Newbie pH Problem

[jdholback]

Hey all,

Just found your community here and am already finding it helpful. Glad I stumbled on it!

I have a 10 gallon tank with a 29w florescent bulb. I have a chunk of drift wood with a couple java ferns growing on it and a few antique bottles sitting in the pea sized gravel. There are two neon tetras and two snails in there as well.

I'd love to add a couple more fish, but need to get the pH under control first (it's currently 7.6 - 7.8 and the fish seem happy and well adjusted to it). I tried a couple doses of regular pH chemical adjuster but it had little to no affect.

I have an air stone going all the time, but after reading some here I'm thinking I should turn it off at night. The java fern is doing fine. It's not really flourishing, but not dying either. Do I have a C02 problem?

Any help?

 

[Fresh2o]

I don't see where the problem is. What do think the pH should be?
Ph between 6.5-8.0 are acceptable to most fish with proper acclimation.
Adjusting it can cause more problems than they fix.


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[jdholback]

Well I only figured there was a problem because I lost 4 tetras within a day or two of purchasing them. I figured it was due to the high pH. I guess I was shooting for 7.0

 

[Fresh2o]

Having a stable pH is more important trying to attain a target value. pH fluctuations can be harmful to fish.
More importantly, do you know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels in your tank? If not, I would get a decent liquid based test kit (e.g. - API Freshwater Master).


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[jdholback]

The ammonia nitrite and nitrate levels are all close to 0. From doing some reading, it sounds like I should consider dosing the tank with some nutrients for the plants.

I guess I can forget about adjusting the pH.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Fresh2o]

How long has the tank been running? Zero ammonia and nitrite sound fine. The zero nitrate is odd; suggests an uncycled tank. Or a very aggressive water change schedule.
Back to your first post, you don't have to turn off the air stone at night.


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[jdholback]

The tanks been going for about 4 or 5 months now. I do a 30% change every couple weeks.

 

[Fresh2o]

With that water change schedule the zero nitrate really does not make sense. I would expect it to be in the 80-160 range (hence why folks usually change 25-50% per week to keep it down).
Which test kit are you using? The API nitrate test is known to give odd results if the reagents are not properly mixed before and during testing.


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[jdholback]

I do use the liquid API test kit and I know the nitrate test is a little particular. I just checked all three levels again, being careful with the nitrate test, and found that the ammonia level is between 0 - .25, the nitrite is 0, and the nitrate is 0.