PRSRocker3390

I had my 20 gallon tank for about 5 months now,and of course it has been cycled. it has had only 3 tiger barbs in there so far and nothing else. with them there are two java ferns. My tanks equipment consists of a heater, power filter, and air pump so nothing too intricate. I work at a pet store and also have had fish before so i am familiar with fish keeping. My problem is that i never had plants before and i think they are throwing me off. Ok the water levels for ammonia,nitrite, and nitrates are all great and the pH is even great for tiger barbs considering it is a 6.2 and they seem to love it. My question is that my water from the tap is about a 7.4 ph and the aquarium seemed to be at around 7 to 7.2 for a while too. Once i added the two ferns, the ph started dropping to about a 6.0 to 6.5 on average. It has now been there for a couple weeks and hasnt risen although the acidic water caters to the tiger barbs and i or them don't mind lol. I was just curious as to what caused the ph to drop like that and now stay there even with doing water changes with a 7.4 tap water source. Can plants do funny things to the water

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!!! yes the plants could be the cause and fish will acclimate to different ph's, as im sure you know...as long as it isnt a fast change and its consistent, they will be fine...but some natural ways to raise the ph is crushed coral....

agabr123

hi and welcome to fishlore

do you have any driftwood?

PRSRocker3390

no

Nate McFin

PH can change throughout the day. This is especially true with plants. What time of day are you testing? All the same time everyday? Different times everyday? My tank has been going from 6.8-7.6 between day and night cycles. Fish are healthy plants look great. It is generally not changes to ph that bother fish ,but rather changes to GH and KH. (Which can also show changes in Ph)

Llama

Just a question to tag along with this.

Plants use net CO2 during the day, and net O2 during the night.

Does the change in pH have to do with the change in amount of Carbonic acid?