Whats up with my water?

[Heiko]

Its me again,

Hey my 20g tank as you all know is vastly overstocked (problem should be sorted shortly). But i have just done a water change and my readings seem to be funny.

Nitrate = 25mg/l
Nitrite = 0.00mg/l
Amonia = 0.00 [acronym:a942547284="milligrams or magnesium, depending on context"]mg[/acronym:a942547284]/l
pH = aprox 5-6

My pH was running @ an aproximate 7 before and i have just tested it twice and i came up with a high 5 - 6 reading. This is why im posting because even i thin somethings wrong. I will test again tommorow see if anything has happened. If not can anyone tell me how to higher it?

[greenmaji]

what is in the tank..?
try frequent small [acronym:e1131dab37="Partial water change"]pwc[/acronym:e1131dab37]'s to even things out [acronym:e1131dab37="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:e1131dab37] wise..

[Heiko]

Originally Posted by greenmagi

what is in the tank..?

2 many fish! i know im overstocked with:

2 Angels
6 Barbs
4 leapord Danoi
1 red finned shark
2 swordtails

I am working to sorting out the number of fish so please no1 post telling me i have 2 many fish. Hey im just a novice and i change the water every 3 days to keep the guys happy and they seem good.

[Heiko]

Will try the water changes maggi thanks

[greenmaji]

by the way .. try to up the %'s with your water changes until you can get that nitrate down below 20 [acronym:e152922c99="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:e152922c99]... [acronym:e152922c99="Just My Opinion"]JMO[/acronym:e152922c99] though.. ok.. and its good you know that there is a problem.. hope you can get the extra fish good homes!!!

[AquaJoe]

Heiko I agree with your saying you have too many fish for the aquarium but I really don't think it's THAT over stocked -so to speak. In other words, I don't think your issue is related to the amount of fish you have. At all. I mean come on, you do a [acronym:22dd09cb3d="Partial water change"]PWC[/acronym:22dd09cb3d] every three days for god sake :P

With that said, my advice is to keep up with the [acronym:22dd09cb3d="Partial water change"]PWC[/acronym:22dd09cb3d] and monitor the Ph. You should see a difference within a week or two. If not you may have to resort to [acronym:22dd09cb3d="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:22dd09cb3d] up/down.... I know that ash helps to neutralize Ph in soil and other organic applications however I don't think it would be suitable for use in a [acronym:22dd09cb3d="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:22dd09cb3d] aquarium simply because it would make the water real ugly and probably cause some filter problems.... Don't quote me on this but the last time I was in WalMart (the only place around here I can buy fish supplies) I saw these tablets which you drop into your filter (so many tabs per x amount of gallons I presume) and it is supposed to neutralize the water.

[acronym:22dd09cb3d="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:22dd09cb3d] my friend. Keep us posted.

Joe

From everything I've read, a stable [acronym:635d0d268d="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:635d0d268d] is the most important thing, so don't worry about it as long as its not changing a lot. Anyway, I would check your test kit again, a pH of 5 is really low, thats like so acidic you could taste it in the water.

[Fishyfanatic]

. If not you may have to resort to [acronym:84d716be29="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:84d716be29] up/down

Do not use these chemicals. They only cause major pH swings, which in turn harm fish. It's better to find the root of the problem, instead of just trying to mask it with chemicals. It is better to naturally increase/decrease pH slowly, with crushed coral or limestone (to increase) and peat or driftwood (to decrease).

Like Tony said, its better to have a stable pH than the perfect pH. Unless of course you are looking at some african Cichlids that need it in the upper 8's and 9's, but that's not the case. OR, if your pH is naturally 9.0 but are trying to keep South American Cichlids.

I agree that the pH reading seems unusual. The Nitrate's aren't bad, in fact, with the bio-load that you have, it looks normal. As long as it's below 30, you're in good shape. I would question the test kit that you are using. Are you using strips or a Master Test Kit?

[AquaJoe]

Just for the record I would not use [acronym:c7debe5dc8="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:c7debe5dc8] up/down unless it was a LAST RESORT.

Joe

[Heiko]

Im using a master test kit with small bottles of fluids. Its just the pH that seems wierd i mean it was fine 3 days ago @ around high 6's - 7. It just seems a really sudden drop. Im off 2 test it again so i will keep you posted.