# ph low?



## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

my tap water is 7.2 ph. i added under the recommended does of blackwater extract. my ph test kit goes as low as 6.2 which is yellow and thats what my result was, so it could be lower i dont know. also in my tank is 20lbs of eco complete and 55lbs of regular gravel, and 2 small peices of real storebought driftwood. even after doing a 20% water change the test still shows yellow.


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

upgradepc said:


> my tap water is 7.2 ph. i added under the recommended does of blackwater extract. my ph test kit goes as low as 6.2 which is yellow and thats what my result was, so it could be lower i dont know. also in my tank is 20lbs of eco complete and 55lbs of regular gravel, and 2 small peices of real storebought driftwood. even after doing a 20% water change the test still shows yellow.


I had a problem like this once before and the cause was my driftwood. How long have you had the pieces in there for?


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

roccov12345 said:


> my tap water is 7.2 ph. i added under the recommended does of blackwater extract. my ph test kit goes as low as 6.2 which is yellow and thats what my result was, so it could be lower i dont know. also in my tank is 20lbs of eco complete and 55lbs of regular gravel, and 2 small peices of real storebought driftwood. even after doing a 20% water change the test still shows yellow.


I had a problem like this once before and the cause was my driftwood. How long have you had the pieces in there for?
[/quote]

about a week


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

upgradepc said:


> my tap water is 7.2 ph. i added under the recommended does of blackwater extract. my ph test kit goes as low as 6.2 which is yellow and thats what my result was, so it could be lower i dont know. also in my tank is 20lbs of eco complete and 55lbs of regular gravel, and 2 small peices of real storebought driftwood. even after doing a 20% water change the test still shows yellow.


I had a problem like this once before and the cause was my driftwood. How long have you had the pieces in there for?
[/quote]

about a week
[/quote]

If you want to see if its the wood, pull it, do a water change, check the PH after the water change to get an initial ph reading, do another ph reading a few hours later or the next day. If ph remains, that was your answer. If you want to add it back, boil the hell out of the pieces.

If you want to boost the PH back up, add baking soda. Although it won't remedy for long term, it will get it back to parameter if you're worried about it.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

what kind of damage would low ph cause to rbp. i took the wood out and im going to do about 30-40% water change


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

ok after doing a 40% water change my ph is now 6.6. ill post the another test tommorow. i hope this doesnt stress my guys out to much with the fast increase in ph.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

upgradepc said:


> ok after doing a 40% water change my ph is now 6.6. ill post the another test tommorow. i hope this doesnt stress my guys out to much with the fast increase in ph.


If anything with that increase you may see them start flashing against the gravel or objects. Dont worry about it. I dont know if its just me but pygos tend to handle pH swings better than serras. This is just my observation. Probably not worth much in the science world. As far as what can happen if the pH drops to low, the answer is the same effect that ammonia causes. basically burns the skin, gills, and eyes.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

ok well i just checked my ph and dropped back down to 6.2 in the yellow so it could be lower i dont know. the only other thing that could be causing it is my root tabs for my amazon swords. ok just found out that seachem root tabs do lower ph. im gonna dig them up.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

i only found 2 of 3 root tabs. i changed 15 gallons out of 75, did a quick ph test and its reading 6.4. so it seems like my ph was probaly around 6.0 which is not that bad. now im curious about how low the ph can go before it can cause permanent damage.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

upgradepc said:


> i only found 2 of 3 root tabs. i changed 15 gallons out of 75, did a quick ph test and its reading 6.4. so it seems like my ph was probaly around 6.0 which is not that bad. now im curious about how low the ph can go before it can cause permanent damage.


A pH around 5.5 and below, the nitrifying bacteria in your filter and tank begin to die off.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

Dr. Giggles said:


> i only found 2 of 3 root tabs. i changed 15 gallons out of 75, did a quick ph test and its reading 6.4. so it seems like my ph was probaly around 6.0 which is not that bad. now im curious about how low the ph can go before it can cause permanent damage.


A pH around 5.5 and below, the nitrifying bacteria in your filter and tank begin to die off.
[/quote]

thanks


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

im showing 0 nitrite so my ph must not be below 5.5 so should i just relax and do my weekly 20% water changes? or should i add a tablespoon of baking soda?


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

i have 7.6 ph for my elong, hopefuly its not high


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

im about fed up with this low ph. even after removing my old gravel, adding sand, doing 40% water change, and 15% a day, and checking my filters, lowering the water level so my filters break the surface of the water more my ph continues to drop at or below 6.2. and i dont want to add chemicals nor will i ever to raise it. there is no reason why it should be dropping. i now only have 2 ornaments which is the last culprit but they shouldnt be causing it.

i am just going to let it go and go back to my weekly changes.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

alright so i did some 25% water changes over 4 day period and ph still drops below 6. i got some test strips and they are garbage. they just give u a fuzzy idea. its basically saying in my tank i have around zero kh and between 75 to 150 gh. my tap water is reading same gh and somewhere around 20-40 kh. anybody else out there have a similar problem? ideas, suggestions, experience would be greatly appreciated. im just concerned for my piranhas health and have called my lfs, googled, everything. the only solution i found was to add crushed coral to my tank but im not experienced enough to get that right. i would just like to figure this out. my tank and filters are very clean and the tank has lots of oxygen going threw it.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

upgradepc said:


> im about fed up with this low ph. even after removing my old gravel, adding sand, doing 40% water change, and 15% a day, and checking my filters, lowering the water level so my filters break the surface of the water more my ph continues to drop at or below 6.2. and i dont want to add chemicals nor will i ever to raise it. there is no reason why it should be dropping. i now only have 2 ornaments which is the last culprit but they shouldnt be causing it.
> 
> i am just going to let it go and go back to my weekly changes.


Actually what I would do in your case is do instead of a weekly water change, maybe try every 3 days instead and see how things go from there. If your pH stays stable with evry 3 day change I would do that. A pH of 6.2 for p's is actually what they enjoy as long as you can keep it stable. If every 3 days is too much work for your current schedule than maybe get yourself a large nylon filter bag and fill it with crushed coral and place it in your filter. That will do the trick. Another option is to go to a landscaping type business and see if they have any large limestone. One of them in your tank and you will see how your pH will go up.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

Thank you, I am going to try the crushed coral route.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

ok so for everyones information i added a couple cups of crushed coral in a mesh bag that i got from petsmart. i just placed it under my bio bag in my ac110.24 hours later my ph is now at 6.4. im going to remove some of the coral and leave a little bit to see if that can keep me in the 6.4 to 7.2 range. thanks dr. giggles


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

ok after 2 days with the crushed coral my ph is sticking at 6.5. i did a test and added some play sand and tap water in a bucket and left it for a couple days, and it was at 7.2. it never changed. so something in the tank is causing this ( i think its the skull decor i have). i suggest anybody with low ph problems add the crushed coral, my p's are happy and im not stressed out anymore.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

upgradepc said:


> ok so for everyones information i added a couple cups of crushed coral in a mesh bag that i got from petsmart. i just placed it under my bio bag in my ac110.24 hours later my ph is now at 6.4. im going to remove some of the coral and leave a little bit to see if that can keep me in the 6.4 to 7.2 range. thanks dr. giggles


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

Dr. Giggle's how often do you have to replace the crushed coral in the filters? Does it loose it's effect over time?

I have a 120 & 135 gal

I am running Eheim 2028's both have 2 trays filled with eheim bio media and the 3rd is filled with ceramic cyliders to filter out large debris. I am assuming I can replace the 3rd tray with the coral.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

chomp chomp said:


> Dr. Giggle's how often do you have to replace the crushed coral in the filters? Does it loose it's effect over time?
> 
> I have a 120 & 135 gal
> 
> I am running Eheim 2028's both have 2 trays filled with eheim bio media and the 3rd is filled with ceramic cyliders to filter out large debris. I am assuming I can replace the 3rd tray with the coral.


With those size tanks you may need more coral than will fit in that tray. Doesnt hurt to try though. You don't have to replace the coral at all... Well, maybe in 15 years if it is completely dissolved and powderized.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

Thanks Dr. Giggles! My ph seems to have stabilized and is now at 7.0 I am not sure what caused the crash but I did pick up some crushed coral and a media bag. Do you think I should add a little to act as a buffer or do you think it will cause the ph to rise too much?


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