High GH and PH

[Malmac]

Hi everyone.
I'm seeking some advice. I've have recently started up a 90lt freshwater tank 6 weeks ago.
My issue is I'm struggling to keep the PH under 8. I've l currently have 2 sucker loaches in the tank.
I've checked all parameters in the tank and ammonia., nitrate and nitrites are 0.
I've checked the KH and it's around 40-50 ppm and the GH is around 200 ppm.
I'm am currently doing weekly 15-20 Lt water changers.
I've checked the KH and GH out of my tap and there both around 30 -40 ppm and Ph is 7.8.
I've tried using PH down and get it down to around 7.2 but over night it's back up to 8.
Any advice would be great.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

picture of the tank?
what is the substrate?
what ornaments, rocks, plants etc are in the tank?
what things do you add to the water?

If the pH, GH and KH are going up in the tank, there is something in the aquarium that is raising it.

 

[Malmac]

High PH

Hey,
Thanks heaps for your reply.
I have a piece of drift wood, a plastic coral and 2 small plants.
The substrate is aqua one brand gravel which they told me wouldn't affect the water quality.
When I do water changes I use 10 litres of RO water and 10 litres of tap water and I only add API water treatment to the tap water.
I've been cycling the water now for 6 weeks and have only been testing KH and G H over the last 10 days. It hasn't changed over the 10 days so it's hard to say when the GH has risen.
I can get the Ph down to around 7.1 using PH down but by the next day it's back up to 8.

 

[Colin_T]

Get a bucket of r/o water or tap water and test the pH, GH and KH. Wait 24 hours and test it again. Then add a couple of handfuls of gravel and check the water after a week. Writ the results down as you test and see if there is a difference after a week. If not, do the same thing with the ornaments, wood and plants. These are unlikely to change water chemistry but they might. My money would be on the substrate,

 

[Malmac]

High Ph

Cheers mate. That's great thinking.
Appreciate your help.

 

[bibsthecat]

High PH

I use seachem acid buffer to control KH and PH.

 

[m.j.gomez]

Hey,

Thanks heaps for your reply.

I have a piece of drift wood, a plastic coral and 2 small plants.

The substrate is aqua one brand gravel which they told me wouldn't affect the water quality.

When I do water changes I use 10 litres of RO water and 10 litres of tap water and I only add API water treatment to the tap water.

I've been cycling the water now for 6 weeks and have only been testing KH and G H over the last 10 days. It hasn't changed over the 10 days so it's hard to say when the GH has risen.

I can get the Ph down to around 7.1 using PH down but by the next day it's back up to 8.

Hello, are you talking about hill stream loach if so the pH range is 7.0-7.8. if your tank is at a steady 8.0 then I would stop trying to adjust. The only time I would attempt to adjust if it's under 6.0, over 9.0 range or if fish are stressed. A fish can handle higher or lower better than an unstable pH(pH swing).
There are natural ways to lower pH like adding more driftwood, Indian almond leaves or peat moss. All of these have tannins so you may want to presoak to lessen the coloring of tank water. Hopefully this helps!!!!!