pH is going up!!

[firemanchris05]

My Ph was at 7.2 but it has gone up to 7.6-7.8
I do a 20% water change every week and clean the filters every few days.
All the other water levels test fine.
Is this Ph level ok or should I try to lower the Ph with more water changes or chemicals?

4 ft (60 gal)
15 guppies + babies
5 Rasboras
2 pelco 1 lg 1 sm
1 crab
1 Bamboo Shrimp
4 chinese alge eaters
1 Otto
5 red tetra
1 betta
various plants not sure what they are (Lps no names on the plants)
2 crypt, 4 baby tears, java moss
Giant hair grass
Penny wort
horn wort
about 30 plants total
Caribsea Eco-Complete soil
Co2 Aqua Medic Reactor M 1bb every 5 sec.
2 38 watt helios T5 bulbs
2 Coralife 10,000K High-Intensity Purified Super Daylight Lamp
48" Length X 1.5" Diameter - T12 - 40 Watts
for a total of 156 watts @ 2.6 watts per gal.
lights and Co2 on for 13 hrs.
bubbles on at night
2 aqua clear 70 filters one with a skimmer
temp is about 73 deg.

[ranmasatome]

What kind of filter are you using?? i don't think there is a need to clean the filters so often..

Also.. what kind of media are you using for your filter?

[firemanchris05]

2 aqua clear 70 filters one with a skimmer

[|squee|]

Frankly the level sounds ok to me if you're planning to have a normal tank. Unless you're into breeding, specialised fish-keeping then I think the pH level is not so important.

You can choose to lower the pH by introducing peat into your filters. One example of such a product is from the brand Sera. You will be looking at preprocessed peat, usually in granule form.

[garythay]

Need how much Sera granule Peat for a 4ft tank? Will it turn water to brownish color?

[firemanchris05]

guppies will bread in aly water so i guess there is nothing to worry about ..thanks for the info.