ph problems

[sillygirl423]

Lfs is telling me not to put crushed coral in tank it will sky rocket my ph, but its at like 6.2 right now. I thought I could use it in small amounts is the lfs wrong?

 

[jcolon]

Yep ... I'd say they're wrong about the sky rocket part. Crushed coral will raise pH but shouldn't do it so substantially. Many members have use cc, Limestone or Marble to raise pH and no one's reported a super high pH change.

Use small amounts, measure pH and then go from there.

 

[eco23]

Yep ... I'd say they're wrong about the sky rocket part. Crushed coral will raise pH but shouldn't do it so substantially. Many members have use cc, Limestone or Marble to raise pH and no one's reported a super high pH change.

Use small amounts, measure pH and then go from there.

+1. Add it slowly over the course of time so the sudden swing in pH and alkalinity isn't a shock to the fish. Initially I added too much (a couple handfuls), and it shot me up to 7.8 in a matter of minutes from around 7.2. Just start with a tiny scoop, wait for a while, test, and slowly add more over a few days.

 

[sillygirl423]

That's what I thought,?? I had my bf stop and pick it up after work and the lady there told him its only for brackish tanks and it'll sky rocket my ph....huh isn't it funny she sold him a 20 lb bag anyway?

 

[sillygirl423]

I figured I'd measure it in table spoons. Trying one or two tops then wait about a day. Is that right?

 

[eco23]

Just for the record for anyone reading this, I personally used CC simply for buffering...not adjusting pH (my kH is through the basement). I'd normally recommend against adjusting pH unless it is in extreme ranges. IMO...6.2 is pushing the limit of being an extreme range.

 

[eco23]

That amount seems about right. (assuming the tank isn't tiny).

What is the pH directly from your tap? Have you left a glass sitting out with an airstone in it overnight and checked the level after that time? Also, how often do you do pwc's?

 

[jpchin]

i would suggest adding the crushed coral to the water in a media bag. that's a little cloth bag with a drawstring closure. you can get them at all the chain fish stores. if you scatter the coral on the bottom of the tank and your ph goes too high it's hard to scrape up all that coral. however if you use the bag and everything is alright after a few days or weeks you can then dump it out on the bottom of the tank. good luck

 

[eco23]

i would suggest adding the crushed coral to the water in a media bag. that's a little cloth bag with a drawstring closure. you can get them at all the chain fish stores. if you scatter the coral on the bottom of the tank and your ph goes too high it's hard to scrape up all that coral. however if you use the bag and everything is alright after a few days or weeks you can then dump it out on the bottom of the tank. good luck

Agreed, and rinse it really, really well. It'll still likely cloud your water for a while...but it clears up quickly.

 

[sillygirl423]

Tank is 55g ph was fine until new fish were added and ammonia spiked been doing daily water changes since sunday but ph is now 6.2

 

[jpchin]

have you tested your tap water's ph? test the water straight from the tap and see what you get. also what is your ammonia level now? i would worry about any ammonia vs ph. do you use liquid test kit? that is the most accurate. i had an ammonia spike once when i added fish. i had to do a 25% water change every
day for a week to get it down. also cleaned the gravel really well to remove extra dirt. only clean 1/3 to 1/2 of the aquarium gravel at one time. wait 5 days and clean the other section.

 

[jpchin]

have you tested your tap water's ph? test the water straight from the tap and see what you get. also what is your ammonia level now? i would worry about any ammonia vs ph. do you use liquid test kit? that is the most accurate. i had an ammonia spike once when i added fish. i had to do a 25% water change every
day for a week to get it down. also cleaned the gravel really well to remove extra dirt. only clean 1/3 to 1/2 of the aquarium gravel at one time. wait 5 days and clean the other section.

forgot to tell you to extend the gravel cleaning wand deep into the gravel and not just the surface. i think you'll be surprised to see how much gunk comes out. that could be your ammonia problem.

 

[sillygirl423]

I am cycling a 20 gallon tank it ran for a day with nothing in it and the ph was like 8. Last time we cleaned the gravel we got down in there real good, yeah it gets pretty nasty

 

[kc2ped]

The pH in my heavily planted nano community tank has been in the low 6s and my pico shrimp tank has been steady at 6.5 and my KH is 1st or below. The other day I noticed that the tow whorls of my Nerite Snale had disolved so I figured it was time to try something other Thames my weekly 50% water changes. I picked up one of those little sacks and a lifetime supply of aragonite since 10# was cheaper than a pint jar of it. I filled the bad with enough rock to cover the width of the filter chamber, about 2 cups. I washed it and added it to the tank. I let the wash water settle and poured the supernatant liquid off and found a couple of teaspoons of very fine sand which I dumped into the shrimp tank. About an hour later I was doing my weekly water test and water change and found the pH was up at 7.6. As soon as I finished all the tests on that tank I tested the nano and it was up to 7.8 from 6.0 or below. So adding aragonite can cause pH to skyrocket. Rather than have it yo-yo too much I am leaving the tanks alone until next Sunday and if the pH is still high, although not out of the range of most of my fish, I will consider removing some of the aragonite. The KH hasn't changed on either tank yet but the drop checker in the nano is bluer than it has ever been.