why why why
- Thread starter DiXoN
- Start date
If there was anything with the rocks and gravel, it would make the Ph go up.
And I have never heard of roots causing serious problems..
See the tanks in my gallery, all the roots in the tank there just made the water a bit soft. No problem.
And a ph at 6 is really no problem as long as you don't have sudden major
ph-drops.
Here the tapwater usually is about 6 and we keep all sorts of fish, maybe except Malawi and Tanganyika without altering it.
And I have never heard of roots causing serious problems..
See the tanks in my gallery, all the roots in the tank there just made the water a bit soft. No problem.
And a ph at 6 is really no problem as long as you don't have sudden major
ph-drops.
Here the tapwater usually is about 6 and we keep all sorts of fish, maybe except Malawi and Tanganyika without altering it.
drift wood and peat( type of filter media) will soften the water... thus lowering the p.h but only by a few point's .. what do you have ( type fish) in the tank brotha??? 
Hi Dixon,
I had the exact same problem with my tank. Tap ph= 7.0, tank=<6.0=bad
Theres probably a couple factors at play here.
In my case these were them
Factor #1= Since your tap water is so neutral, you probably have very little buffering capacity.
Factor #2 (in my case, don't know about you)= high bioload, it can easily make your ph drop
Factor # 3= lots of driftwood. tannins consume buffers
The combination of all three factors held my ph at <6.0, so my large water changes in order to keep the nitrates down was putting my fish through weekly ph swings.
I added about 10 lbs of crushed coral to my sump and now the ph is MUCH better, even noticed the fish have HUGE appetites now compared to being in a extreme low PH.
HTH
I had the exact same problem with my tank. Tap ph= 7.0, tank=<6.0=bad
Theres probably a couple factors at play here.
In my case these were them
Factor #1= Since your tap water is so neutral, you probably have very little buffering capacity.
Factor #2 (in my case, don't know about you)= high bioload, it can easily make your ph drop
Factor # 3= lots of driftwood. tannins consume buffers
The combination of all three factors held my ph at <6.0, so my large water changes in order to keep the nitrates down was putting my fish through weekly ph swings.
I added about 10 lbs of crushed coral to my sump and now the ph is MUCH better, even noticed the fish have HUGE appetites now compared to being in a extreme low PH.
HTH
ross its the fish in my signature.
street cypher i think you may be right, i just upped the filter media capacity to about 5gals of media to cope with the extra bioload.
i may remove my driftwood and see what happens, iwill also have a seperate container with tap water to check what happens to that after sitting for a week.
my sand is proper aquarium sand that is ray safe so i cant see that affecting the water and the rocks i have were used for years with no problems.
i think i may start to do smaller more frequent water changes again and see what happens, i just did a ph test again today and the ph was 6.4 so it is not stable at all and my fish are breathing hard again today and all other water checks were normal.
thanks
dixon
street cypher i think you may be right, i just upped the filter media capacity to about 5gals of media to cope with the extra bioload.
i may remove my driftwood and see what happens, iwill also have a seperate container with tap water to check what happens to that after sitting for a week.
my sand is proper aquarium sand that is ray safe so i cant see that affecting the water and the rocks i have were used for years with no problems.
i think i may start to do smaller more frequent water changes again and see what happens, i just did a ph test again today and the ph was 6.4 so it is not stable at all and my fish are breathing hard again today and all other water checks were normal.
thanks
dixon
You could try adding a bag of crushed coral to your filter. This should help raise the KH and stabalise/buffer your PH. What KH and GH are you getting on your test kit?
Cichlas said:
i had not tested for hardness but i will now so give me a few minutes and i will post the results
Your tap water has a low alkalinity, which means the pH won't be as stable.
Adding a buffer (such as crushed coral) will increase your alkalinity, and create more stability with your pH..
When your Alkalinity is low, any build of acids (fish wastes) will cause the pH to drop.. When there is a buffer in the tank, such as lots of calcium from crushed coral, your pH will be more stable.
A small pouch full of crushed coral inside your filtration should solve the problem.. Added water changes and less fish waste will also help create more stability..
Adding a buffer (such as crushed coral) will increase your alkalinity, and create more stability with your pH..
When your Alkalinity is low, any build of acids (fish wastes) will cause the pH to drop.. When there is a buffer in the tank, such as lots of calcium from crushed coral, your pH will be more stable.
A small pouch full of crushed coral inside your filtration should solve the problem.. Added water changes and less fish waste will also help create more stability..
