Tank water doesn't make any sense

[Spencer1044]

Ok so I have 29 gallon tank. 3 Corys 2 longfin serpe tetra 3 neon tetra and 4 mollies. So I made a Co2 system and was told to turn of my air pump so the Co2 would desolve better. After a day with the pump off the PH rose from 7.2 to 8.4 in a day. I turned the pump back on and added another one to get the PH down and its at 7.2 again. Does anyone know how I can keep my PH down without having the pump on. The Co2 by itself isn't enough to keep it down.

 

[foxyhasswag]

Buy a ph 7.0 kit u add it to your tank and goes to 7

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[Spencer1044]

Does anyone know of a natural way. I dont like to have too much additives in my tank

 

[freshfindles]

Driftwood will lower pH some.

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[Khuligirl93]

So if I understand correctly, your air pumps are lowering your pH?
This sounds very strange to me. Air pumps should not change pH. Normally adding CO2 lowers the pH. And having air pumps running while using CO2 will cause it to leave the water and go into the air, which is not what you want because it wastes the CO2.
I'm not sure what's going on, what are you measuring pH with? Was there anything else you did differently in the tank before the pH rose?

 

[Spencer1044]

I'm using the test kit with the little drip bottles. And no all I did was turn off the air pump. I started the Co2 back up again and took the air pump tube and put it inside the filter because for some reason its lowering the ph

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Can u describe your CO2 system? Is it a DIY using paint ball co2 or yeast & sugar?

Working backwards: we know you are not adding an acid or a base, just co2 gas. Same for the air stone, just O2. Thus, the airstone must be creating movement such that somewhere acid is being released. So my guess is that your gravel has a lot of debris b/c in the beginning of the nitrogen cycle pH goes down ( nitrites / negative ions).

Next time you turn the air stone off, lightly stir the gravel every hour or thereabouts. See what the pH you get.

 

[Spencer1044]

It's a DIY with sugar and yeast its producing about 1 bubble per second. But now that ive taken the air tubes out the water is all cloudy