What's my PH test kit reading?

HI folks! Using the liquid API freshwater mater kit, I tested my PH yesterday. I can't really tell what the results are. The test tube on the left was done with the regular PH solution. When I couldn't really determine the PH range, I ran another test with the High PH solution (test tube on the right). Can anyone tell my what my PH is? Neither test tube looks like any of the colors on the chart.

If it helps it know, my cycle crashed.



Yesterday
Ammonia .50
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0

Today after water change last night
Ammonia .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-5.0?

ps. these are the same test tube. One was taken with the color chart, one was taken without the color chart.

 

It looks to me like your pH is completely min'ned out, as low as the API test kit can measure or lower. This happened to me recently as well. The problem is that when pH goes below 6, the beneficial bacteria cannot grow and this causes a minI cycle.

Since I am now almost an expert in pH crashing - well, at least I really know how to cause the pH in my tank to crash, ha! - here is some advice:

1. Measure the tap water's pH. If you have the patience and whatnot to do it, you may want to also measure the pH in a bucket and let it sit for a few days and measure again to establish what your tap pH really is (it takes a while to settle down). This will help establish whether you have a low pH in tap water.

2. If you can, get the API KH and GH liquid test kit as well. Since a fall in pH may be caused by a drop in KH for example, which is the buffering capacity.

3. Do small daily water changes like 20% of your water. Do not do too large a change at once. Measure every time before you change water and see if pH changes and if so, does it change slowly or fast. Fast pH change is bad.

4. Are you using Amquel water conditioner, if so, switch to Prime. If you have soft water like I do, Amquel can cause a pH crash.

I know that there are many other causes of pH crash, and hopefully others will help you identify what caused your pH to plummet like this. It will make a big difference if you can with the help of others here figure out what caused your pH to crash, since depending on the cause you may need to solve it differently.

How long had this tank been cycled before? PH crashes are normal during cycle, so actually it is also possible that your minI cycle caused the ph crash and not the other way around.

Good luck solving this mystery.

Btw, measuring High PH should only be done if the regular pH is maximum, otherwise the High PH test is not helpful.

 

Thanks Joanna. I was just reading the thread you posted about your problems with PH! No, I have not use Amquel water conditioner. While the tank was cycling, I was using Prime, but after it completed the cycle, I had some leftover Top Fin water conditioner and have also have been using AquaSafe Plus water conditioner. Not sure if these products have the same issue as the Amquel does. Yesterday when I did my water change, I used Prime and will continue to do so until my parameters settle down.

My tank has been cycled since June 4th. I've added additional fish and each time, my cycle has been stable ammonia -0, nitrite 0, nitrate <30. I'm not sure what caused my cycle to crash.

I will continue do water changes, see if I can get KH and GH test kits and see what happens. I'm just really concerned because I know that when PH gets too low, it affects the bacteria.

 

Your pH looks like 6.4 to me. It looks a little greener than 6.0, but the pH cards are so subjective, in my opinion.

 

As you can see from my thread there is also the option of trying to fix pH swings through the use of crushed coral in a mesh bag in the filter. Crushed coral raises kH and pH and thus especially if kH is too low it can help stabilize it and prevent further pH crashing. However, as I am still learning the hard way, crushed coral can also cause pH swings, and actually I am now confused whether I should remove it completely or add more or what, so my advice would be if you want to use crushed coral, be sure to find out from those more experienced than me how to do it, since I am trying to use it but so far doing it wrong. I will subscribe to your thread in the hope of reading others responses to your thread as well because I think both you and I have some of the same or similar lessons to learn here, though our pH may have crashed for different reasons.

 

Where do you get crushed coral?

 

Crushed coral is sold in the saltwater section at petstores or fish stores. It is sold in large bags, but for our purposes one uses only like a handful.

 

I think I will not try using crushed coral. I'll probably just do daily water changes and see what happens. After reading your thread, I'm scared of messing with the PH.

 

I agree with just daily water changes and see if things bounce backup.

 

Anz,I do not know if you saw already but my tap water has changed, and I now have only KH of 3, which is not enough to stabilize tank with water changes. Yikes! I would thus strongly recommend that you do get the API KH GH test kit as well. I got mine online from amazon, since my local stores did not carry it. If your tap water KH is 4 or more, then water changes can be sufficient to stabilize the KH and ph issues, but not if the tap KH is lower, and as my lesson learned shows, tap water supply can and does change - now why did it have to change just when I needed it to remain stable the most?! Good luck to you!

 

I just read a lot about pH. To get a true reading we need to: water in container, add air stone, wait 24 hours, test, wait another 24 hours, test again.

I also read fish are ok w/ pH as low as 5.5. A relief. But you aren't going to get a reading below your test kit colors.

Test the GH and KH as advised before making any changes to the pH in the tank.

 

PS. Sera makes a test kit that measures 4.5 to 9. I'm going to get one.

 

I just ordered API kit to test for gh and kh. It should be here in about a week.

 

Whenever you use tap water for wc, once in a while its good to measure it's properties (acidity, hardness, nitrates, etc.).

In a fishless cycle, the water should not be changed.

Personally, I never use tap water for tanks with fish, its just not good enough. Don't know about in the US, but here in mediterranean Europe, summer drought allows for some 'sanitary additives' in tapwater. So I decided never to use it.

 

In a fishless cycle, the water should not be changed.

Personally, I never use tap water for tanks with fish, its just not good enough.

Got to disagree with both of the above statements:

Water changes in fishless cycling are like the sacrament of confession in the Episcopal / Anglican Church: required of none, available to all, needed by some. While most of the time water changes are not necessary with fishless cycling because you do not need to protect any fish, water changes will not do any harm in any fishless cycle so one can do as many water changes as desired without any ill effects to cycle, and under some special circumstances even in fishless cycling water changes are needed. One such circumstance is when the pH drops below 6. Beneficial bacteria do not multiply when pH is below 6, and this stalls the cycle. One way to raise the pH is to do water changes, and if the water you are using for the water changes has a kH of at least 4 and a high enough pH, then water changes will be sufficient to fix the issue of stalled cycle due to pH that is too low.

I do not know about the water quality of where you live, but where I live, tap water is good enough not only for fish, but for human consumption as well.

 

I've been doing daily 30% water changes, added a little (about a palm full) crushed coral to my filter and I am starting to see my ph rise a little. It's a light green, maybe 6.4. Hopefully this rise in ph is enough to get my cycle back on track.