Dooper

Hi everyone

I am having issues with my freshwater acqurium tank. It had been running fine for 4 months or so with no real issues, and all of a sudden, my fish have slowly started to die off, one by one (neon tetras). It is then, that I discovered that my KH is nearly 0 and my pH was floating around 5. Ph out of my tap is in the 6.5-7 range, and kh is 0 as well. I wanted tips on how to increase my buffering capacity. Do I use crushed coral, or baking soda...do i use chemical ph up once i have a good buffer or do I use rock. Any help would be much appreciated!! Oh and I think my cycle has slowed as I am seeing very few nitrates and some minute levels of ammonia.

Jason

CHoffman

hmm. very weird. I wonder what is causing your PH to drop??. You can buffer your ph with limestone rock and crushed coral. Do you have any decor or anything in your tank that would be causing the PH to drop??.driftwood?? As far as ammonia goes it seems like your tank is in a mini cycle. neons are super sensitive and wouldn't tolerate even small amounts of ammonia, That might have been why they passes along with the changing PH. Are there any more fish in the tank?

AlyeskaGirl

I am sorry you are loosing fish.

I would suggest crushed coral to give you the buffering, so your pH wont drop. Usually another way to keep pH from dropping when you have low KH is doing smaller water changes a few times a week instead of one a week. I'm not sure if that works for zero KH. How often do you do water changes? Also when Ph drops below 6.0 the nitrifying bacteria starts to die off.

Below is a link on pH...it has some great info so it should help you.

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/107

Dooper

Right now, only 1 rainbow shark and 1 serpae tetra....in teh process of getting a 23 Gal tank going. I have no live plants in there. Nothing living aside from the fish. I usually do a 25% water change weekly with treated water (seachem prime). So you recommend I run out and get some crushed coral? Would that rise the ph or only provide buffers?

rt12

Like you said putting a bit of crushed coral in your filter will raise the kh. For the ph I would by a ph buffer made by seachem which you can add to the water you make a water change before you put it in the tank. You should use it every time you make a water change. Depending on your tank size though it won't run out really fast and is cheap too. A $5 bottle can treat 800 gallons I believe.

rt12

The seachem product i'm talkin about is called Neutral Regulator.

Dooper

ok, so crushed coral then....what about rock?

aquarist48

Hello Dooper. I respectfully disagree about adding pH adjusters. They are too unstable and can cause your pH to crash resulting in fish loss. Too, it would have to be added for the life of the tank. There are many more ways of changing your pH levels naturally as mentioned above. I used pH adjusters when I started years ago and will never use them again.

Once your pH levels drop below 6 (as mentioned above) it will truly stall your cycle. Continue with your water changes and add Prime (which I see you have) to detox the ammonia for the 24 hour period until it's time for the next water change. Even though you add the Prime you will still get ammonia readings but it won't be toxic during the 24 hours.

There is no "stable" pH level per say. The best we can do is try to maintain a stable pH through water changes and other methods as mentioned above.

From what I understand, Neons should be added to a well established tank.

Best of luck
Ken

jdhef

The good news it that the more your ph drops below 7, you get less ammonia and more ammonium. Ammonium is no where near at toxic to fish as ammonia is. But since the benificial bacteria converts ammonia into nitrites, the decreased amount of ammonia leads to a longer cycle.

Nate McFin

Plants will drop the Ph by consuming what little buffering capacity you have as well.
I have 0-1 KH and Ph of 7.6 out of tap. It drops to under 6.4 in a week. I have dealt with this by doing just as AlyeskaGirl suggested.
I added a small amount of crushed coral in a media bag to my filter and I do 2 water changes a week instead of 1. This has stabilized things. Go slow with the crushed coral to acclimate you fish to the KH change as it is the change in hardness that the fish dont like. Build up slowly to the level you want. Works like a charm.
I also agree about not adding other buffers not only is it asking for a Ph crash but it is also hard on your pocket book. Crushed coral is much safer and cheaper. Crushed coral while raising the Kh will also raise the Ph and GH of the water.
Best Wishes,
Nate

Dooper

Alright, so, it looks like then my best bet is to go out and buy some crushed coral, and add some to the tank. Can it be added in like the back corner, or does it need to go in the filter. By adding the crushed coral, do I need to then add something to increase the pH like reef rock or limestone? Or will the crushed coral slowly cause the pH to rise?

aquarist48

Dooper, you can add the crushed coral by putting it in a filter media bag as Nate mentioned and placing it in your filter if you have room and if not just hide it in the tank somewhere. The pH levels should slowly rise.
Best of luck and keep us posted.
Ken

aquarist48

Dooper I've moved your thread to here: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/ph/
It should help you to get more responses and to help others as well with the same issues.
Thanks
Ken

Dooper

High Everyone,

Just wanted to update you. Ive set up my new 36 Gal bowfront tank. I let everything settle forf 24 hrs and did my readings. I found my KH to be 20mg/ml and my pH to be around 7.2. I decided to add about 3 1/2 teaspoons of crushed coral inside a filter media and placed it in one of my filters. Want your opinions on whether this is the right, and if it is enough. I'm just worried ill get this tank all set up and ready for fish and then wind up with my pH crashing. Your thoughts?

Dooper

just to add, my ph is actually around 7.5 in the 36 gal, though my Gh and kH are quite low (soft water). My worry about adding crushed coral is that my pH will go up and stay up....is this true, or will the crushed coral help raise my gh and kh and ten stablize my ph?

bolivianbaby

The crushed coral raised and stabilized mine. My african tanks stay at a perfect 7.8-8.0.

Dooper

I want my ph to remain in the 6.5-7 range, so what is the best way to do this, if I have soft water that has a difficult time buffering the ph?

Nate McFin

You are going to have a difficult time doing that without adjucting the water chemistry alot. IMO this would make the water too unstable. I wouldnt worry too much about getting a target Ph range as much as I would about a stable one. 2x week water changes and a small amount of crushed coral will help.
THe other option is RO water and making your own water parameters.

Dooper

what about adding a petrified coral to the tank?