out from a local river? What kind of food do you feed them? How often do you feed them? Pics? Water and substrate information isn't enough in this case. It could be that excess food breakdown can cause bad bacteria to thrive and pH to drop, and if its poor food quality on top of that, the lack of vitamin A can cause eye cloudiness... If you want, you can inbox me.
 
The only plants were plastic and no on driftwood or rocks. Food is not an issue and I vary the diet feeding a quality pellet, frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and bloodworms. Excess food is not an issue either since I closely monitor feedings once a day. I just checked pH again and my kit only goes to 6.0. Just based on the difference in color I am deep into the 5's. I have a feeling this may be causing the "fin rot" since the pH is so far into the acidic range. This may just be one of those things that there isn't an answer for. The tank has remained the same for 8 months and nothing has been added to alter the pH. I also live in Florida so hardness and buffering capacity is not an issue. I have almost 3,000 gallons between home and fish room. This is the only tank with an issue. I appreciate the input and suggestions so keep them coming!
 
I agree crushed coral would raise the pH, but all my other tanks with the same substrate, decor, and water source are fine at a stable 7.6. Something is causing this one tank to drop into the 5's. I typically use Amquel as a water conditioner and usually add Stresszyme after water changes. Is it possible these could have an effect? Is it also possible that the extremely low pH could be causing the fin rot and cloudy eyes?

The worst part of this issue is this is the wife's tank......the whole happy wife makes for a happy husband thing......yeah she isn't happy lol
 
I don't know why you guys are worried about the pH (symptom) and not the cause. Fixing the pH wont fix the fish cloudy eyes and fin rot. But the lack of information means i cant tell you to treat with aquarium salt because i dont know if you have scaleless catfish or plants which would die with salt.... also, rams actually do better in a 6pH than 7.6. At least the german blues do. Bolivians do better in the 7.6. My rams and discus are at 5.8 pH and thrive perfectly. But please post some of the information i asked for earlier.
 
+3 on crushed coral. 10% weekly water changes seem a little lite to me. you may not be sufficiently replacing your water buffering capacity. Even if your nitrite levels are low, 10% still might not be enough.
 
+4


savage72 said:
+3 on crushed coral. 10% weekly water changes seem a little lite to me. you may not be sufficiently replacing your water buffering capacity. Even if your nitrite levels are low, 10% still might not be enough.
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On all my tanks i do a 30% water change once a week with the exception of my discus tank which gets a 25% twice a week. My tap is 6.0 pH, and one teaspoon of baking soda raises my pH to 7.2 in my 55 gallon. Much cheaper than crushed coral.
 
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