I can not get my PH level to go up

[NDM5107]

I have a 20 gallon tank with 4 Mollies and a couple small tetras. Nothing I do will raise the PH level. I am right around 6.0 on the scale. I do about a 30-40% water change weekly and have not missed a week. The PH from my tap is about 6.5 but i have always been able to get it up to 7, but in the past week i have noticed that the PH level is stuck at 6.0. I have tried baking soda, I have put almost a full bottle of PH up in (not at once, over gradual period of time) and my PH level will not go up. All of my fish still look happy, i have not noticed any change in the way they are acting. But i am still not sure what is causing this. I use the gravel vacuum every time i do a water change and get almost everything sucked out. Any advice would be great.

Thanks
(also I am new to the thread so sorry if i did not post this in the right spot)

 

[lksdrinker]

why are you trying to change the ph of the tank? is something wrong? I'm a fan of suggesting that no one should try to alter the PH. Most fish will acclimate to various ph levels. Consistency is the important part. The actual number doesn't matter too much.

 

[NDM5107]

I have read a lot that mollies need to be kept in water with a PH level of 7 to 7.4 I am afraid that the low 6.0 will stress them out and eventually start killing off my fish

 

[mambee]

I agree that consistent water values are more important than proper ph. Messing with baking soda isn't the way to go. The best way to slowly raise your ph is by added some crushed coral in a filter bag to your filter or adding some Texas holey rock.

 

[claudio1]

are you checking the ph with strips or a liquid based test kit?.


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[NDM5107]

are you checking the ph with strips or a liquid based test kit?.


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with the liquid based test kit.

 

[claudio1]

i wouldn't mess with ph as mentioned before,in my opinion is less stressfull for the fish to have a constant ph than messing around with it and causing ph swings..


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[fishliker]

Mambee has the right idea. A pH of 6 is too low and can cause problems with your cycle and could crash altogether. Put some crushed coral in a mesh bag and put it in with the filter. It will raise your pH slowly over time and stabilize it.


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[Delapool]

Out of interest had the OP tried adding baking soda to a bucket of water removed from tank during a water change? Eg say 5gallons.

I'm just surprised the baking soda isn't shifting the ph more and that would be one way to test exactly what is needed. Could also be done with crushed coral carbonates and a air pump to move water around.

Last one is if you do end up adjusting ph I'd recommend a kh (and gh) test kit. Sometimes the kh test kit will pick up changes before ph starts to shift.

 

[NDM5107]

Yeah not to sure. It seems as if one of the mollies got ich over the last two days. i have an air stone right in the middle of the tank that is constantly on so the water is always moving. ill have to try to gh and kh test kits.