Please Help - PH Dropping!

[Cynic]

Hi all,

One of my three tanks is currently experiencing a PH emergency and I have no idea how to stop it

All my tanks generally stay at 7.0, potentially dropping down to 6.9 at some point.

However my community tank is currently sitting at 6.5 which is very worrying for me.

The timeline went like this...

• Yesterday morning - Discover PH6.1, change 25% of the water, return PH to 6.9
• Yesterday afternoon - Discover PH6.5, change 25% of the water return PH to 7.0
• This morning - Discover PH6.5, go to work worried and confused, post on Aquarium Advice

Here is everything I know of that tank and why this tank differs from my others...

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 60 (Checked pre water changes, likely lower now)

200L tank - Approx 180L of water not including substrate
Pool Filter Sand substrate (Other tanks have gravel)
Eheim 2217 Filter
300w Heater
Stingray Filter running as potential QT sponge filter

The tank has four anubias plants on driftwood in it, however this is less driftwood that my one of my other tanks which is remaining constant.

The fish is stocked with...

5 Kuhli Loach
6 Julii Cory
6 Peppered Julii
6 Panda Cory
6 Bronze Cory
10 Neon Tetra
10 Harlequin Rasbora
2 Otto
4 Platy
2 Guppy
1 Molly
1 Betta

I'm really confused as to what to do, Google searches has given me nothing, and I'm worried that the PH will be even lower than 6.5 when I get home tonight

Cheers in advance

 

[Cynic]

Bad news, good news and a question...

Bad news - The tank had a PH value of 5.9...

Good news - No dead fish yet

Question - I did come up with another change I had made recently to the tank I did not previously consider, I replaced the Eheim wool pad with filter wool from a big bulk bag of filter wool.

Now I did not wash the wool prior to use as advised by the product; could this wool be responsible for my abnormally low PH?

 

[Ardynas]

I've found that the pH on my planted 150 gal tends to slowly drop between PWC's. I think it has to do with the higher nitrates and (for me) a slightly high bio load (about 45 fish). My nitrate level from my tap is 5-10.

Depending on how long I wait between PWC's I've seen it drop below 6. After changes it can go up to 7. Tap water comes out around 8.3 and if I gas the water overnight it settles at 7.5 but the water goes directly into the tank (aqueon water hose).

I've been trying to get my tank to where I can do just one 50% PWC a week. However at this point I've been doing two 30% PWC's a week to avoid pH shock.

I probably feed too much. I feed twice a day with several pinches of pellets (not allowing too many to hit the bottom) and two pinches of flakes.

Are you using RO or distilled water?

I think you are OK as long as it's not in the 5's or 9's and it's stable.

 

[blert]

That is a ton of fish in a 40ish gallon tank. This might be why your pH is dropping. The bacteria use up the buffer minerals in the water while processing the toxins allowing your pH to drop. You could try buffering your water with some crushed coral in you filter or do more frequent PWCs.

 

[librarygirl]

That is a ton of fish in a 40ish gallon tank. This might be why your pH is dropping. The bacteria use up the buffer minerals in the water while processing the toxins allowing your pH to drop. You could try buffering your water with some crushed coral in you filter or do more frequent PWCs.

I agree with Blert. Actually I'd recommend both: add a few pinches of crushed coral to your filter (sold in most pet/fish stores in the saltwater section, only downside is that they sell it in large bags and you only need a small amount) and up your water change schedule. How often do you change water now and how much? Your nitrates were rather high before the water change so that's an indication that your tank is overstocked and/or you're not doing enough water changes.

 

[Cynic]

Update

I removed the wool I thought could be responsible, did another PWC, but this morning the PH was back at 6.0 or less

I'm starting to wonder if the substrate could be the problem? It just seems that there must be some major reason as to why the PH would/could drop at such a rate.

The PH is pool filter sand which is stated as pure sand which I believe is silica sand. Isn't that supposed to be PH neutral? I don't want to rush in and remove the substrate if it's not going to fix anything

I've found that the pH on my planted 150 gal tends to slowly drop between PWC's. I think it has to do with the higher nitrates and (for me) a slightly high bio load (about 45 fish). My nitrate level from my tap is 5-10.

Depending on how long I wait between PWC's I've seen it drop below 6. After changes it can go up to 7. Tap water comes out around 8.3 and if I gas the water overnight it settles at 7.5 but the water goes directly into the tank (aqueon water hose).

I've been trying to get my tank to where I can do just one 50% PWC a week. However at this point I've been doing two 30% PWC's a week to avoid pH shock.

I probably feed too much. I feed twice a day with several pinches of pellets (not allowing too many to hit the bottom) and two pinches of flakes.

Are you using RO or distilled water?

I think you are OK as long as it's not in the 5's or 9's and it's stable.

I just use water straight out of the tap (Post conditioning of course). I tested my waters natural PH this morning, by leaving a cup with an airstone in it overnight and got a reading of 8.1 like yours which surprised me.

My PH has reached a low of 5.9 before I did an emergency water change so I'm a bit concerned as to how low it will go.

That is a ton of fish in a 40ish gallon tank. This might be why your pH is dropping. The bacteria use up the buffer minerals in the water while processing the toxins allowing your pH to drop. You could try buffering your water with some crushed coral in you filter or do more frequent PWCs.

It is a lot of fish but I didn't really think I was overstocked...is this the case? If it will keep my PH levels at a reasonable level I will move some of them on.

I don't think PWCs will help here, I've been doing them daily and the water still is incredibly low.

I will investigate the coral thanks

I agree with Blert. Actually I'd recommend both: add a few pinches of crushed coral to your filter (sold in most pet/fish stores in the saltwater section, only downside is that they sell it in large bags and you only need a small amount) and up your water change schedule. How often do you change water now and how much? Your nitrates were rather high before the water change so that's an indication that your tank is overstocked and/or you're not doing enough water changes.

I was doing a 25% water change every week, that was planned to be upped to two 25% changes a week.

Does a few pinches equal a teaspoon of coral? More? Less?

Also, thanks again for the replies, I'm really getting stressed out trying to sort this out before I come home to a tank full of upside down fish

 

[blert]

IMO, yes, you are overstocked, especially your bottom dwellers. You have 59 ~2 inch fish in less than 40 gallons of water.

Crushed coral is a trial and error thing. Start with a small amount, a couple tablespoons, and see what happens over the next 36 hours. If your pH is still low then add another tablespoon or two and check again in 36 hours. If you need to take some out then remove a pinch or two and check again in 36 hours. Repeat until it holds at your target pH. You will need to keep an eye on things though and with that load of fish I would probably up your PWC schedule to at least 30% twice a week but it may take two 50% PWCs a week to get it under control.

Also consider moving out some of the fish to other tanks so the load on this tank is relaxed a bit.

^JMO. Someone else may have a better idea.

 

[Cynic]

IMO, yes, you are overstocked, especially your bottom dwellers. You have 59 ~2 inch fish in less than 40 gallons of water.

Crushed coral is a trial and error thing. Start with a small amount, a couple tablespoons, and see what happens over the next 36 hours. If your pH is still low then add another tablespoon or two and check again in 36 hours. If you need to take some out then remove a pinch or two and check again in 36 hours. Repeat until it holds at your target pH. You will need to keep an eye on things though and with that load of fish I would probably up your PWC schedule to at least 30% twice a week but it may take two 50% PWCs a week to get it under control.

Also consider moving out some of the fish to other tanks so the load on this tank is relaxed a bit.

^JMO. Someone else may have a better idea.

Thanks mate

Will move some cories to another tank and buy some crushed coral ASAP.

Thanks again

 

[Cynic]

Update
Got home from work, PH back to 5.9, this time some dead cories and kuhlis awaited me

Now because I live in the uh anal fin of the world apparently not one of my LFS have any crushed coral currently in stock.

This time I remove all the driftwood, did another 25% water change, which brought the PH up to 7.0.

Now this morning the PH is down to 6.5 but considering the small amount of water I changed I believe this figure is a reasonable indication the driftwood may be responsible for my PH dropping at a terminal velocity speed.

Can anyone confirm the possibility my driftwood is rotting/degrading (It does feel very soft and breakable) and is dropping my PH at a fast rate?

 

[blert]

Sorry, I can't speak to that, I have never used driftwood in any of my tanks. Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel safe putting something that is already dead into my aquarium to rot. Seems like it would be too much risk.

 

[librarygirl]

I'd try doing a 50% water change and removing the DW and see if things stabilize; if so then the DW was the cause. I have very soft water and I bought some DW and soaked in a bucket for two weeks testing PH daily and each day PH would drop dramatically so I never even put it into the tank. I've tried a few different types of wood and it happened each time, so I'd remove the DW and see how things look.

 

[Cynic]

I'd try doing a 50% water change and removing the DW and see if things stabilize; if so then the DW was the cause. I have very soft water and I bought some DW and soaked in a bucket for two weeks testing PH daily and each day PH would drop dramatically so I never even put it into the tank. I've tried a few different types of wood and it happened each time, so I'd remove the DW and see how things look.

Thanks

I've already removed the driftwood and did a water change (Only 25% as worried about PH shock). Will do a 50% changes tonight as 6.5 - 7.0 shouldn't cause the fish too much stress compared to 5.9 - 7.0.

At this stage it does appear to be the problem.

 

[Cynic]

Update

Following LibraryGirl's advice I changed 50% of the tank water last night and woke up this morning to a PH of 7.2

Now comes the tricky part of testing how much driftwood I can put back in the tank without causing another major PH drop.

Either way everything seems under control and while I lost a few fish due to my stubbornness to believe driftwood could lower PH so dramatically I'll take the lesson in my stride and move on

Thanks again to Ardynas, Blert & LibraryGirl for your help

 

[librarygirl]

Glad to see things are stabilizing. You could soak the DW in a large bucket with dechlorinated water and then test the water of the bucket and add/remove DW between tests to see what the PH does before putting it into the tank, that way the fish aren't at risk if things go south again.