# Ph....how Low Is Too Low?



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I tested my tank for PH with 2 different testers(API,Hagen) and both times i got 6.0. I was thinking that since this is the lowest the test kits can measure, it's best to buy a low range test kit and test again. My question is,how low is too low? Should i test the general hardness as well?
My tap water is about 7.5 but because i'm running peat in my filter,it has lowered it to 6.0! Will the PH go back up if i leave the peat in the filter for long?


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

i think as long as its stable its just fine. But I did hear that anything below 6.2 it kills off your benefical bacteria.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> i think as long as its stable its just fine. But I did hear that anything below 6.2 it kills off your benefical bacteria.


I just checked the ammo and it's at 0. Don't scare me woman!!








BUT...GH is at 20ppm and KH is at 10ppm. Should i remove the peat from my filter? Or at least half of it???
I just don't want ph to crash!!! I'm going to have to check the ph with a low range test for an accurate reading.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Either consistantly run peat or don't run it. If a slightly higher pH will make you feel better just remove some peat and add more of some other media or if you just want the black water look just add some BWE.


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

10 ppm and 20 ppm is way too low , you have about 2 deg of gh and 1 deg of kh ... hardly anything to buffer the ph . Do a water change and take all the peat out if i was you . kh will always be slightly lower than gh and you want kh of around of 100 ppm to give you decent fail safe buffering . 
Theres nothing wrong with ph of 7.5, parts of river piraya come from goes up to 8.5 ph for example. 
Rhoms live all over the Amazon , adapting to different water chemisty..rivers become dammed.. changing the chemistry and rhoms thrive ..the whole of the Amazon isnt 6.0 ph, and the ph changes seasonally. Do you know the ph of where your rhom came from?
And low kh is now thought to be a cause of hith because fish that arent able to gain enough calcium ( kh) from their diet begin breaking down the calcium in the
head region because theres not enough kh in the water either.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I'm going to remove half of the peat and do a water change and see what that does.


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

Only trying to help. bring the kh up to at least 4 deg , at the moment you`re close to saying bye bye ph.








Heres a link explaining more on the relation of kh to hith: Go to online hospital, then text diagnosis for hith
http://www.jbl.de/?lang=en


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

locust said:


> 10 ppm and 20 ppm is way too low , you have about 2 deg of gh and 1 deg of kh ... hardly anything to buffer the ph . Do a water change and take all the peat out if i was you . kh will always be slightly lower than gh and you want kh of around of 100 ppm to give you decent fail safe buffering .
> Theres nothing wrong with ph of 7.5, parts of river piraya come from goes up to 8.5 ph for example.
> Rhoms live all over the Amazon , adapting to different water chemisty..rivers become dammed.. changing the chemistry and rhoms thrive ..the whole of the Amazon isnt 6.0 ph, and the ph changes seasonally. Do you know the ph of where your rhom came from?
> And low kh is now thought to be a cause of hith because fish that arent able to gain enough calcium ( kh) from their diet begin breaking down the calcium in the
> head region because theres not enough kh in the water either.


Not sure. But it's supposed to be from rio nannay peru.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Could it be that since i added plants,the KH dropped due to low co2 levels?


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

So i just did a 30% water change,removed the peat from the filter and removed/trimmed some plants. I'll test the water in the morning and see what it's at. I don't understand why this is happening. I've always used peat in the filter and had no issues.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

you can use baking soda to increase your kh


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

1rhom said:


> Could it be that since i added plants,the KH dropped due to low co2 levels?


If a few plants have affected it the kh mustve been low anyway to got that low. The batch of peat youve used may have been more acidic than youve used before. I know someone whos ph dropped below 5 not reckoning on the acidic property of the amount of bogwood they had in the tank and he lost his fish.
Did you get an accurate ph reading before the water change?
Id just bring it up with some extra water changes and stop using peat ..i dont see the need, ive got 2 rhoms from Peru that have both grown well in ph 7.5 from the tap, one came in from the Nannay at 14ins 2 years ago and its grown 1.5 ins, the others grown 5ins over 6 years/ Someone over here grew a manny from 6ins to 11 ins in ph 8 , its now 12ins.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

locust said:


> you can use baking soda to increase your kh


I thought of that but i don't want to be messing with the PH like that.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Water at my house is pretty soft. I just tested tap water and PH is at 7.5 and KH is at 40ppm. I think i'll just leave it as is. Will BWE soften the water more?


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

a ph of 7.5 your fish will be fine. I used to worry about getting my ph to 7.0 and it jus ended up stressing the sh*t outta the P.


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

1rhom said:


> Water at my house is pretty soft. I just tested tap water and PH is at 7.5 and KH is at 40ppm. I think i'll just leave it as is. Will BWE soften the water more?


 BWE is an acidifying liquid so yes it will soften the water more, some are stonger than others. 
Ph 7.5 isnt soft its just above neutral. The KH reading is lower than you would expect at that ph level ( maybe you should double check it with another kit), which would explain why you have very little kh in the tank. My ph from tap is 8.0 and kh is 200 ppm What is the gh reading of the tap water?
The nitrification process in the filter naturally softens and lowers the ph of tank water slightly over time , so if the tank is set up with water at 7.5 it will gradually lower probably to about 7.0 ph, but would be countered by the amount of water changes you are doing . I definetly wouldnt be using peat if the kh of the water you`re using to change with is only at 40 ppm , id be looking to use a kh buffer solution to raise it.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

locust said:


> Water at my house is pretty soft. I just tested tap water and PH is at 7.5 and KH is at 40ppm. I think i'll just leave it as is. Will BWE soften the water more?


 BWE is an acidifying liquid so yes it will soften the water more, some are stonger than others. 
Ph 7.5 isnt soft its just above neutral. The KH reading is lower than you would expect at that ph level ( maybe you should double check it with another kit), which would explain why you have very little kh in the tank. My ph from tap is 8.0 and kh is 200 ppm What is the gh reading of the tap water?
The nitrification process in the filter naturally softens and lowers the ph of tank water slightly over time , so if the tank is set up with water at 7.5 it will gradually lower probably to about 7.0 ph, but would be countered by the amount of water changes you are doing . I definetly wouldnt be using peat if the kh of the water you`re using to change with is only at 40 ppm , id be looking to use a kh buffer solution to raise it.
[/quote]
I don't want to be messing with buffers.


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

Yeah but youve been "messing" with peat and the peat is an unknown factor as in you dont know exactly where it will put the kh , a liquid kh buffer comes with accurate intructions:thumbsup: ie 1 cap per 10 gal increases kh by 1 deg ( eg) 
The kh reading is really the reading you should be looking at because it will tell you where the ph is .


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I would just lose the peat and get back to a regular water change shedual.
Everything should eventually balance itself out so IMO no need for buffers and crap.

As has been said a stable ph is best even if its higher/lower than youd like


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I did remove the peat.I'll just let the PH be. 7.5 isn't that bad ,i'll just use BWE if i want to lower it a bit.My rhom has been doing fine so far(1 year).It's the 1st time the ph goes this low with peat in the filter. I think CO2 and the plants i added have something to do with it...along with peat,but not peat alone.


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