Sunshine State

Hello, I'm a newbie and have been reading all I can about aquarium water and fish, etc. Your site has been tremendously educational and members so helpful. Now that I have been trying to really understand about water parameters, I have delved into the different water categories. I have read the section of the forum regarding pH, but I am not quite sure I can apply all that information yet. My pH has slowly been going down, today, it is 6.0 (I don't know if it could be lower since the chart only goes to 6.0). My ammonia is .25, nitrite .25 and nitrate 0. I don't know for sure what stage my cycle is in, but I think it is cycling well. Fish are very healthy looking and no fish losses since I first set up the tank. Sometimes I notice a "funky" smell on the surface of the water and now I'm wondering if it's the gas smell? I've read about adding crushed coarl and baking soda, but I'm reluctant to do so until I can try to determine WHY my pH is getting lower. Anyway, I worry that my pH will drop even more. Any ideas?

MissMTS

Hi What kind of test kit are you using? If you are using the strips, sometimes those can give inaccurate results. I recommend using the API liquid test kit. As far as your pH lowering, do you have any driftwood in the tank? Driftwood naturally lowers the pH of water. A low pH is not a bad thing, you just want to make sure that yours is stable. I have a high pH and there are a lot of fish that require a low pH that I would love to keep but I can't. South American Cichlids and other Amazon fish would do great in your tank. So would some of the species of fish that live in Asian Blackwater Habitats.

www.mongabay.com

This site has a great list of fish and the different biotopes that they live in including the pH of the water I have found it very helpful and I always use it as a guide.

Sunshine State

Thanks MissMTS for your quick response. I am using the API test kit and don't have any driftwood in the tank. One thing that is concerning/confusing to me is that the pH was at 7.0 the first couple of weeks. Since then it has very slowly been going down. Someone mentioned something about hydrogen gas?? as an issue in some tanks. Someone else said that gravel with too much fish waste could cause lowering pH. Since my tank is new and probably not fully cycled, could that cause a lower pH? Judith

Lucy

In my limited experience with ph, it should stay stable from tap to tank unless there's something, a decoration etc. that would cause your ph to go down.

agabr123

what chemicals are you using? what kind of decorations do you have? and live plants?

aquarist48

Hello. It's been my experience that pH will fluctuate from time to time. Please don't use any chemicals to adjust your pH levels. They are too unstable and could even cause your pH to crash. I would suggest a 50% water change.
As for the smell in your tank. Are you using carbon in your filter? I see your tank has been running for 1 month. If you haven't changed the carbon I would suggest that you change 1/2 of it. Once your tank is cycled, change all the carbon every 3 weeks. Carbon will help to remove the bad odor.

Sunshine State

Chemicals I'm using: Prime and StressZyme. I asked a LFS person what could hep with the ammonia and she recommended Amquel. Don't know if I should use it or not. I wonder if there's another product brand that would work like Tetra SafeStart and if I should use it. Can't find TSS anywhere and don't really want to pay the online store $10.00 to ship--seems a bit much. Decorations in tank: artificial palnts, one artificial aquarium "rock formation", two small artificial corals, several sea shells (boiled first), and two small live plants--no driftwood.
I've read so much on this forum that I think I have overwhelmed myself with information. I wonder if I am over-analyzing and stressing too much about the whole cycle thing; but then that's my nature to be very thorough (just ask my family!!!). What would you fishlore pros do to treat (or not) the water. Again, so far fish look healthy and seem to be swimming normally (at least as far as my untrained eye can tell). Judith

aquarist48

I use Amquel + and love it...Nova Aqua for stress relief, Immune Plus (disease preventative). www.thatfishplace.com has Tetra SafeStart (TSS) in their catalog should you decide to order it. Best of luck!

Sunshine State

Thanks for the great information. Would it hurt to add the TSS even if my cycle is nearly/mostly complete? Judith

aquarist48

I'm not sure. I'm sure someone with experience in using TSS will let you know shortly.

Red1313

I don't think that TSS would hurt but at the same time you do have an established bacteria population that will grown and I don't think that many of the TSS bacteria would make it due to the limited ammonia availilbe but it wouldn't hurt.

I'd make sure that you're 100% on the test kit readings. With your pH at 6 you "may" be getting ammonium readins as part of your ammonia test.

Red1313

I don't think that TSS would hurt but at the same time you do have an established bacteria population that will grown and I don't think that many of the TSS bacteria would make it due to the limited ammonia availilbe but it wouldn't hurt.

I'd make sure that you're 100% on the test kit readings. With your pH at 6 you "may" be getting ammonium readins as part of your ammonia test.