4.5 Ph

[Davidsoccer22]

I have a 3 week old 25 gallon tank. My Ph is at 4.5 and the guy at the aquarium said that it will just take some time to stabilize bit the problem is that it is so bad that fish are dying. I really need some good ideas. I am adding Ph up.

 

[Ant329]

Keep doing water changes

 

[alex07]

Have you done watet change?

 

[alex07]

Baking soda can also help raise your ph

 

[jetajockey]

I wouldn't use baking soda. Along with more frequent water changes, add some crushed coral or aragonite to the substrate or in the filter, that ph is crazy low.

 

[alex07]

I wouldn't use baking soda. Along with more frequent water changes, add some crushed coral or aragonite to the substrate or in the filter, that ph is crazy low.

Why wouldn't you use baking soda?

 

[jetajockey]

because there is likely to be a GH issue that needs to be resolved as well. Plus baking soda requires periodic redosing and figuring out how much to add/maintain can be tricky.

 

[alex07]

I have a 3 week old 25 gallon tank. My Ph is at 4.5 and the guy at the aquarium said that it will just take some time to stabilize bit the problem is that it is so bad that fish are dying. I really need some good ideas. I am adding Ph up.

How often do you do a water change?

 

[ldaniel]

Why wouldn't you use baking soda?

I would not use baking soda due to it can react with the water at that pH. it shouldnt but it could. if it does it will release CO2 and raise the temp. and then you just add to the problem. i would just do a few back to back water changes.

Find the problem and fix it, dont just add a bandaid

 

[Davidsoccer22]

I do 15% every week

 

[mr.waffles1842]

15% right? every week? after the problem goes away, id suggest you change that to 25%. every other week, do a 25%, and the weeks when you dont do 25%, do 35%. it helps to balance the minerals your bacteria are getting and the bacteria there to use them i believe. but i digress. cani have your stock before this problem occured, then right now?

 

[Davidsoccer22]

I have a carbon filter designed to absorb ammonia. Would that also be absorbing the ph up chemicals I use?

 

[Vircomore]

A bigger question is - what is the PH of the water out of your faucet? A PH of 4.5 doesn't seem possible from any potable water source, and if it is really coming out of your tap that acidic, then you should really get in touch with someone because that water isn't safe for human use, let alone in an aquarium.

 

[librarygirl]

The tank is 3 weeks old with fish.....was it cycled before you added the fish or no? If not and the tank is cycling, you could also be having problems with ammonia which could be contributing to the fish death also. Are there any fish left in the tank? Can you post water paramaters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)? Check out the links in my signature.

Also testing the water from the tap is a great idea, to see if it's that low from the tap as well. If not, then something in the aquarium could be contributing to the PH crashes.

 

[Ant329]

Crushed coral is often used to keep your ph around the same number.. Doubt that it will raise it i could be wrong

 

[slitherbomb]

Crushed coral raises the ph to around 7.8 - 8 I think and keeps it stable by releasing sodium carbonate, or something like that.

 

[Davidsoccer22]

My tap water is 7.1 ph. 0 nitrate 0 nitrite, 1.0ppm ammonia and I did not cycle my tank.

 

[ilostnemo]

I have a 3 week old 25 gallon tank. My Ph is at 4.5 and the guy at the aquarium said that it will just take some time to stabilize bit the problem is that it is so bad that fish are dying. I really need some good ideas. I am adding Ph up.

like a public aquarium?

 

[ilostnemo]

use akaline and acid buffer by seachem itll fix that

 

[BakerBoy17]

I would do a 50% water change now. And I wouldn't use any buffers. Only natural ways. Like sea shells or crushed corals like others said. But your ammonia is really high so you need to keep doing water changes until its at least under .25%