I have 5 tanks plus a 'hospital' tank running (1x6g, 3x10g, 1x40B and 1x46g Bow).
Water from the tap is 'soft' (sorry forgot the numbers) Ph neutral (7.0) every time with trace ammonia (<0.25ppm), 0ppm Nitrites and 0ppm Nitrates.
Every tank has diferent substrate - gravel, gravel/caribsea mix, sand, sand/carib mix, carib and bare bottom, yet with every tank within 3 or 4 days Ph has dropped to 6 (or below). The 6g tank runs fine without WC as it gets topped up every other day to account for evaporation (1 quart), the 46g has been running smoothly for a couple of months with weekly 30% WC (fish happy and healthy) but one of the 10g's is causing some concern - it's housing 8 female Endlers livebearers and fry (fry are moved out to another 10g when they reach a couple of weeks old). Tank crashed last week and I had to change out the filter (now has a Topfin 20g hob with all bio and padding) so is cycling again (using Prime to protect fish) but the Ph dropped to 6 (possibly lower) within 2 days and now the Endlers are staying huddled together in a corner and hardly eating whereas before they would race to the top for food every time I went near the tank. I've heard that livebearers are more sensitive to low Ph and am thinking that is the reason they are like this (sustained low Ph over a couple of months now). I tried adding sodium bicarb (1/4 tsp at a time) with no change, also tried API's Ph Up (1/8 tsp at a time) with no apparent change unless the Ph was even lower than I tested.
Have no lfs (only Petsmart and Petco) other than 2 that deal only in marine so nowhere to get crushed coral. Petsmart girl (actually one that is knowledgeable) suggested I get some seashells from Hobby Lobby and put them in the tank(s) to bring the Ph back up.
Questions :
1. How effective are seashells to raise the Ph and should I crush them up and add them in a filter sock or something?
2. What is the relationship between Ph and Ammonia/Ammonium toxicity?
3. Any other suggestions?
Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading!
Water from the tap is 'soft' (sorry forgot the numbers) Ph neutral (7.0) every time with trace ammonia (<0.25ppm), 0ppm Nitrites and 0ppm Nitrates.
Every tank has diferent substrate - gravel, gravel/caribsea mix, sand, sand/carib mix, carib and bare bottom, yet with every tank within 3 or 4 days Ph has dropped to 6 (or below). The 6g tank runs fine without WC as it gets topped up every other day to account for evaporation (1 quart), the 46g has been running smoothly for a couple of months with weekly 30% WC (fish happy and healthy) but one of the 10g's is causing some concern - it's housing 8 female Endlers livebearers and fry (fry are moved out to another 10g when they reach a couple of weeks old). Tank crashed last week and I had to change out the filter (now has a Topfin 20g hob with all bio and padding) so is cycling again (using Prime to protect fish) but the Ph dropped to 6 (possibly lower) within 2 days and now the Endlers are staying huddled together in a corner and hardly eating whereas before they would race to the top for food every time I went near the tank. I've heard that livebearers are more sensitive to low Ph and am thinking that is the reason they are like this (sustained low Ph over a couple of months now). I tried adding sodium bicarb (1/4 tsp at a time) with no change, also tried API's Ph Up (1/8 tsp at a time) with no apparent change unless the Ph was even lower than I tested.
Have no lfs (only Petsmart and Petco) other than 2 that deal only in marine so nowhere to get crushed coral. Petsmart girl (actually one that is knowledgeable) suggested I get some seashells from Hobby Lobby and put them in the tank(s) to bring the Ph back up.
Questions :
1. How effective are seashells to raise the Ph and should I crush them up and add them in a filter sock or something?
2. What is the relationship between Ph and Ammonia/Ammonium toxicity?
3. Any other suggestions?
Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading!
