I recently did a water change on my 35 gallon tank and noticed that the ph had dropped. the water from our tap is around 7.6. the tank ph is usually stable around this. how ever it had dropped to 6.6 and now 6.0. it is fresh water and contains south american fish. how can i stop this? it does have driftwood but this has never really been a problem with the ph. it has been running for about 10 months.
sudden ph drop
- Thread starter Little Einstein
- Start date
You need to test your KH (carbonate hardness) this affects the ability to maintain a stable ph. If its high it should maintain ph if its low the ph is more likely to fluctuate.
You can use a 7.0 buffer or some crush coral. Those two things should work. For 35 gallons, you can use about a pound of crush coral in your substrate or filter. That is the cheapest way to go and it will work. You will have to add more coral when the coral dissolves. It is usually after a long time. Maybe like a year or so. Don't put too much coral otherwise the PH will be too high.
thanks for the responses. i will get a KH test asap. i am upgrading to a 135 gallon tank and i need to get the ph balanced between the tanks so i can switch over the fish.