how to get pH down???

[courtanee]

I have tried water changes, I've been using pH minus additives. Its around 8.5 or so. I can't get it to go down. I've already lost a couple fish and one fire shrimp. Nitrates and nitrites are fine, ammonia is 0

 

[courtanee]

I've also tested the water from the tap and its a 7.4 pH

 

[Kwhite]

I fought this too and ended up buying ph regulating tablets. You drop them in the water and they buffer the water.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Check the decorations or rocks you have in your tank. Any limestone or sand stone laden object can raise PH. Seashells or anytrhing like that is causing the trouble. A jump from a Tap PH at 7.4 to a tank PH of 8.5 had something in the tank raising the PH! Try removing decorations and stones, next you can add drift wood, and finally as a last resort, you can use white vinegar over several days and take measurements. Remember .2 drop in PH per 24 hours is doable, but use caution and watch your fish closely. If you don't want to do any of these steps, switch to African Cichlids which like higher PH levels.

 

[Bbush]

What kind of fish do you have?

 

[courtanee]

Dawyne:
I don't have any decorations its a planted 15 gallon with driftwood. I've tried using pH minus and it doesn't seem to he doing anything. I have lots of moss and plants


I have guppies in my tank which are the ones that are dying.
I also have red cherry shrimp and assassin snails but they are doing fine

 

[dragonfisher33]

what's the pH for the water out of your faucet? i'm surprised by the high pH

 

[courtanee]

what's the pH for the water out of your faucet? i'm surprised by the high pH

Out of the faucet its about a 7.2-7.4.
I'm surprised too. My tank has always been very stable.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Out of the faucet its about a 7.2-7.4.
I'm surprised too. My tank has always been very stable.

can you take a couple pictures of the tank so that we have a better idea of the setup? i'm surprised that the pH is so high if there's no decor that will raise the pH.

 

[courtanee]

I can once I get home. Maybe I can find an old one.

 

[courtanee]

Here's one from about a week ago, nothing a changed though. Except for less fish

 

[Damarferg]

Here's one from about a week ago, nothing a changed though. Except for less fish

Go get freshwater buffer it will work fast to get it back up

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Adding tabs or other additives will raise your TDS which has its own set of problems. What is in your substrate? If you can get hold of R/O water it will help a lot. Maybe go to a bare bottom tank and start from there. Try a few drops of white vinegar added to your water changes. Remember that white vinegar has a PH in the 3s so go slowly. Treat the water during your Water changes....not the tank. Lower the PH slowly to prevent shock. White vinegar is cheap usually around $2.50 per gallon, and much cheaper than prepared solutions. I suggest starting over if you can. The problem is somewhere in your tank.

 

[courtanee]

Go get freshwater buffer it will work fast to get it back up

I have those, I've been using them since Tuesday with no results. I'm so baffled. I'm honestly really worried about my shrimp. They're fire red shrimp and I've had a big success with breeding them I haven't lost one yet but I'm nervous about losing all of them as well

 

[dwayne.aycock]

How long has your tank been up and running? is your tank still cycling? A high PH with even a small amount of amonia is a death nail to fish. A liquid CO2 can also help

 

[courtanee]

Adding tabs or other additives will raise your TDS which has its own set of problems. What is in your substrate? If you can get hold of R/O water it will help a lot. Maybe go to a bare bottom tank and start from there. Try a few drops of white vinegar added to your water changes. Remember that white vinegar has a PH in the 3s so go slowly. Treat the water during your Water changes....not the tank. Lower the PH slowly to prevent shock. White vinegar is cheap usually around $2.50 per gallon, and much cheaper than prepared solutions. I suggest starting over if you can. The problem is somewhere in your tank.

I will try the white vinegar thing. And probably going to switch to RO after this. My substrates is eco complete. Not gravel or anything.

 

[courtanee]

How long has your tank been up and running? is your tank still cycling? A high PH with even a small amount of amonia is a death nail to fish. A liquid CO2 can also help

My tank has been up for around 7 or 8 months. I started dosing CO2 liquid since Tuesday as well.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Hmmmmm! that is very preplexing. How old is your filter carbon etc. If it is more that 3-4 weeks old, it is exhausted and could be leaching toxins back into your tank. If you are using preparations to lower PH as well as running charcoal, the charcoal could be stunting your progress by counteracting all that you are doing......try removing carbon during your next WC, use white vinegar and measure over several days. be sure to add O2 (airstones) to help the BB colony

 

[courtanee]

Hmmmmm! that is very preplexing. How old is your filter carbon etc. If it is more that 3-4 weeks old, it is exhausted and could be leaching toxins back into your tank. If you are using preparations to lower PH as well as running charcoal, the charcoal could be stunting your progress by counteracting all that you are doing......try removing carbon during your next WC, use white vinegar and measure over several days. be sure to add O2 (airstones) to help the BB colony

I changed my filter inserts about 1.5 weeks ago, this happened on Sunday.
I haven't been using charcoal I will try removing the carbon portion of the filter too. Yeah I've been scratching my head over this one too.

 

[hecurcia]

Have you been playing with the substrate? Eco complete usually raises pH at the beginning but it will later stabilize. Also, liquid CO2 does not alter pH so it won't matter.