PH too low! Need some suggestions urgently....

[Starlett]

To come straight to the point, I have 2 tanks. One for cherries and one for crs. After some gut feeling that my tank is not so right, I checked my ph.
Cherries ph is 5 and crs 4.5.
Immediately I removed driftwood from the cherries 1ft tank, I have 3 and removed 2 straightaway. Gravel for cherries are neutral. I didn't expect driftwood to have that much impact.
Did 20% water change and added a dead coral fan in.
Hopefully all turns out better soon.

Now for crs, shallow 2ft tank, 2 bubble filters and only have 2 pieces of small ada wood and ada soil and the rest all plants and dragon rocks. Dragon rocks are inert, so shouldn't be the rocks. Some rocks i read raises ph, never heard lowering before.
I always do very small water changes so I think I have to increase to 10-15% water change now.

I read alot of people asking help to lower ph, but raising ph, sounds wierd.
Would it be okay if I added coral shells into crs tank? Strange right?

[alvinchan80]

I don't think you should add coral chips as the effect might be instill in the tank on a prolong basis instead of just solving the issue now..

May I ask what is the test kit you are using now to test the reading? PH pen? PH meter? Liquid test kit? Test strip?

If PH pen or meter, have you calibrated them to 7.0 and/or 4.0? If liquid test kits, do try to cross check with an already calibrated pen/meter. Test strip, then don't bother, just get a liquid test kit or test pen to check again.

[Starlett]

I don't think you should add coral chips as the effect might be instill in the tank on a prolong basis instead of just solving the issue now..

May I ask what is the test kit you are using now to test the reading? PH pen? PH meter? Liquid test kit? Test strip?

If PH pen or meter, have you calibrated them to 7.0 and/or 4.0? If liquid test kits, do try to cross check with an already calibrated pen/meter. Test strip, then don't bother, just get a liquid test kit or test pen to check again.

Liquid test kit.

[Starlett]

After I removed the 2 driftwood, changed some water and added in a small dead coral fan, the cherries stopped hiding and now are moving around the tank like normal shrimps do. Previously their behavior was very wierd. All huddled together in one corner and redused to move around for few days.
Quite dumb of me to put 3 medium sized driftwood into a 1 ft tank. I always thought driftwood would lower ph but not significant.
Lesson learnt. Hopefully all will be better. Still don't know about tomorrow.

I also put a small dead coral fan into my crs tank. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, but 4.5ph is way too low, I feel.

Let me know if I should remove the coral fan. But then, I don't know what else I can do to raise ph. I don't want to dose chemicals.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, the parameter effects of wood and rocks have a much greater effect in nano tanks... its basically all about dilution, small tanks just don't have enough water volume to keep parameters as balanced as much larger tanks.

I've experienced just 3 small palm-size pieces of rocks in a 1.5ft tank raising the pH from 6.4 to 7.4 after just a few weeks, and that's in a new tank with ADA aquasoil. After i removed the rocks, the pH went back to 6.4 over the next few days, that's when i realized that even small items can affect the water parameters.

Btw, try not to put any pH buffering items in your tank, just let it gradually stabilize back to its natural pH on its own, helps avoid random unknown swings in water chemistry.

[Starlett]

So do you think I should remove the dead coral fan? You know those we often see in the volcanic shrimps setups.
Some people showcase their huge branchy driftwood into their nano tanks and it's so nice and I wonder if they would have the same problem or not. Maybe fishes are fine but definitely not my shrimps.

[Starlett]

By the way, can you tell me what rocks are those that you had?

[Urban Aquaria]

So do you think I should remove the dead coral fan? You know those we often see in the volcanic shrimps setups.
Some people showcase their huge branchy driftwood into their nano tanks and it's so nice and I wonder if they would have the same problem or not. Maybe fishes are fine but definitely not my shrimps.

Well, the dead coral fan isn't necessary, as it breaks down and dissolves in acidic water it will raise the pH, so you'll need to monitor the pH to ensure it doesn't increase too far upwards... it'll be better to take it out to avoid risking anymore issues with pH swings.

Not all wood are the same. Different types of wood have different effects on the water chemistry, some hardwood don't affect pH much, while some softwood that still have rotting outer layer (ie. wood pieces flaking off) may tend to affect pH more.

Repeated boiling and soaking of the wood also helps to remove residual tannins and reduce its effects too... i usually boil my wood pieces for a few hours and then soak them in a large plastic tub for a few weeks (sometimes months on standby) before usage.

[Urban Aquaria]

By the way, can you tell me what rocks are those that you had?

They were just those common grey rocks from LFS, they weren't labelled with any fancy japanese names though... as usual the LFS uncle tell me the rocks confirm will not alter parameters, but i guess he also have no idea.

After that experience, i started to test soak any rocks i get in a bucket of water for 1-2 weeks to double-check their effects.

[Subdave]

You cant control the amount of alkaline given out by coral. So best remove. If tou have soil base that acts as a buffer, doing wc with our aged tap water that is high( over acouple of days should bring things back to normal.

[Kwan Dihui]

hi. my ph also low. around 4.9 for a 3 feet tank. removed driftwood still the same. Anyway the soil should buffer it to around 6 to 6.5. seem abit weird. all my tank around 4.9 to 5 but they still able to breed. maybe shall check the gh and kh?

[Urban Aquaria]

hi. my ph also low. around 4.9 for a 3 feet tank. removed driftwood still the same. Anyway the soil should buffer it to around 6 to 6.5. seem abit weird. all my tank around 4.9 to 5 but they still able to breed. maybe shall check the gh and kh?

Are you using a pH pen? Just assuming because your pH reading of 4.9 seems rather specific... chemical tests usually only measure in even decimal places.

If you are using a pH pen, try doing a 2-point calibration again (with 4.0 and 7.0 buffer solutions) to make sure its producing accurate readings.

As for the pH, if your shrimps are healthy and breeding then it means they are already adapted to that particular water parameter so no need to rush and change it (too sudden a change may end up shocking them), just let the water conditions gradually revert and stabilize on its own.

[Kwan Dihui]

ok. will try calibration and see. but problem is recently some shrimp dying. shall i check the kh and gh too? tds?

[Starlett]

I get shrimp dying at ph 5. I got some media rings that may help in buffering ph recommended by GC. I will remove my dead coral fan and replace with the media rings.
Oh I forgot that I have a coconut husk cave in my crs tank. I have removed it too.
Hopefully my pH will gradually rise a bit.

[ken1971]

Hi,

Try to boast your potassium (k). This will increase your Ph.

Boast slowly over a few days till your Ph is stable.

Ken

[Kwan Dihui]

hi bro. where to get potassium? plant fertilizer?

[Urban Aquaria]

ok. will try calibration and see. but problem is recently some shrimp dying. shall i check the kh and gh too? tds?

It'll be good to check if you can, helps narrow down the causes.

[ken1971]

Try Y618. The refer to the uncle.

It's in powder form.

he can help you.

ken

[Kwan Dihui]

Ken - ok. Thanks for the information.

Starlett - Do let me know if the media mention work. Thanks. I will try out the potassium mention by bro ken.

[Starlett]

My current ph is 5.5 after removing some driftwood and water change. I have just put the media rings in. I will check again after few days.