pH crash

[Davon]

My pH has crashed. Any suggestions? Tank is newly cycled. I'm putting fish in it this weekend unless I can't get this fixed before then.

 

[TMaier]

Have you tested your water source?

What's in the tank?

Are you using Co2?

 

[Davon]

Tap water is typically 6.8. Through cycling it's been about 6.6 or 6.4 due to dosing with ammonia. I need to do a water change tomorrow so I can put fish in on Saturday.

 

[TMaier]

What's in the tank? Rock? Sand? Driftwood, Coral?

Co2 will also drop the ph.

Do you know the GH and KH?

 

[Davon]

No co2. I don't have live plants because I'm new to this and I wanted to start slow. According to the test strips I have GH and KH are both 0. Don't know if those strips are accurate and I don't know much about GH and KH. Here is a pic of my tank. Everything in it is artificial.

 

[TMaier]

If your GH and KH are 0 it sounds like your water is filtered. You can add coral/aragonite to remineralize naturally. I use about 1/2 cup in my canister to stabilize my PH for my 29 gallon tank.

 

[Fishkeeper88]

Take that left log out it might be the problem. Chemicals are getting trapped inside that plastic structure and probably bacteria. I bought two a few years ago and it trapped stuff because the tiny fill holes at the bottom and top. Take it out and drain the plastic log structures to see what inside. I'd fill a cup and test the water that drains out of it into the cup. I took mine back and made a complaint.

 

[Kaneu]

Do you have a water softener hooked to your tap?

 

[Matthew C.]

Go with TMaier's suggestion. I had the same issue with pH. Your playing with fire with such a low pH, as most if not all BB, will die, causing you to lose your cycle. I've been using Aragonite, and it's awesome​, pH has remained at a constant 7.4 and things are going great! I am using about 1.5 cups in my canister. Just remember to rinse, rinse, and rinse to remove small dust particles, otherwise, the tank will turn cloudy.

 

[Davon]

I don't have a canister filter. Do I just put some in a mesh bag of some sort or something like pantry hose?

The plastic log on the left is open at the top. When I picked it up it didn't drain so I guess water is flowing freely through it. And I don't have a water softener. It's just city water.

 

[Matthew C.]

Mesh bag would be fine, just make sure that you have sufficient water flow through it to allow it to work.

 

[Davon]

Ok. I just tested my tap water. It's 6.6. It's been a week since I did a 90% water change. I haven't had fish so I was waiting til tonight to do another 90% change since I was going to get fish tomorrow. I'll buy the argonite at the store too. I've struggled through this entire cycle with my pH.

 

[TMaier]

Is you are using an HOB you can put the mesh bag in there if it has room. That is what I used to do.

 

[Matthew C.]

Just know that the Aragonite will raise the pH, however, it is not an instant result, it will take a day to a couple days for you to see the results. It is so much more a safer increase, than using any pH down or up products, where a drastic change in pH can be fatal to do.

 

[Davon]

I'm hoping that the water change will raise it some and not dosing it with ammonia anymore will keep it from crashing long enough for the argonite to work.

 

[TMaier]

I'm hoping that the water change will raise it some and not dosing it with ammonia anymore will keep it from crashing long enough for the argonite to work.

Sounds like a plan.

BTW don't load too many fish at one time. You wanna make sure your bacteria can increase and handle the bioload.

 

[Davon]

I think we are just doing 5 or 6 fish this weekend. The tank is currently processing 4 ppm of ammonia in about 30 hours or so.

 

[TMaier]

Okie dokie. I hate it when I see a post like....

Finished cycling my tank and added 20 neons today....

 

[Davon]

Lol yeah me too and I'm new at this. Trying hard to keep my impatience in check and do everything slow and right because I'm more interested in the long term benefits of my tank. I am truly interested in building a strong "ecosystem" instead of just something pretty to look at. I just didn't want to take on too much with trying to learn about plants AND fish at the same time and over treat the tank with chemicals and hurting either. I figure the fish were my ultimate desire and once I get them established and comfortable I can start working on and learning about plants.

 

[TMaier]

Many fish will do better for you with plants. It breaks up visual space and gives them places to hunker down. It reduces their stress. And the plants convert the nitrate to make more plant. The trick is "easy" plants. Nothing fussy or needy.