Shadowman196

I have just noticed that my tap water pH is 7.6,this is way higher than my tank PH which is 6.0.
I have no peat moss or driftwood in my tank,i do have some porous rock media for extra bacteria living space.

Would the fact that i have activated carbon in my bio-filter be causing the decrease in PH?

Jaysee

I don't think it would cause such a drastic change, if it did anything at all. I don't use carbon, so I can't say for sure, but 7.6 to 6.0 is a huge swing. WHat do you have for substrate? What is your water change schedule?

Shawnie

the carbon will not change the ph..but if you are still cycling or having a mini cycle, the ph will fluctuate constantly until the tank finishes its cycle

Shadowman196

At the moment i`m doing 20% water change daily due to high ammonia spike,but i usually do 10% per week and 50% once a month with a gravel vacuum of 50%.Its a 29g tank.

I have a gravel substrate made up of small gravel stones.

jprime84

Did you purchase the gravel from a pet store? Some gravels contain certain minerals that can alter the pH of the water.

Shadowman196

Yeah bought the gravel from Petsmart,when i started the tank.Throughly washed the gravel before putting it in the tank,surely 4 months in the tank would have gotten rid of any minerals on the gravel?

PH was testing around 7.8 when i started the tank and remained there for about 2 months then it started dropping.
Just did a water change and the PH is now up to 7.Will test again in the morning to see if it drops.

The truly puzzling thing about my tank is that the fish are doing great,no signs of stress or disease at all,colors are good,plants are thriving,even with the high ammonia reading still 2.0 and fluctuating PH??

jdhef

Like Shawnie said, the mini cycle could be what is causing your ph drop. Also so long as you are doing water changes with a product such as Prime that detoxes ammonia, your fish shouldn't be feeling the effects and should be looking healthy (ph issues aside)

Shawnie

its not puzzling as the ph wont drop fast with the issues you are having...cycling is a slow process and the ph drops slowly as well...the water changes are helping the fish survive as john said....the ph will continue to flip flop around until the cycle completes

aquarist48

Hello. Agreed. Activated carbon will not alter your pH levels. pH naturally drops over time. If you haven't done a water change in 2 months (assuming that you're cycling is why) that is why you are seeing the decrease. Here is a link concerning maintaining a stable pH:
Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank
Once your tank has cycled and you have your water change schedule regulated you probably won't see that big of a fluctuation.
Ken

Shadowman196

Ok ty all for the info,much appreciated,will keep a watch on the tank daily.