Low ph in a 2yr old set up

[Glennskow]

Hi all . My ph is very low 5.0 in a 190 l set up with light stocking ,probably 20 % planted in gravel . Gh and kh 5 drops to turn gh the correct colour and kh was 6 drops . Stock are cardinals ,black Neons corys ( breeding) nothing new and no chemicals apart from tap safe . Tank has been running for 2 years in its current form .

Thanks .glenn

 

[lilirose]

Have you tested the pH of the water straight out of the tap, before you add it to your tank? Lots of people assume something is wrong with their tank when there actually has been a change made by their water supplier.

 

[Glennskow]

Sorry missed thst off 7.6 with no tap safe added

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[lilirose]

My next question would be about how frequently you change the water and what percentage of the water is changed. As your tap water is 7.6 out of the tap, and you have a reasonable kH , the answer is probably to do more frequent water changes, and change a larger percentage of the water. I personally am a fan of 50% water changes per week- I do this on all my tanks, regardless of their size. However you might need to do 25% twice a week for a while as the livestock might be upset by a sudden return to "normal".

 

[Glennskow]

50 l a week from a 190 l ,

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[lilirose]

"Old tank syndrome" will cause pH to drop because the nitrification taking place in your filter binds up your KH.

The solution to "old tank syndrome" is to do larger water changes more frequently.

 

[alto]

Unless you want to add new stock, the low pH is likely not an issue (given fish species mentioned)

Rather than a larger single water change, I’d suggest moving to twice weekly 50l water changes and see how that impacts your pH ... if you want to raise pH in this tank, it should be done slowly, steadily

I’d plan on bringing the pH up to 6 over several weeks (while fish may manage a faster rise in pH, the shift will likely impact the environment as a whole) - and likely would not aim for pH above 6-6.4 (though again this depends on your intended goals)

Note my tap water is now reported as pH 7.4 - 7.6 at the testing stations (this is due to additives as water is very soft with a natural pH ~6) ... so for the first time in ages, I looked at the water out of my kitchen tap - still measuring pH 6 - 6.4 (relief )

 

[Hanuman]

Something to note about PH measurements. If you are doing it with a PH pen you should calibrate it rather regularly else you will have false readings.

 

[Glennskow]

Was calibrated 5 mins before use in ph 7 liquid

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[ceg4048]

Hi all . My ph is very low 5.0 in a 190 l set up with light stocking ,probably 20 % planted in gravel . Gh and kh 5 drops to turn gh the correct colour and kh was 6 drops . Stock are cardinals ,black Neons corys ( breeding) nothing new and no chemicals apart from tap safe . Tank has been running for 2 years in its current form .

Thanks .glenn

Hello, I agree with alto in post #7. Trying to adjust pH for the sake of pH will only cause more problems than it would solve. The fact that the condition has existed for 2 years and that you fish are breeding in this water is absolute proof that this is a non-issue.

The fish that you listed are often found in native waters that are highly acidic. I've never understood why folks get concerned about low pH as there are several advantages to low pH such as fewer nasty germs as well as the equilibrium shift of highly toxic NH3 (ammonia) to the much less toxic NH4 (ammonium).

Cheers,