roger Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 struggling to keep the PH in my tank down , my tap water is around 7.5-7.6 . yet daily i'm having to add PH down (0.6mil) in my little 22 litre tank as it climbs upto 8.2 , 8.4 and i have'nt left it to see if it stablises or if it keeps going up as worried it may bump off my fish yet starting to worry there's more chemicals in the tank than water :/ it's a 20-22 litre tank with 2 plants and 8 guppies , an air stone , and heater set at 25 deg C as yet i haven't added a filter as it seems really clear without one . it's been set up for about 3-4 weeks and cycled twice in week 2 been doing a water change of about 20% once a week any ideas or help would be great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 What kind of substrate is in the tank? Try just filling a container of water in a bucket to see what happens with the pH in comparison with the tank. Need to eliminate the possibility of something in your tank causing the change or the water itself being unstable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 just put some water in a icecream container to leave and see what happens , when i first set it up i put a teaspoon of salt ,end of week 1 and 2 put 2.5mil of fluval plant micro nutrients and end of week 1 and 2 used ichonex as a precausionary being new fish and temp changes getting them home and for the first water change , the last week or 2 i've been using quick start and tap water conditioner with my water changes which i've started to do daily the last 2 days to see if that helped but hasn't , the only other 2 things is i feed them sanyu guppy food and have 2 water plants 1 is a esprite and the other not sure and is still in rock wool i doubt the plants would affect the PH could the rock wool ? it's doing my head in having to put 0.6mil-1mil of PH down in daily some days , morning and night which i'm sure is no good for the fish either with the flucuations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 No the wooly stuff that plants come with shouldn't affect anything. What water conditioner are you using? You don't have any gravel or other rocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 yeah have red ( painted not natural i think ) pea size rocks about 20mm deep in the bottom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) think you maybe onto something just had a close look and they used to be red where now some are patchy pink and white and some are still red , going to rip it out and get some medium river sand type base Edited August 11, 2014 by roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 just finished taking the base rocks out and did a 50% water change , waiting game now and if nothing changes 1 thing at a time will come out the waxy look leaf plant is next on the list if that hasn't got it sorted on a different note i finished making my new tank on the weekend 205 litre from some 10mm i had in the shed now just to do the seperators ( making it with flow through dividers and looking at splitting it into 5 ) bit more silicone work and 8 week with it filled , hopefully less maintainence then the above and with the extra knowldege of what not to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzvk Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 the diy sounds interesting consider making a thread and evaluating it??? with the pH id be looking at the substrate if higher ph is an issue you can swap for a proven inert base or a pH lowering base like aquasoils. you could also add peat (in a stocking if you hate the mess) to lower pH a bit, ph uppers and downers can cause swings so we usually avoid them. pH of 7.5 isnt too bad for guppies though as long as its stable a slightly high pH causes less issues than a fluctuating pH and guppies do like harder water than bettas anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Yeah I really don't like those painted pebbles. Much prefer a more natural look. Some of those coloured gravels can actually be toxic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 well the gravel , air stone and the wax leaf plant are gone and it's still getting up around 8.4+ , will bottled water/ rain water + aquarium salt create hard water ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Test the pH of the bottled water and the rain water separately. Rain water should be completely soft with no hardness at all. But depending on how it was collected and stored it may have picked up the hardness from elsewhere. Aquarium salts will raise the hardness a little bit. But should really buffer it. Could you be adding too much? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Guppies like water with high conductivity (total dissolved solids) My guess is water with high ph is also likely to be hard and have high conductivity Personally....I wouldn't change it I'd bet it's not worrying the guppies....;) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Test the pH of the bottled water and the rain water separately. Rain water should be completely soft with no hardness at all. But depending on how it was collected and stored it may have picked up the hardness from elsewhere. Aquarium salts will raise the hardness a little bit. But should really buffer it. Could you be adding too much? i originally put in a teaspoon (salt) and have done quite a few water changes without adding any more , was thinking of doing a 50/50 mix of tap and rain water as my water appears to be volitile/high in carbonate , bicarbonate Is 8.4+ PH dangerous to guppies ? if not i'll just leave it . What levels are acceptable ? i've being aiming for 7.5 but as you can see it's a losing battle with that being the minimum i can get Out of interest , technically what is a good conductivity range as if i ask the lab guy nicely at work i maybe able to get my aquarium water checked as we monitor PH and condo at the pigment plant i work at, would it be around 10000-18000 uS/cm or lower at 2000-8000 uS/cm ? if i know this then i maybe able to take some empty water bottles to work and grab some from the water plant when the condo is right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) 8.4 pH is not dangerous to guppies They are one of the few fish that I would add NaCl to their tank Do you know that pH can fluctuate quite a bit in the Wild During the day plants convert co2 to o2 and reverse at night reducing co2 makes water more alkaline whilst adding it increases acidity Best practise is to observe the fish....if they are stressed they will show it Trying to chase a specific pH can be dangerous What do you mean cycled twice?? Do you have any live plants? I recommend Anubias, Java fern, guppy grass Give the tank time to settle down....it's very New Tanks naturally go towards the acid end of the scale over time Edited August 14, 2014 by Rod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks Bettarazzi and Rod if it ain't broken don't fix it , now i know it won't harm them i'll let it sort it self out PS, RE: plants , i have a watersprite and not sure what the other is this is it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lodo Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Everyone is asking about substrate. What rocks are in your tank? That picture makes me feel the rocks are raising your ph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Mmmm....James is correct! that sculpture is no doubt made of Paster of Paris....calcium sulfate hemihydrate that is the cause of the pH increase....for sure... Plant looks like a sword of some sort Edited August 14, 2014 by Rod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Is that a mermaids tail? :gasp: :faints: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Mmmm....James is correct! that sculpture is no doubt made of Paster of Paris....calcium sulfate hemihydrate that is the cause of the pH increase....for sure... Plant looks like a sword of some sort the sculpture is the culprit for the PH ? or are you pulling my leg ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Nope, A mate of mine used to add Plaster of Paris to catfish Grow out tank tanks to increase calcium for bone growth If you don't believe me get a bucket of water....take pH Put in sculpture and wait a week....then take pH again.... if sculpture is plastic then I'm wrong....but I bet it's not.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted August 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) i believe you, it's just i pulled it out as soon as i read it and was waiting for you to go hahaha JK this whole high PH deal has been doing my head in for weeks if only i'ld put up a photo earlier Thanks to everyone for the help and learning lesson Edited August 14, 2014 by roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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