I have a 55 gal tank that has been set up for 2 years. I initially tried to get the PH to 7.0, but it would never go there no matter what I did. I didn’t want to make my tank a chemical soup. I have done my water changes every couple of weeks, only feed fish once a day. About 6 months ago I added live plants. Now I get algae blooms.
So I began testing the water again. I don’t have a KH/GH kit yet. After 24 hrs of letting it sit, my tap water tested this way with quick dip test strips: Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Total Hardness 25, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.8. After 48 ours of letting it sit the readings became Nitrite .5, Nitrate 20, Total Hardness 0, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 80, PH 6.2.
I tested my tank water for a few days with the following results:
Day 1 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 300, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 2 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 2 (test tubes) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, PH 6.0, Phosphate 10
At this point I added some PH up. After 24 hrs the results were:
Day 3 (test strips) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.2
Day 4 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.2
Here I did a 12% water change and vacuumed the gravel. After 24 hours the results were:
Day 5 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 300, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 5 (test tubes) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, PH 6.0, Phosphate 10, Ammonia .25
Can anyone suggest why my tank water is hard if my tap water isn’t? Is there anything I can do for the PH? Any other suggestions would be helpful. I read the forums on water chemistry, but somethings not right with mine.
I stock mollies, swordtails, gouramis, danios, plecos, tigerbarbs. I added a red tail shark recently and he died.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
So I began testing the water again. I don’t have a KH/GH kit yet. After 24 hrs of letting it sit, my tap water tested this way with quick dip test strips: Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Total Hardness 25, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.8. After 48 ours of letting it sit the readings became Nitrite .5, Nitrate 20, Total Hardness 0, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 80, PH 6.2.
I tested my tank water for a few days with the following results:
Day 1 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 300, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 2 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 2 (test tubes) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, PH 6.0, Phosphate 10
At this point I added some PH up. After 24 hrs the results were:
Day 3 (test strips) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.2
Day 4 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 150, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40, PH 6.2
Here I did a 12% water change and vacuumed the gravel. After 24 hours the results were:
Day 5 (test strips) – Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, Hardness 300, Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 0, PH 6.2
Day 5 (test tubes) – Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, PH 6.0, Phosphate 10, Ammonia .25
Can anyone suggest why my tank water is hard if my tap water isn’t? Is there anything I can do for the PH? Any other suggestions would be helpful. I read the forums on water chemistry, but somethings not right with mine.
I stock mollies, swordtails, gouramis, danios, plecos, tigerbarbs. I added a red tail shark recently and he died.
Thanks for any help you can provide.