PH levels

[mrglowe]

i am trying to get the PH levels lower. atm they read 7.6 for PH and 8.0 for the high range PH. i brought some stuff for lowering the PH last night and added the 50 drops needed for the size of tank i have (180L) still no change, so i waited til the bottle said i could add more, so did another 50 drops, thing is my PH levels hasnt changed.

[paulacg]

Generally these chemicals aren't great and can lead to unstable ph which is not good gor fish. It can sometimes be better to choose fish that suit your water.

Paula

[mrglowe]

when we next get some fish we was looking at getting some mollies, so need to get it lower.

[newbienick]

hi there my ph was always 7.4 constant for around 6 months then i added live plants and 3 bits of bogwood total weight around 3kilos anyhow my ph is betwwen 6.6 and 7 with 25%wc weekly tank is 180litre. i'm in devon so water is pretty soft.lowering ph is much much harder than raising it, i have tried crushed coral in my external when ph 1st dropped and that worked great and was stable now though i cannot keep it at 6.6 constantly when i do wc it raises to 6.8ish and has dropped by following week.best suggestion would be to look at fish more suited to your "natural" ph.
good luck nick.

[stej-1986]

Have you tested the Kh (Carbonate Hardness) at all?
The higher the Kh, the harder it is to lower your Ph, as Kh is a buffer for the Ph.
If the Kh is high, you need to lower that before you can lower the Ph. Even if the Ph can be lowered, with high Kh it will soon rise again.
Over a period of time bogwood will lower Ph and Kh and also Gh (General Hardness).
Peat also does this, but as I have never used Peat before I can't really recommend it. I plan to use it soon though.
I found this link really useful for learning about water chemistry - http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html
Sorry if some of this message sounds like I'm going on a bit lol. Hope it helps though.
Ste.

[mrglowe]

Originally Posted by stej-1986

Have you tested the Kh (Carbonate Hardness) at all?
The higher the Kh, the harder it is to lower your Ph, as Kh is a buffer for the Ph.
If the Kh is high, you need to lower that before you can lower the Ph. Even if the Ph can be lowered, with high Kh it will soon rise again.
Over a period of time bogwood will lower Ph and Kh and also Gh (General Hardness).
Peat also does this, but as I have never used Peat before I can't really recommend it. I plan to use it soon though.
I found this link really useful for learning about water chemistry - http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html
Sorry if some of this message sounds like I'm going on a bit lol. Hope it helps though.
Ste.

which test kit would you recommend for this ??

[24T]

I use API.
But I do not know if any kits are poor.
Yep if your carbonate hardness (KH) is high you are prob fighting a losing battle lowering your pH with acids as you are just making the water more salty, a thing which low pH liking fish dislike just as much as high pH.

[stej-1986]

Originally Posted by 24T

I use API.
But I do not know if any kits are poor.
Yep if your carbonate hardness (KH) is high you are prob fighting a losing battle lowering your pH with acids as you are just making the water more salty, a thing which low pH liking fish dislike just as much as high pH.

Agreed. You would just be getting rid of one problem and replacing it with another.
I also use API test kits for Kh and Gh and I use a Nutrafin Minimaster test kit for Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.
Having never used any other liquid test kits, I can't really say what's good or bad, but I've never had a problem with these ones. However, I find that liquid test kits are a lot more accurate than the testing strips you can get.
Ste.

[mrglowe]

tested water again today and PH dropped to 7, but the high range PH is still 8.

[adodds1072]

Originally Posted by mrglowe

atm they read 7.6 for PH and 8.0 for the high range PH.

shows the inaccuracy of the test kits, my api test kits is just as bad, as both should read the same.
if your water is higher than a ph of 7.0 then you dont need to use the low ph test as that is for ph of below 7.0