PH

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Capt.Gorilla

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 17, 2003
Messages
210
Location
canada
What causes ph to drop, my tap water is an even 7.0 but my main tank is always 6.2-3, my QT tank stays at 7.0.
All it has is an aquaclear 300 and fake plants.
 
What type of substrate do you have in your main tank? Also, do you use something different to treat the water in your main tank vs. quarentine?
 
Also, how often do you gravel vac/water change, and whats the nitrate levels?
 
My guess would be dissolved organics in the aquarium (decaying plant and/or animal matter, uneaten food, fish waste, etc) are causing the pH drop. If that's the case- larger and more frequent water changes should help remove these from the water and keep your water's chemistry stable.

Out of curiousity- do you know what your KH and GH levels are? Higher levels mean more buffering ability- which leads to more stable pH values. If your hardness levels are low, there won't be much buffering capacity and your pH can drop or spike suddenly- with terrible results.
 
Voodoo Chilli said:
My guess would be dissolved organics in the aquarium (decaying plant and/or animal matter, uneaten food, fish waste, etc) are causing the pH drop. If that's the case- larger and more frequent water changes should help remove these from the water and keep your water's chemistry stable.

Out of curiousity- do you know what your KH and GH levels are? Higher levels mean more buffering ability- which leads to more stable pH values. If your hardness levels are low, there won't be much buffering capacity and your pH can drop or spike suddenly- with terrible results.

You mean the plants I have can (and are) messing with my PH? Wow I didn't know that.
 
My main tank has small gravel substrate which it has had for years, I gravel vac atleast once a week but I don't disturb the gravel much when I do it.
My QT does have some driftwood but my main tank doesn't.
I know my water is soft but not any of the values, I have tried using seachems ph regulater but it only works for about a day if even.
 
*nods and agrees with VoodooChilli*

The reason I asked about nitrates, is nitric acid (nitrates) have a tendency to lower the pH in the tank. A low kH combined with lots of nitrates can cause the pH to drop.
 
No one mentioned anything about oxygen exchange in the aquarium? which is a good reason for a drop in ph? Like the more CO2 that is allowed because of lack of oxygen, the ph would drop to 6.0 at least. This is not uncommon. I have heard opening wondows and whatnot for a little while, has even helped tanks increase ph. What kind of surface tension do you have?.. Glass tops? Aeration? etc...

I have heard countless problem storys about glass tops and ph drops FW and SW alike.
 
That must be why my daughter's tank will drop to 6.0 ph. I've had her change the water out and it goes right back to 6.0, now I know.
 
My tank has not top an a aqua clear 300, lots of ripple and open air.
I'm going over to my lfs today to pick up a kh test and a nitrate test.
 
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