What Makes PH Drop so Quickly?!???

[janky]

In two of my tanks, this week alone, the PH has dropped to 6.0 or less.
We haven't done anything crazy, or out of our regular routines. Steady fresh water changes at about 15% a week. Worst case scenario, one WC missed and picked up a couple days later.

We're not overstocked, we gravel vac regularly, don't overfeed...

I have no clue why TWO of our tanks (in completely separate rooms) just crashed like this - but it's very frustrating and depressing.

So far we've lost 4 angels, 2 EBR's, a rare pleco, and 2 guppies. We scrambled to rehome or QT everyone else we could.

WHAT IS GOING ON????

Why did this happen?!?!

 

[butterfly_koi]

we gravel vac regularly,

As in everyday?

 

[christine2012]

Going to tag along. I had a ph drop from 7.5 to 6.5 in less than 8 hours in my new cycling tank. Curious about these answers to come.

 

[jlk]

Have you tested your KH? If your ph is dropping on a regular basis, then your water is likely not sufficiently buffered to maintain a stable ph. Your good bacteria use carbonates (KH) to process ammonia. As they use them up, the dwindling level carbonates (which keeps your ph stable) causes your ph to crash. Adding some crushed coral or argonite in mesh bag/piece pantyhose to your filter will help stabilize your carbonate levels & buffer your water.

 

[christine2012]

Have you tested your KH? If your ph is dropping on a regular basis, then your water is likely not sufficiently buffered to maintain a stable ph. Your good bacteria use carbonates (KH) to process ammonia. As they use them up, the dwindling level carbonates (which keeps your ph stable) causes your ph to crash. Adding some crushed coral or argonite in mesh bag/piece pantyhose to your filter will help stabilize your carbonate levels & buffer your water.

A Ph crash-bad for BB? or does it matter?

 

[jlk]

A Ph crash-bad for BB? or does it matter?

Yes, ph crashes are not a good thing for your bb. They are sensitive little creatures & dont always handle drastic ph changes very well. Once the ph hits 6 (or lower), they stop processing ammonia altogether. Drastic ph swings affect both bb & fish unfavorably. Maintaining a reasonable degree of stability provides ideal conditions for all living things in our little aquatic worlds.

 

[janky]

As in everyday?

No, just when we do the WC's.

Have you tested your KH? If your ph is dropping on a regular basis, then your water is likely not sufficiently buffered to maintain a stable ph. Your good bacteria use carbonates (KH) to process ammonia. As they use them up, the dwindling level carbonates (which keeps your ph stable) causes your ph to crash. Adding some crushed coral or argonite in mesh bag/piece pantyhose to your filter will help stabilize your carbonate levels & buffer your water.

I have never tested KH. To be honest, we've had these tanks up and running just fine for about 7 months now.
I did use some crushed coral to bring my tanks back up... but I'm worried that if/when I take it out it'll just plummet into acidity again.


Our PH doesn't crash "regularly" or anything, this is the first time it's happened.

Another thing;
All of the fish started huddling by the airstones and filter, gasping for O2..
we tested the PH and all the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite.. all fine. The PH was very acidic though, 6.0 or less.

I don't think the PH has anything to do with their O2 depletion does it?

 

[jlk]

Your fine to leave some cr coral in your filter- it doesnt need to be removed. If this is the first time this has happened & it was after a wc, then I would check your tap water's ph. Its very possible something has changed with it (ph, kh or both). Leave some tap water out with an airstone or bubbler & test the ph in 24hrs. If you dont have an extra bubbler, just give the water a good stir every so often to help release gasses. I would also consider getting your tap waters KH & GH tested- I know most lfs use strips (theres a few that dont) but it will atleast give you a 'ballpark' number to see if theres some type of issue.

Your fish gasping is likely a reaction to the acidic environment. I would have to review my biology/chemistry courses from college a 2 decades ago to give you an exact explanation, but I believe the acidic water makes it more difficult for them to assimilate oxygen through their gill membranes rather than a depletion of oxygen in the water. Hope this helps!

 

[janky]

Your fine to leave some cr coral in your filter- it doesnt need to be removed. If this is the first time this has happened & it was after a wc, then I would check your tap water's ph. Its very possible something has changed with it (ph, kh or both). Leave some tap water out with an airstone or bubbler & test the ph in 24hrs. If you dont have an extra bubbler, just give the water a good stir every so often to help release gasses. I would also consider getting your tap waters KH & GH tested- I know most lfs use strips (theres a few that dont) but it will atleast give you a 'ballpark' number to see if theres some type of issue.

Your fish gasping is likely a reaction to the acidic environment. I would have to review my biology/chemistry courses from college a 2 decades ago to give you an exact explanation, but I believe the acidic water makes it more difficult for them to assimilate oxygen through their gill membranes rather than a depletion of oxygen in the water. Hope this helps!

Ah, I just took chem and bio, so I get it... I guess I should've thought about that lol.
We did test the tap water and it read 7.4 (I think, my gf actually tested it, not me)

It had to have been something in the tanks... which is leaving me totally puzzled - we didn't really do anything different.
The EBR's we had in my big tank laid eggs and they grew a tiny layer of fungus... but this happened like THE day after I noticed it.
My girlfriends tank, however, had absolutely nothing different and her PH was just as low as mine

 

[jlk]

Make sure the tap is tested after it has sat out for 24hrs with aeration/stirring- testing it straight from the tap is not accurate. As dissolved gasses are released, your ph may change (increase or decrease). This number will be your 'true' ph.

 

[Darklight]

When my ph crashed last year, I put crushed shell into a media bag and hid it in the tank, but near an airstone. This kept my ph stable, i have acidic water here. Decided to take it out, crashed again, so put more in and everything is good at the moment at 6.8 which is great for my tank.

 

[janky]

Allright, I'll try leaving some crushed coral in and see what happens.

It just seems so bizarre to me that all of a sudden, out of nowhere, these live-able tanks just plummetted into acidity... :\

 

[jlk]

I am suspecting your water supply has changed in some aspect. There are a zillion different factors that play into the parameters of your tap water and none of them are static- excess rain/snowfall (or too little), different water sources, environmental issues (pollution, runoff, etc), changes in processing & treatment are just some examples of different possible factors that may affect your tap parameters.