Extremely Low pH

[KJurgelewicz]

KH appears to be between 0 - 40 (I only have test strips to measure this)

Yesterday, Ammonia and Nitrite are almost 0 (.25 at most). Nitrate was about 40.

 

[gmanova]

Your tank is not completely cycle then. Ammonia and Nitrites must be 0 zero at all times!

 

[KJurgelewicz]

Your tank is not completely cycle then. Ammonia and Nitrites must be 0 zero at all times!

They were until I added 2 more fish.

I am concerned about the low pH killing off BB, is that possible?

 

[gmanova]

BB/?????

 

[KJurgelewicz]

BB/?????

beneficial bacteria

 

[gmanova]

You are fine! If your BB deterioated your Nitrates most likely would of spiked. You are at 40ppm Nitrates so that's not bad! With the addition of new fish your BB has to re-adjust itself. The biological system needs time to adjust to the added load. I would firstly, stop using pH adjusting chemicals if your tap water is truly 7.6! Secondly, I would do a 50% W.C. which would raise your pH and lower Ammonia and Nitrites to .12ppm then let tank cycle for 24 hours and then take all readings again. Depending on the results make further water changes to get Ammonia and Nitrates down to (0) zero. At that point your pH should be fine.

 

[bs6749]

I doubt that it is low enough to kill off the BB, and if the pH IS in fact that low, then you don't have to worry about ammonia toxicity because it gets converted to harmless ammonium ion at a low pH in the presence of excess H+ ions.

Your tank is most likely cycled and as you stated the presence of a larger bioload cause a slight spike in ammonia and nitrites. Your nitrates are high...is it 40 ppm after a water change?

I am inclined to believe that either your testing is off or that you have ammonia in your tap water. If you had 10 ppm of ammonia in your tank and did a 50% water change and put CLEAN water into the tank, you WILL have 5 ppm of ammonia afterwards. The only two ways that this would not be the case (assuming that you tested immediately after the PWC and not days after) is 1. improper testing or 2. ammonia being present in your tap water.

 

[gmanova]

Oh one more thing! Is your test kit within the expiration date?

 

[bs6749]

You are fine! If your BB deterioated your Nitrates most likely would of spiked. You are at 40ppm Nitrates so that's not bad! With the addition of new fish your BB has to re-adjust itself. The biological system needs time to adjust to the added load. I would firstly, stop using pH adjusting chemicals if your tap water is truly 7.6! Secondly, I would do a 50% W.C. which would raise your pH and lower Ammonia and Nitrites to .12ppm then let tank cycle for 24 hours and then take all readings again. Depending on the results make further water changes to get Ammonia and Nitrates down to (0) zero. At that point your pH should be fine.

Not quite. If the BB all die off, there is nothing to produce nitrates, so they would have remained at the same level in a non planted tank (clams also reduce the presence of nitrates). The only way to remove nitrates without plants/algae/clams is to do water changes.

40ppm is EXTREMELY high in my opinion and I wouldn't be caught with more than 10ppm in my tanks unless it is planted and then 20 ppm would be the max.

 

[KJurgelewicz]

I just tested my tap water again and it is 6.8, sorry I tested before and it was 7.6. Also, I am leaving just plain tap water out overnight to test again tomorrow and see what happens.

As long as the low pH does not harm the bacteria or fish, I will just let it go.

I do have about .25ppm of ammonia in my tap water, but before I had this pH issue, that amount would be gone within a day of doing a water change.

That 40ppm of nitrate was the reading this morning, I did a water change on Saturday, so it may have come up some since then.

 

[gmanova]

sorry ammonia would spike! Good catch!

 

[KJurgelewicz]

Thanks guys, I am going to do a 50% water change this afternoon and will retest my water afterward.

My test is within the expiration date.

 

[bs6749]

Also, your KH is on the very low side and adding a buffering agent like baking soda or crushed coral to your tank will help to maintain a stable pH while at the same time increasing it slightly.

 

[gmanova]

sorry ammonia would of spiked! Good catch!!

 

[KJurgelewicz]

Does the coral have to be crushed? I have pieces of coral from an old tank I could possibly put in there.

 

[bs6749]

Coral might work, but not as well. It is a matter of surface area and the crushed coral would work much better. Snail shells crushed up would work too. You might consider baking soda instead of the coral pieces as you never know what you might introduce with coral from an old tank. You could always soak it in boiling water, but it won't work as well as crushed coral.

If you do the baking soda, get one gallon of water from your tap and test the pH before and after you add a known amount of baking soda. Get the pH were you want it and then scale up the amount needed to dose the tank. Anywhere from 6.0-8.0 will be fine as far as a pH. The important thing is to add buffering capacity (KH) to the tank.