pH drop?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
What ratio of spring water to tap are you using? Do you use this same ratio when doing every pwc and top-off?
 
I was attempting to avoid a mini ammonia spike this PWC and so I poured it very slowly through the (not running) filter- didn't stir up much. The vacuuming could have done it I suppose though.

Should I wait on getting more fish until my pH evens out or are these small swings not much of a problem? The fish in the tank are acting completely normally but introducing new ones might be a little hard on them I would think.


Alaris- it's about 50/50. I'm really only using the spring water because I have some left over from filling the tank. The tap I use to help even out the temperature but I will eventually go to straight tap PWCs. After filling the tank the pH was 7-7.2 for several days so I'm assuming that's what the spring water pH is (I keep forgetting to test it as well).

With weekly PWCs and a good hood only need to top off if I pull water out (IE if I'm sticking my arms in to avoid waterfalls over the sides of the tank). If I do so I try to put that water back in or just leave it til the next PWC.
 
Have you tested your spring water for pH? Since you're mixing the two, if the spring water has no KH that would explain what your seeing.

Oh and what plants are you keeping? Some plants can strip the water of KH to make use of the the CO2 released. This would only explain a slow drop, not a sudden one after a water change.
 
Mostly anacharis and then a plant I haven't ID'd yet... er, just did- anubias of some sort. probably the common variety.

I'll try a straight tap PWC next time to see what happens.
 
bluerose said:
Should I wait on getting more fish until my pH evens out or are these small swings not much of a problem? The fish in the tank are acting completely normally but introducing new ones might be a little hard on them I would think.
Click to expand...

Yes, you should wait! Fish are extremely sensitive to pH swings. New fish are stressed out from being maybe not in the best conditions to begin with and now must adjust. Wait until adding any more fish. You must figure out how to keep your pH stable.
 
A slight PH change after a water change is normal. After few hours it should go back to where it was though.
 
I'll do another PWC today (the gravel needs vacuuming anyway- I stirred a little of it up with my MagFloat yesterday and apparently I missed a spot) and see if the pH gets wonky again.

thanks guys :)
 
OK. Tested spring water (pH 7.6) and tap that had sat out 24h (pH 7.6 as yesterday).

Tank is still at 6.4 as it was yesterday. Will post with pH after a full-tap PWC (starting that soon).

Thanks for sticking with me guys...


OK: pH is now 6.8-7, 2 and a half hours after a 25% straight tap water PWC.

I'll test again tomorrow morning.
 
You have strange water there .... The usual carbonate buffered water at 7.6 pH should have lots of buffering capacity to resist pH drops. The only thing that would make sense is if the water is actually soft & had been doctored with something like NaOH. <They add that in tap water to increase pH to decrease pipe corrosion, but why would you see it in spring water??>

NaOH is a strong base, so it can increase the pH with a relatively smaller amounts added. However, a strong base will not act as a buffer, and the pH of the water will drop in proportion with amount of acid added. So I guess if your tap water has a strong base, and you have an acid source in your tank, you can see pH drop.

The way to settle this would be to do the KH test of your tap water to see how much buffering capacity it has.
 
I'm intending on picking up a KH test kit tomorrow provided it's not terribly expensive.

The spring water I'll retest tomorrow after 24h out, but I don't expect a difference as it's in a big jug (one of the 2.5gal dispensers).
 
Tank pH as of this morning is back down to 6.4.

ARGH!!!

Retested just for kicks- still 6.4. I guess my tank just likes that pH as that's what it's been all week since my PWC on monday, aside from the rise last night after that PWC.

So now my question is... what do I do about my PWCs that have a pH of 7.6? That kind of fluctuation can't really be good. I'm only doing 25% at a time once a week or so but it's still concerning.
 
It is disconcerting to see such a big pH gap between the tap & tank. If the tank pH is rock steady, there would be something in there leaching out to buffer your water to that pH. you might then accept that pH & acclimatize your fish to that. <Of course, I am making a big assumption ..... you would want to test the buffering capacity of your system to be safe.>

If you were to keep your tank pH as is, AND there is enough buffering capacity, you should be able to do small pwc using your tap. I would guess about 10% at a time. However, I would test the pH after a pwc & make sure there is no swing more than 0.2

If your tap KH is low (as I suspect), an alternative is to add cc or enough bicarb to buffer that water to 7.8 or so. Hopefully that would be enough buffer to keep the pH from going down in the tank ... then you won't have to worry so much when you do pwc.

BTW - it might be worthwhile to see if your water co. posts its water analysis result. If we know what your tap water composition is exactly <their results will be much more accurate than any tests we buy>, we can better deal with it.
 
jsoong said:
If your tap KH is low (as I suspect), an alternative is to add cc or enough bicarb to buffer that water to 7.8 or so. Hopefully that would be enough buffer to keep the pH from going down in the tank ... then you won't have to worry so much when you do pwc.
Click to expand...

This is what seems really off. bluerose lists their location as Southern California. We drink rocks out here. I can't believe any water district in Southern Cali has soft water.

Bluerose, is there any chance there is a water softening unit on your water somewhere?

Beyond that, I'd say get some Kh readings from both tap and tank. More information means less guessing.

Edited: Oppsie my bad is that Southern Canada?
 
I'm still working on a KH test kit (went in to get one and came out with a sick betta... umm regardless they only had a KH test in a huge $50 kit)

I am in southern california- the water at my house is pretty hard but I'm in a dorm... so I don't know if they're running softening units here and I doubt I can find out. They're not terribly forthcoming with information. The water isn't entirely drinkable due to the taste, does that count? :lol:
 
I think I've seen that kit... Petco just didn't have it is all. I think my other LFS probably will.

Would a wacky pH influence algae growth?... I had some BBA that came in on my anubias and now I'm getting hair algae and some other kind as well- eek!!!

Cories aren't big fans of algae apparently...?
 
BBA is generally a result of low fluctuating CO2 levels. If the BBA hasn't spread since you introduced the plant, then just remove the affected leaves or treat with Flourish Excel. BBA is one of those algaes that doesn't tend to go away on it's own when the root problem is fixed.

Here's a couple of articles on algae.

GWAPA Article
Steve Hampton Article
 
Uhhhh-oh.

I got a KH kit.

"Note: If you experience an immediate color change (the sample immediately turns yellow with no blue intermediate color forming) then your water sample is likely to be extremely soft with less than 1 degree of hardness."

Blue?

WHAT BLUE?!

So... my tank water is really soft.


The tap took 8 drops of reagent to change colors- so it has a KH of 8 then? the instructions are confusing.
 
So did the test water turn immediately yellow or did it take 8 drops for it to turn yellow?

From the way I'm reading it you add drops until the sample turns yellow. It should turn blue first then after so many drops it will turn yellow. If it turns yellow with the first drop, the you have 1dKH. If it takes 8 drops to turn yellow, then you have 8dKH. Basically every drop needed to turn the sample yellow is equal to 1dKH.
 
I tested both my tank and the tap.

The tank water never turned blue although it took a few drops to really be yellowish. (1 or less than 1dKH)
The tap water took 8 drops to turn yellow after turning blue. (8dKH)

Does that make more sense?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Guppy Troubles - High pH?
Replies
3
Views
628
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
C
Measuring PH accurately
Replies
3
Views
375
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
J
High PH
Replies
5
Views
406
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
J
Nitrates up, pH and total alkalinity down
Replies
13
Views
462
Airborne 82nd
A
J
Oil surface cause may be damaging my tank?
2
Replies
35
Views
1K
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom