Raise the pH for my tanks

So I have two freshwater tanks with mollies, platys, killfish, tetras, 1 angelfish, and corys in my 29 gallon tank. And mollies, guppies and one killifish fry in my 10 gallon tank. Both are testing at a 6.0-6.5 pH. It's starting to affect my guppies in the smaller tank. I have new driftwood I put in a few weeks ago. Is there any way to naturally raise the pH of the water?

With the 10 gallon I added new gravel in hopes to help raise it. And have been doing weekly 20% water changes two both tanks with gravel vacs every two weeks. I know that most of my fish are healthier in a neutral tank. How can I slowly adjust the pH and maintain it once I have it around 7?

 

Large rocks. You would need to test them before hand though.
Also are you using tap water?

 

There are a number of ways to naturally increase pH. You can place a little bit of crushed coral or crushed oyster shells into a media bag and place it into your filter. Some types of gravel such as Aragonite (described as good for cichlid tanks) will alter pH and even this I would place in a media bag inside the filter so that you have more control over the product.

Do you know what the pH of your source water is? A weekly 20% change really isn't replacing very much water, and if your source water has a satisfactory pH increasing the amount of water to 50% per water change may very well be all you need to do.

If you are using tap water, the true pH may be quite different than what it comes out of the tap with. To determine the true pH of your tap water, run a little into an open container, and aerate it with an air pump and airstone for 24 hours, and then test it. If you don't have an air pump, leave the water exposed to the air for a few days, and then test it. CO2 can be trapped in the water, or because of some methods used by some treatment facilities, their can be an absence of CO2, either of which alters pH. Exposing it to the air lets the water either absorb or release this gas from/to the air (aerating speeds this process) and gives you the true pH of your water.

 

I am using tap water. And can't really afford to buy an air pump. I will try leaving it in a bucket for a couple days and I'll definitely increase the amount of water I change with future water changes.

Where could I find large rocks? And how much coral or shells should I be using? How fast will this increase the pH, I don't want to shock the fish any further? What is the best way to maintain the pH once I've reached my goal number?

 

Sorry, I just gather rocks locally. Then vinegar test them.

 

With any of the products that I mentioned that you put in media bags, I'd probably start out using about 1 tablespoon for the 29 gallon, and half that for the 10 gallon. Monitor the pH and see how much it increases over 4 or 5 days. If the pH doesn't go up enough, add a little more.

After it's stable, do regular pH testing before each water change. If you notice the pH starting to drop either add to or replace the contents in the media bag. The contents of the media bag will probably last a few months, maybe more. There doesn't seem to be a standard amount of time. It varies according to how much is used, and other factors that vary on a tank per tank basis, which is why I recommend weekly pH testing before water changes.

The pH increase won't happen in seconds or minutes like chemical pH products do. It's more of a steady, continual increase that happens as calcium is leached into the tank, that fish can generally tolerate well.

 

thank you that's really great advice I'll do that soon

 

Doing it by chemical I think would be a very poor choice please don't try it.

 

Before attempting to make any adjustments, you should test both your tap and your tank for GH and KH. Without knowing these hardness levels, you could cause an imbalance.

What is the true pH of your tap? What is the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate level in each tank? It may be possible that there is too much debris in the gravel that needs lifting and more water changes are in order. Your tank and your true pH should be very close.

 

Great input catsma

 

I updated my tank info I don't know if that helps answer a few of the questions from above. I tested on 1/4/12.Also the hardness of the water in both tanks is 75, that's what the pet store told me when they tested.

I'll be going back to get the water tested today. I don't have an air pump so I have to wait to find out the true pH level from my tap.

 

Both tanks have ammonia. That is a clue. Please check your tap parameters. Just set some water out. You don't have to aerate it, just wait a few days; and give it a quick stir morning and night. It is very important to know true pH and if it has measurable ammonia.

In the meantime, I recommend daily water changes with deep gravel vacs in small areas. Shove the tubing completely through to the bottom glass plate; and don't move it until all debris has been lifted. Then move the tube an inch and repeat.

As your water hardness appears to be fine.

 

I personally would not worry about adjusting the pH of the water I would look into where the ammonia source is coming from. Is it coming from your tap water or is it due to being slightly overstocked and a filter that hasn’t totally cycled yet. Almost all fish can adapt to the pH of your water as long as it is not too extreme but they can not adapt to ammonia at all.

I would do a good cleaning of the gravel and a large water change and treat the whole tank with Prime or AmQual+ to detoxify the ammonia. I would then wait 24 hours and retest the water and if ammonia is still showing up double dose the tank with Prime or AmQual+