# LOW PH, HIGH GH, LOW KH, HIGH NITRATE



## gokalp (Sep 3, 2004)

Hello All

I need help. My water is really very bad.

I want to give some information regarding the water. I made measurements by using strip, 4 in 1 type.

My ph is lower than 6.4. Getting lower...
My GH is higher than 21 dh
My kH is lower than 1 dh
Nitrate is more than 150 ppm.

As a solution I put volcanic pebbles from a local pet shop. Take out all the rings etc and put only some mechanic filter and volcanic pebble. What the guy said to me is inside volcanic pebbles there is a anaerobic reaction that helps to lower nitrates concentration. It is been only 10 days. My feeling is nitrates getting lower and planning to put more of that volcanic pebble.

I do not make much water changes. What I am planning to do is to prepare a mechanism to make water changes automatically. I know all the data of the water sucks. Give me some solution.

I have Eheim 2217 filter. And stopped to use the air stone cause i think it is bad for the plants.

I make every day 10-12 hours lighting of the aquarium.

I no longer use powerhead. For the palnts not to much aerate the water.

I have 250 lt. aquarium with 4 natteris 12-18 cms long.

bye

gokalp


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## sourbugs (Aug 10, 2004)

Has there been any major changes to the tank recently? (aside from the volcanic rock). The pH seems fine now for p's as long as it doesnt have a sudden change.



> As a solution I put volcanic pebbles from a local pet shop. Take out all the rings etc and put only some mechanic filter and volcanic pebble. What the guy said to me is inside volcanic pebbles there is a anaerobic reaction that helps to lower nitrates concentration. It is been only 10 days. My feeling is nitrates getting lower and planning to put more of that volcanic pebble.


Has your tank been completely cycled? I ask this because you said your nitrates where high.

what the guy said is kinda true, but those bacteria on the volcano rocks will colonise ANYTHING, it sounds like he just suckered you into buying more rocks (UNLESS they are from a previously established tank, in wich case they would be already colonised with the bacteria). The most important part of the bacteria should be already established in your filter (unless its a brand new tank).

A couple questions you should ask yourself:
1. Is the water cloudy?
2. Are the fish/plants healthy?

they should acclimate to any water conditions as long as they have lots of time to do it.

Those test kits are not very accurate and should only be used to get yourself a general idea, there are too many variables that can throw them off. Dont add any chemicals to change the pH unless you absolutly need too. The only solution I could see is to step up the water changes, there really is no substitute.

The auto water changer is a good idea, but make sure its dechlorinated before it makes it into the tank.

keep us updated


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Sounds like you are having a LOT of problems with your water... Your pH is dropping to a dangerous level due to very low buffering capacity (KH), your water is very hard (high GH), and your nitrates are too high.

The problem is that you are simply not doing enough water changes. Most of your water parameters are pointing to this. Nitrates is the end product of the nitrogen cycle, so it will sit there in your tank until it is removed (either physically through water changes, or through plants or denitrification). As a result, the nitric acid of this end product will over time lower your pH. As the pH drops, the buffers in the water tries to nuetralize the acids to stabilize your pH. Once these buffers are expended, you will see a rapid decline in your pH (pH crash which you are probably starting to see). This WILL kill all your fish! You need to start off by doing small, frequent water changes. About 20% every other day, to correct your current situation. A slow drip system will help AFTER you have resolved your problem.

As for the lava rocks... You have to make sure you have a very good mechanical filter to filter out all the debris before it gets to the lava rocks. They provide excellent surface area for nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria, but will clog very easily. The denitrification process which converts nitrates to nitrogen gas occurs in anaerobic pockets in the lava rock (much like live rock in marine system) but in a freshwater tank with very messy predators, it's better to just do water changes.


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