Water problems - experienced input needed

[rvd]

LAst week i setup a new tank for my Red. I had him in a 55long so i wanted to put him in something wider so in the 68gallon he went. The 68 was dry so it hasnt been cycled yet. I've had fish for years and whenever i have done a swap like i usually took out a couple pales of water from the established tank and poured into the new tank to help cycle the new tank. I also didnt clean the powerfilters, just transfered them onto the 68gallon.

Now the thing thats weird is that PH is going acidic kind of fast. After doing a almost complete water change minus the 2 buckets of water from the 55 the PH is like 6.0-6.2
I added PH up and brought the PH up to about 6.5 but the next day it went back down. I have nothing in the tank for decor. just an empty tank with gravel and that gravel was from the 50 so it isnt brand new.. Could the tank not be cycled yet becuase of all the new water i put in even if the filters werent cleaned and 2 buckets of water from the other tank was put in ?

I don't ever remember having this problem. I checked the PH off the tap and it's 7.0 so i know its not that.

Any of you experienced fish keepers have any ideas? should i grab some cycle or quick start and drop it in?

any advice is appreciated

thanks

 

[twk1]

Maybe you should try to put some crushed coral substrate into a bag or a stocking and place it into your filter or tank, that should buffer the ph up.
Or you can try to add Novaqua Water conditioner, it is known to help buffer the ph neutral around 7. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

[marshy]

It is always a good practice to have some coral chips (cc) placed in your filter water flow. The purpose is to buffer the water to maintain a PH level.
Off the rack PH ups and downs solutions are.. well, quick solutions. But does not resolve the problem and also dangerous. Sudden large PH swings can kill fishes easily.

What is your tank size btw?

 

[MaJiKTeRRoR]

Is the tank new or was it used? If it has been used was it a saltwater tank or African tank before. Maybe even brackish. There may be some salt in the tank that your not seeing that is raising the pH. Or possibly some buffers that are dissolved and trapped on the bottom or the sides. Let the tank cycle and do some 10% water changes every 2 days and check your pH. If the pH in the water your putting is at 7.0 then doing 10% every couple days for 2 weeks or so should have it back where you want it. Or you may want to go the other route to drain it completely and clean the glass and gravel and start it again with your other tank water.

 

[rumblesushi]

his PH is being lowered not raised.

 

[HarleyK]

his PH is being lowered not raised.

He loves people who take things so literally. He'll love you for pointing that out


HarleyK

 

[MaJiKTeRRoR]

Duh. My bad.

What's the pH in the other tank?

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

on a serious note, let me summarize and make sure this is all correct: You basically have the same setup, gravel, pumps etc as before, you only swapped the tank? You changed nothing but the tank. Hmm.

That narrows it down to the tank itself. It's not the cycling, that much is for sure. As MaJiKTeRRoR said: Tell us about the history of the tank. Not only the use, but also maybe repairs, storage etc. I had a similar problem, the origin back then was the silicone which was used to repair the tank some time ago.

Keep checking the pH, keep doing waterchanges (or pH up, whatever you prefer), and don't throw out that old 55gal quite yet ...

HarleyK

 

[rvd]

first of all i want to say thanks for all the replies so far.. much appreciated..

OK the tank i aquired from one on my customers which he used a couple years back. The tank started leaking on him so he stopped using it and it sat without use for awhile.

I cut out all the old silicone,cleaned it with alcohol and glass cleaner and re-silconed the whole thing. After the silicone was cured i filled it with water to test it and let it sit for 2 days. I drained the water, gave it a quick rinse and started the transfer from my 55gallon.

I used the same Powerfilters without cleaning them hoping it would help cycle the tank faster and i also added 2 buckets of water from the 55gallon, again hoping it would help cycle it faster. thats the story on the tank.

When he had it he said he kept Piranhas in it as well so it wasnt used for salt water.

 

[HarleyK]

I cut out all the old silicone,cleaned it with alcohol and glass cleaner and re-silconed the whole thing.

Howdy,

It might sound trivial, but did you use regular silicone from the hardware store or silicone specifically sold for aquarium purposes? There's a difference, and that might be the problem.

HarleyK