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my tannk wont hold a stable ph. my tank stats are as follows-
4ft x 20 inches x 14 inches,
roughly holds 200 litres (55 gal)
running a aqua one canister cf-1000 filter
single 300 watt stainless steel heater with seperate temp probe

tank contents are-
3 male BNs (i know its alot but two are going soon)
3 pristella/x ray tetras
4 glowlight tetras
3 rummynose tetras
10 neons
3 clown loaches

and the tank wont hold a constant ph. the ph keeps dropping to acidic levels and the stress of the changes is causing some of my fish to break out in fungal infections. is it simply the bioload that is pushing the ph down?? or could it be something else? any suggestions on keeping the tank stable?? i hear crushed coral in a stocking helps keep the ph alkali?? is this tru?

right im no expert, but have you added anything new to the tank? Rocks? Driftwood? or shells anything like that?

have you tested you Kh? KH acts as a ph buffer, the higher the kh the more stable your water will be. There are chemicals that increase KH but i would use these as a last resort. also it might be worth testing your tap water for ph and kh values

does the ph swing after a water change?



Last edited by chrism at 20-Oct-2004 06:16

the ph doesnt usually swing too much after water changes. i dont have my own kh test kit atm (as the bank balance is a bit low at the moment) so ive been relying on the lfs for testing my water. they told me it was alright. i test ph myself and i can tell you that it was around 3-5 this afternoon, and around three days ago i added some ph-up stuff as my tank was around 5-6.

the ph up or down stuff, IMO never really do any good, they cause PH swings rather than keeping it stable, as they are absorbed and only work for a period of time.

your water was 3-5ph or 3.5?! sounds a very odd ph

i'm not sure what could be causing the swings, but my advice would be to do small regular water changes, maybe 10% every day to other day, to slowly get the ph to that of your tap water. most fish will do fine in water that comes out of the tap ( - chlorine etc! )

***

Oh just thought, youre not running CO2 in the tank are you? I know that can have funny effects on ph levels

Last edited by chrism at 20-Oct-2004 06:36

Hi,
First, it is normal for a tank to shift to the acidic
side as it ages and/or with a large tank population.
It is the result of organic acids from the break down
of fish,excess food, and plant material.

The amount of the shift depends upon the quantities
of the above materials, and the KH of the water.

A KH above 3 dGH,(50 ppm) will buffer that tendency.
Frequent water changes (weekly) of 10-20% will help.
A regular cleaning cycle consisting of a through
vacuuming of 1/3 of the tank each month as part of the
water change, will also help control the shift.

(Mentally divide the tank into quarters, or thirds,
and once a month, throughly vacuum the gravel of one
section. The next month to another section, and so on.)

Frank


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