cheffy_cia

I have a 30 gallon that has been set up a few months now. All of the water levels are pretty good except for the PH. It hovers around 5.8-6. I read a lot that a constant ph is better than one that goes up and down. I did daily water changes for a week. The ph out of the tap is close to 7 so I would think eventually my tanks ph would go up. I went through almost an entire bottle of PH increase thats supposed to treat 240 gallons(don't worry I added some every other day). The chemical really hasn't changed a thing. All of my fish are doing fine and are healthy looking. Some people say something about crushed coral will help? I really don't want to dump anymore chemicals in it. IF you think I should just let it go as it let me know. thanks for reading all of my water tests are on my profile along with the kind of fish I have.

susitna-flower

HI, CHEFFY_CIA, WELCOME TO FISHLORE!


You have a planted tank? Are you using any CO2?

Do you have any driftwood? What is in your tank besides the fish and plants?

First thing I would suggest is to STOP using ph up...stop the chemicals....

Second thing I would suggest is to get the carbon out of your filter. Most of us here don't use carbon unless you have just used medication, after the full course of meds. put carbon in your filter for 24 hours then discard it.

What is your water change schedule? It sounds like something in your system is bringing your ph down, if your tap water is 7.

The suggestion to use coral is good. If you don't want to change your substrate, you can use sea shells or a chunk of coral for decorations. I do both in my cherry red shrimp tank to bring ph up....

I can't help but notice your tank is overstocked....the fish may not be fully grown yet, but the adult size of the fish you have listed indicate you will be experiencing more problems if you don't split the fish up with another tank. Good Luck, and enjoy the forum....we love new folks to jump right in. Pictures are great also!

cheffy_cia

There are about 7 very healthy plants in my tank. I make sure to take out all the dead parts or floating plant parts. Im not to familiar with the use with Co2. I use standard gravel, air curtain in the back of the tank for more circulation, tetra whisper bio filter which I'm going to replace sooner or later thinking of getting a penguin bio wheel filter 200. You say to stop using carbon, but if I take that out of my filter what would I use in the filter to remove all the bad crap in the water?
My normal water change is every two weeks and gravel once a month, but since this whole ph thing I've been doing it every other day for the past week. I assumed it would only be a matter of time with water changes my ph would come up since it's on the mark right out of the faucet.
I don't really think my tank is overstocked I do my research into the adult size the fish can get up to before I buy them. The largerst fish is my tank are the angels everything else won't get any larger than 2 inches. Wost case comes to worst I have a 10 gallon for backup set up and cycled if I have to move anything around. Tell me more about the coral, cause I don't know anything about that. I just assumed coral was for salt water fish tanks. I'm a newbie at this, but I research on here daily to keep my fish alive and healthy. thanks for writing.

Tavel

You can try putting some limestone rocks in too. they might look a little better than coral or shells, and could ideally buffer the water up to 7.6 or so. You can find those outside (at least I can, North Illinois is a huge limestone deposit).

The pH up and down chemicals only work with very soft water, otherwise the hardness buffers the pH.

outlaw

From what I've read and heard (I am not familiar with adding coral or limestone but have heard of doing it). Unless you can keep it a constant (not sure if it will always stay higher), you are better off just leaving it and letting the fish adjust to that. It may be a stressful at first, but in the long run after they have adjusted, should be fine.. Anyone please correct me if I am wrong.

For the filter, unless it has a specific shape, you can you filter pads, bio-balls, almost anything that will filter the water (aquarium safe of course).

From your aquarium info, you have nitrites, did you add most of the fish at one time?

cheffy_cia

No, I did my research on here and read tons of forums. I only added one fish or two at a time and waited a while before I bought anymore. I'm not buying anymore till I move out of the apartment and get a larger tank. As for the PH I think it was all just my own stupid fault. I used the test strips and had the Ph alert thing inside the tank. both read 5.8 or lower. Today I bought a liquid test and it was 6.9. I'm never using the strips again. I heard they can be a tad off, but now I see what a tad really is. Thanks again for everyone writing and sharing their knowledge. This is really an awesome website.