PH

[lightning]

What lowers waters PH ?
my water supply is 7.8
my tank is running 7.4
i do weekly water changes of 6 gallons for a 55 gal tank, i have about 10lbs of holey rock in the tank, but the ph still stays low

 

[jaws2]

use a chemical it does not harm the fish and works

 

[lightning]

i guess i should mention that i want the higher ph, and im wondering what is causing it to drop, i also add a tablespoon of sea salt to the water i add when i do the weekly water changes

 

[Avalon]

There could be several things. Since it is lowering in your tank, it could be due to a lack of a buffer, or hardness.

Try adding crushed coral in the gravel or coral decorations. That will bump up the pH and hardness some.

 

[lightning]

is it hard on the fish to add a "chemical" to bring the PH up?, i thought having the hard water plus the holey rock would fix me up,
i guess im confused on the buffer issue

 

[SoulFish]

i would not use chemicals, it is hard on fish because it causes sudden change in fish and it is best not to use chemicals when you dotn have to, crushed coral bags in your filter will harden water, shells, limestone, crushed coral added into your substrate will also harden water, you could also do what i do and add 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp epsom salt and 1 tblspn instant ocean to your water at every water changes, this will harden the water

 

[RedTurquoise]

My question is why do you want a higher pH? I do not know if it is difficult on the fish itself by using a chemical! What is hard on a fish is a varying pH!

 

[lightning]

well i have a tank with cichlids in it, and from what i have read and from what everyone says they need the higher ph water,
its staying at 7.4 still, im going to try soulfishes water mixture on my next water change and i finnaly got my holey rock, 50 lbs werth, that should do something as well, going to put those in when i do my water change, they are bleach soaking right now

 

[SoulFish]

if you let your tap water sit out for a day youll probably find it goes down to 7.4, id do the mix i use, ive been using it for over a year now and works perfect, id also start doing large water changes, minimum 10gal for a 55 once a week

 

[lightning]

yeah i either use 1- 6 gal or 2 -5 gallon jugs when i do my water change i add the salt and the water treatment stuff to the jug and and they usually sit 3-4 days before i put them in the tank,

 

[lightning]

hey souldfish i have been using doc wellfish's aquarium salt, is that the same thing as instant ocean ? im going to mix up a batch of your water recepie and was just wonderin

 

[SoulFish]

it should be ok, how much does it say to use for full marine?

 

[lightning]

it doesnt have a full marine mixture, it is for freshwater, it recomends 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons

 

[wayne]

Soulfish - why don't you just use more epsom salts and baking soda and dump the instant ocean? It doesn't do anything for KH, there not much NaCl in the rift lakes , and hardening water with marine salt mixes might cause malawi bloat. I think the marine salt thing just predates better salt mixes - I don't think anyone round here (or most of Europe) does it now, and I don't here too much moaning about bloat

 

[lightning]

ok soulfish i used your recepie on this water change, i put the amounts you suggested in 5 gal of water, what is your starting out ph? is adding the baking soda raising the ph?