Low PH, what do I do?

Silent Doh · Post by **Silent Doh** » 23 Mar 2006, 19:00

Ok. I am the proud owner of a crystal clear (for now) 20 gal. aquarium. A few weeks ago, the tank was slightly cloudy. So I restricted light use, but that didn't help. After a sleepover at my friends house, the tank turned crystal clear. I tested the PH, and it was at 6.2! (it was at 7.2 about 2 weeks ago) What should I do? I had my pleco die probably on account of it, shortly followed by a sailfin molly. Now what? I'll be able to go to my lfs next monday, but until then I'm stuck. Also, we own a hot tub, which we need to balance the PH in as well. It just so happens we have some PH up from the hot tub. Should I use this? Or are there dangerous chemicals that will harm my fish?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 24 Mar 2006, 09:44

I wouldn't use anything that isn't supposed to go into a fish-tank, unless you know EXACTLY what's in it - and how it affects the fish.

What you're seeing is lack of buffering capacity in the water (low KH), so you need somehting to raise your KH - although a pH of 6.2 isn't bad at all, if that's the stable pH that you've got in the water.

The substance you need to stabilize the pH is BiCarbonates, such as NaHCO3 (Sodium Bicarbonate), which you MAY be able to find in the baking aisle at your local supermarket [it may be called baking soda or something like that, read the "Contents" to see if it's actually Sodium bicarbonate and/or potassium bicarbonate].

Otherwise, your local shop should be able to get you something to raise the KH.

Note also that pH 6.2 is fine in and of itself, and most fish will be perfectly happy at this pH (particularly a pleco from the Amazon region of South America, where most water is slightly on the acidic side - blackwaters may well have a pH much lower than this, 4-5 isn't unlikely). However, what kills fish is rapid changes in pH - if the pH drops from 7.2 to 6.2 in a short time, then the fish may not be able to cope - particularly if it's already stressed for other reasons. Have you tested your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

--
Mats

Kana3 · Post by **Kana3** » 24 Mar 2006, 12:22

It may be worth testing your tap water pH, just to give a benchmark.

You won't have the same scenerio of course, and these changes don't happen in two weeks. We've been in drought for 4 years or more, and on water restrictions for at least 3. Our City water supply is currently at 51%. Over that time the water supply hardness and pH has dropped considerably. Which is ok for those keeping South American species. But it's pissing off the Aquariums (LFS) a tad.

But the point is, you don't really know what you're being supplied with. And they're not going to phone you up to let you know they've fiddled the water parameters last night.

Silent Doh · Post by **Silent Doh** » 24 Mar 2006, 16:28

My tap water PH is 6.8, the uncoated gravel I'm using (from a stream) raised the PH to 7.2 My Pleco, a White Spot Rubbernose Pleco, had died due to the rapid change (I think).

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » 24 Mar 2006, 16:58

You mentioned that the tank was "cloudy". Are we talking about an algae bloom "green" cloudy? or was it an ammonia "white" cloudy? If it was ammonia, that would explain the deaths and the pH drop.

I have to ask how often the tank gets a water change also. IME, water changes are far better at helping maintain consistent parameters than the use of chemicals. And, if small partials are done slowly, you will be able to manage to keep the bacterial balance in the tank without stressing the bacterial population, and still get the pH back up.

I agree with MatsP about the KH. In a situation where you have a slightly acidic tap you are going to be more prone to pH crashes. It may be worth looking into a KH test kit to keep this from happening again.

Larry Vires

Silent Doh · Post by **Silent Doh** » 29 Mar 2006, 02:37

It wasn't an ammonia drop because my ammonia is 0 according to my test kit. However, the cloudiness was white. hmm