# having a hard time maintaining this stupid ph level



## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

this sucks my tap water is 7.6 mine used to be that in my tank untill my fish got huge and i added a 9'' piraya to the mix in a 125 now i cant maintain 7.6 its droped down to 6.6 so i been trying to keep it there so it wont be going up and down but when i go and do a water change i check my ph and it shot up to 7.0ppm then this morning its back down to about 6.6, what do i need to do because i dont want to go to using a chemical i want to keep it natural as possible whats my solution really starting to give up on piranhas to much work. Hers my water perams and feeding schedual and fish size and tank.

FEEDING SCHEDUAL

Every other day, most of the time every two days

TAP WATER PH 7.6, TANK WATER PH, trying to maintain a stable one with out it going up and down.
tap water also has 5.0ppm in nitrates this also makes it hard for me on water changes.

TANK SIZE:
125g 5 fish

FISH SIZE:
Three caribe size ranging from 6.5'' 7.5'' 8''
one tern, size 8.5''
one piraya, size 9''


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Sounds like you might have a low KH level. A lot of people that find it hard to maintain a steady ph will use crushed coral to buffer the ph by raising the KH level. My first step would be to measure the KH and make sure this is the problem.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Grosse Gurke said:


> Sounds like you might have a low KH level. A lot of people that find it hard to maintain a steady ph will use crushed coral to buffer the ph by raising the KH level. My first step would be to measure the KH and make sure this is the problem.


i have a magnum 350 on my tank fore extra filtation could i put some in the media holder and would that be enough to maintain the ph and would i have to change it every month


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Yes you can put a bag in your filter. You will need to play with the ammount it takes to maintain your PH level...and not increase it. As far as I know...there is no set amount. You will never need to change it.

This is also all secondhand knowlege. I have never had to try this myself.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


i guess thats my only salution ive been doing maybe 30% water changes every three days to try to maintain it but i dont think its doing the trick, im about to upgrade tanks soon so ill go crushed coral then


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

tiran said:


> Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


i guess thats my only salution ive been doing maybe 30% water changes every three days to try to maintain it but i dont think its doing the trick, im about to upgrade tanks soon so ill go crushed coral then
[/quote]
Maybe you just need to do it every 2 days instead of 3.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


i guess thats my only salution ive been doing maybe 30% water changes every three days to try to maintain it but i dont think its doing the trick, im about to upgrade tanks soon so ill go crushed coral then
[/quote]
Maybe you just need to do it every 2 days instead of 3.
[/quote]

so doing 25% to 30% water changes every three days will keep my nitrates in check with my overstocked tank.........feeding schedual and fish listed at the top of the first thread. Will this also help maintain my ph untill i upgrade a bigger tank with crushed coral


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## ELREYDENJ83 (Jun 25, 2008)

everyone def has their own opinions on this subject , but 5 Ps at those sizes in a 125 gallon tank is well stocked but def not overstocked in my opinion. doing the water changes every three days is good and i recommend it, but 5 Ps is a good number for that tank.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

The change you described doesn't sound too bad. My tap water is pretty high too. Usually after a 50% water change (every 4 days) my PH reads about 7 to 7.2. Over the 4 days between water changes it usually drops to around 6.6. I've had my Reds for almost a year now and the biggest one went from dime size to 7" so far, so I think you're ok just letting it drop and letting your scheduled water changes buffer it back up.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

I just add baking soda and keep the kh about 4.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

i swear crushed coral raises the pH...wouldn't something like peat work?


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Trigga said:


> i swear crushed coral raises the pH...wouldn't something like peat work?


http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


i guess thats my only salution ive been doing maybe 30% water changes every three days to try to maintain it but i dont think its doing the trick, im about to upgrade tanks soon so ill go crushed coral then
[/quote]
Maybe you just need to do it every 2 days instead of 3.
[/quote]

my ph is at 6.6 how many bags of crushed coral do i need to keep it there


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

tiran said:


> Crushed coral workes well for me. My tap water is neutral which is great but I run into the same problem when fish add their acidity to the mix. Crushed coral will keep your pH stable at 7.6 but how much you need to be effective I dont know. The tanks I have crushed coral in have it as a substrate. If you cant get a hold of a small amount of coral to put in a bag you can try adding a large piece of limestone into the tank. Limestone will raise your pH also. Did you see my resonse in your other thread. In there I tell you about a temporary solution.


i guess thats my only salution ive been doing maybe 30% water changes every three days to try to maintain it but i dont think its doing the trick, im about to upgrade tanks soon so ill go crushed coral then
[/quote]
Maybe you just need to do it every 2 days instead of 3.
[/quote]

my ph is at 6.6 how many bags of crushed coral do i need to keep it there
[/quote]
I would start off with just one bag for a 125G if you want to try to keep it around 6.6. Not sure if that is the best way for you to go if you want it at 6.6. crushed coral even if its just one bag will constantly add carbonates to the water. It may take longer than if you added 3-4 bags but eventually your tank may reach a pH of 7.6 which seems to be where crushed coral brings it to. As suggested maybe baking soda will be your best bet and one box of that should last you forever. You only need one tablespoon per every 50G and just add the percentage back in with every water change.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

well i guess id rather use the crushed coral seeing that i wouldnt have to change it out ever or worry about it going up and down of having to add backing soda every time i do water changes, what would be my salution with the crushed coral how many bags should i use to keep it 7.0 or 7.6

will it always stay the same even when doing bigger water changes


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

tiran said:


> well i guess id rather use the crushed coral seeing that i wouldnt have to change it out ever or worry about it going up and down of having to add backing soda every time i do water changes, what would be my salution with the crushed coral how many bags should i use to keep it 7.0 or 7.6
> 
> will it always stay the same even when doing bigger water changes


I have only used it as a substrate so I go by the 1 pound for every gallon rule. I think crushed coral keeps it at a maximum of 7.6 the pH, at least thats what my experience has been with it. In my 75G i have 60 pounds, 20 pounds in my 20L, and 40 pounds in a 40L. My other tanks are either white marine sand or black tahitian sand. Maybe someone who added a small amount of crushed coral for buffering purposes will chime in and let you know how long it took for their tank to build up the pH level.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> well i guess id rather use the crushed coral seeing that i wouldnt have to change it out ever or worry about it going up and down of having to add backing soda every time i do water changes, what would be my salution with the crushed coral how many bags should i use to keep it 7.0 or 7.6
> 
> will it always stay the same even when doing bigger water changes


I have only used it as a substrate so I go by the 1 pound for every gallon rule. I think crushed coral keeps it at a maximum of 7.6 the pH, at least thats what my experience has been with it. In my 75G i have 60 pounds, 20 pounds in my 20L, and 40 pounds in a 40L. My other tanks are either white marine sand or black tahitian sand. Maybe someone who added a small amount of crushed coral for buffering purposes will chime in and let you know how long it took for their tank to build up the pH level.
[/quote]

so if i understand this right, one bag of crushed coral will raise my ph to were ever the ph goes with that one bag and keep it there


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

As mentioned earlier it may also raise it to 7.6 eventually, just may take longer. Not to sure though, but that is my thinking.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> As mentioned earlier it may also raise it to 7.6 eventually, just may take longer. Not to sure though, but that is my thinking.


alright thanks dr


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