PH

[Little Stinkpots]

i have a 20 breeder and i have several ramshorns,trumpet snails, guppies and i bamboo shrimp. i have been fightin with the ph since i turned it into a breeder tank. i i have acid buffer to drop it but it doesnt work very well and i dont lkeusin chemicals. i have some drift wood in there and it dropped my ph down but now it seems to be kreepin back up. i do water changes and i clean the tqnk out i just dont get it. and i need to keep the ph down to sustain my snails they are very very sensitive to high ph. i also have anachris, moneywort and some bamboo. in the tank. the water that i transfer in there is 6.8 and its well water so its free of chlorine. please help me. i have posted several postsand havent had any luck so please help its greatly appreciated

 

[ryanoh]

I thought snails needed a higher pH as the lower (meaning more acidic) it is the more harmful it is to their shells?

What I do for my snails, tons of Trumpet Snails and a Nerite, is let the pH be whatever it is but I have a cuddle bone stuck in my filter to dissolve the minerals snails need to keep up their shells.

 

[Little Stinkpots]

yea your right i got it mixed up ill ry the cuttle bone thats new thank you so much i was givin up on theforum i usually dont wait long on the turtle forum im on theres always a quick response. i really appreciate it alot.

 

[Little Stinkpots]

does anyone else have any suggestions for ph why does it get so acidic ive done research but cant seem to find anything on it.

 

[jamiejay09]

All water has a buffering capacity that resists changes in ph. This is brought about by the dissolved minerals in the water. additives such as ph up or ph down are a waste of time. They only affect the water chemistry for a very short time. if you have bog wood this will make your water more acidic. This is because of the tannic acid found in it. Decaying organic matter and fish waste creates H+ Ions and will also move your water toward the acidic side. Normally this is a very slow move however and is kept in check by water changes. A good start for you is to test total hardness and carbonate hardness. Unless the swing in ph is large you don't really need to worry about it too much. Without knowing what the original ph is and how much it changes though there is little any of us can do to constructively answer your question. I recommend crushed coral. It dissolves slowly into the water as it is needed and is much more efficient at maintaining a stable ph.