Drift wood

[Rivercats]

Do you know your taps Ph by chance? If not you should put some tap water in a cup/dish and aerate it (or stir it off and on) for 24 hours to gas it off and test to see what the actual ph is. Reason I'm asking is I'm curious as to what Ph your water is starting out as.

Also in an established tank you don't need to use the Stability. Your BB is mostly in your bio-media in your filter. Plus with a Ph as low as yours it's not working anyway. So all that being said, test your tab ph as described above, stop using the stability, get the crushed coral in your filter, but right now add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to get some buffers in the water and test to see what your ph is tomorrow. If your DW is truely dropping your ph that low you might actually have to use both crushed coral and baking soda. You'll have to see how well the crushed coral works and if it needs help you might have to dose baking soda after WC's even with the crushed coral. Right now it's hard to say until you see how well the crushed coral is going to work in your tank.

 

[phishfriend]

My driftwood has been in the tank for 2 months. I boiled it for 12 hours to remove tannins. It is still making the PH of the tank 6.0. @&$)/-?! ;( Now none of the fish have died except Pleco but that is VERY low. I add Neutral Regulaor to up to at least 6.5 PH. But it drops right back down . Water is not cloudy anymore (yellow). But my fish like the "black water". They are Rainbows and Corys. What else can I do to raise PH a little ? 29g cube. Huge piece of driftwood

yup! Just add some crushed coral. start with a small amount and test after two days. If you still need it to be high just add more and test again after two days. just remember that it will need to be replaced every few months

 

[bkiggy]

Interesting.... I did test PH out of tap but did not let it sit 24hrs. I will do that and talk back to you tomorrow
- right now as we speak PH out of tap is 7.8

 

[Rivercats]

Interesting.... I did test PH out of tap but did not let it sit 24hrs. I will do that and talk back to you tomorrow
- right now as we speak PH out of tap is 7.8

Just be sure to aerate it or stir it off and on during the 24 hour gassing off period.

 

[bkiggy]

7.8 is high out of tap

 

[Rivercats]

7.8 is high out of tap

But it's not a true reading until it's gassed off. If it was 7.8 gassed off then yes it would be high.

 

[bkiggy]

Still 7.6, I also learned today that KH effects PH and KH is 3. So I need to raise to 6

 

[phishfriend]

Still 7.6, I also learned today that KH effects PH and KH is 3. So I need to raise to 6

Easiest way to do that is buy a cuttle bone from the bird section of the pet store. And break a small pc off and put in the tank. The cuttle bone should last a long time.

 

[bkiggy]

I got Seachem Carbonate KH raiser. Have my PH at 6.8 so I was told this will help stabilize it

 

[bkiggy]

Got the PH stabilized but the tank is now cycling again. Ammonia is off the chart NO nitrItes and nitrAte is 5 (?)
I believe since PH dropped to 6.0 killed off all good BB , WC WC WC to keep ammonia under control.
However adding 2x Prime turns toxic ammonia into not harmful ammonia - correct??
I'm adding BB to the tank to hurry up cycling -- have Stability , and Colony