Severe pH drop?

[PurebloodFerret]

Hey all. I've had my tank going for almost five months now, and all the parameters were finally stabilising to the point there was no more than 5ppm of nitrates whenever I do my weekly water changes. I just added a small sailfin tang, golden headed sleeper and a pectinia coral this saturday and checked my pH the next day and it was bright yellow. I gradually put enough buffer in to bring it back to 8.3 over a period of about 6 hours. Then this morning I went in to do my rounds and again my pH is bright yellow. I assume it's to so with my tank adjusting to the new bio load but is this normal? Could it also have to do with the fact that on Friday I upgraded from two 30w T5s to 120w blue and white LEDS?

Size. 150L (39g)

Temp. 24°C (75°f)

NO3- <5

NO2- 0

NH4+ 0

pH <7.4 (currently buffering up)

Ca2+ 400ppm

PO3-4 0.5ppm

KH ~220ppm



Inhabitants: 1 ocelllaris clown, 1 bta, 1 pink bubble anemone, duncanops (one big frag I broke into three), 1 cabbage brain coral, 1 maze coral, 1 palm tree coral, 1 jardinei, 1 plate coral, 1 heliofungia, a rock with zooanthids and a flame lobster. (Also a recovering gonipora that has only one tiny polyp on its skeleton) as well as the new residents mentioned above.







Note: I realise my phosphorus and hardness are high, I'm working on a tiny brown algae issue and talked to my LFS about my unusually high KH and they said it was weird but shouldn't have too much of a detrimental effect, as other than water changes and adding calcium there's not really any other way to bring it down to what it should be (if this is incorrect please let me know

 

[Bectan01]

Ph can change dramatically depending on the time of day you test - are you testing morning or evening? With lights on or without? Check at both times and see if there is a difference. I assume you have plenty of flow? That can also effect ph...

 

[PurebloodFerret]

Yes I have a wave maker I'm not sure of the size though cuz we got it when we first started and didn't keep or check the box. It gives the tank a very decent current. And yes I know about diurnal changes and light affecting pH, I tested just an hour or so ago (about nine am, light had been on for about an hour) but can't remember I think it's morning/light is when pH is lower, night/darkness is when pH is higher?

 

[PurebloodFerret]

It normally swings around 8-8.4 but to drop down past 7 seems way too much of a swing to be normal fluctuations? Also, thanks for your reply

 

[jwh0818]

Your using paper strips to test right? If yes they can be very wrong and show false readings. I would get an API master test kit

 

[PurebloodFerret]

Nope I'm aware of the falseness of paper. I only use API liquid bottles

 

[jwh0818]

Nope I'm aware of the falseness of paper. I only use API liquid bottles

Okay awesome! I wasn't sure because of how you wrote it!

 

[PurebloodFerret]

Haha sorry, I try to put as much info as I can but I always forget to mention that

 

[54seaweed]

A tang in a 39g ???????

WAIT FOR IT...............

everyone miss that wow

 

[jwh0818]

A tang in a 39g ???????

WAIT FOR IT...............

everyone miss that wow

I did miss it. I have failed. Tangs need a rather large tank 6'+ OP

 

[mr_X]

A tang in a 39g ???????

WAIT FOR IT...............

everyone miss that wow

Agreed. bad move IMO. Re-home it. It's not the cause of your ph drop though.

 

[PurebloodFerret]

^i knew this was coming haha.

When I was at the fish store the guy said he would be alright ("id say the minimum would be 150L, he should be fine as long as it's not crowded"), which it's not his tank mates are only a clown a goby and a fairy wrasse.
Then I came home and looked up requirements for him and found that they should be kept in at least a 65g... Bit late now but if he gets any bigger I'll have to find him a new home, obviously. I won't keep him if he outgrows the tank I care about his well being

 

[jwh0818]

^i knew this was coming haha.

When I was at the fish store the guy said he would be alright ("id say the minimum would be 150L, he should be fine as long as it's not crowded"), which it's not his tank mates are only a clown a goby and a fairy wrasse.
Then I came home and looked up requirements for him and found that they should be kept in at least a 65g... Bit late now but if he gets any bigger I'll have to find him a new home, obviously. I won't keep him if he outgrows the tank I care about his well being

How will you know if he grows too big? They get stunnted and stop growing because of lack of space. Then you won't see him grow and think all is good when in fact he is suffering growth stunt

 

[mr_X]

The guy at the fish store....like most of the guys at the fish stores, are either unaware, or full of poopy.

 

[PurebloodFerret]

why do they always disappoint me. This will be the second fish I return if I have to take him back. He was 50 dollars and they don't give refunds for changing your mind or even after the first 24 hours. That's a lot of money to waste just cuz someone working in a specialist store doesn't know their ****. Makes me so angry,

 

[jwh0818]

why do they always disappoint me. This will be the second fish I return if I have to take him back. He was 50 dollars and they don't give refunds for changing your mind or even after the first 24 hours. That's a lot of money to waste just cuz someone working in a specialist store doesn't know their ****. Makes me so angry,

It does happened everyday unfortunatly. I would definetly do research if you see a fish you like or want or even ask here. Tons here who will help before you make a purchase and if you wanna keep the tang it could be an excuse to upgrade!!!

 

[PurebloodFerret]

Anything bigger than what we have now will be too much work, and we've only just upgraded to this size

 

[Mebbid]

^i knew this was coming haha.

When I was at the fish store the guy said he would be alright ("id say the minimum would be 150L, he should be fine as long as it's not crowded"), which it's not his tank mates are only a clown a goby and a fairy wrasse.
Then I came home and looked up requirements for him and found that they should be kept in at least a 65g... Bit late now but if he gets any bigger I'll have to find him a new home, obviously. I won't keep him if he outgrows the tank I care about his well being

Sad to say, he's already outgrown the tank. A 39g is just too small. They are recommended to have a 180g tank.

why do they always disappoint me. This will be the second fish I return if I have to take him back. He was 50 dollars and they don't give refunds for changing your mind or even after the first 24 hours. That's a lot of money to waste just cuz someone working in a specialist store doesn't know their ****. Makes me so angry,

Well, get angry about it. Make it known that they will lose your business permenantly if they dont take it back due to the employee giving poor advice.

 

[TheTodd]

A lot of LFS will do the "it should work" or "it will work for a while" thing. I think it is always best to look things up (liveaquaria.com is great for size suggestions) or even ask here first. We aren't out to make a buck off of you.

Sorry, I am at a loss for the pH issue. Following along on that issue...

 

[Holygral]

On you ph issue, I would get a second test done somewhere, ph usually do not swing that far, once you start dozing for ph, your other parameters are probably way off. I would start with ac's and stop dosing. You might have a bad test kit, or contamination in test equipment. If it is deed that low you need to find the cause, dumping in buffer to bring it back up is just a bad bandaid, it does fix the cause, it only covers it up.