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

[Starlett]

Just to share, gc guy told me some of their tanks also has very low ph like 4+ and they are also not sure why.
Some people online also mentioned that if ph goes down way too low, your tank will crash, that was what scared me.
I also read that ada soil buffers ph to 6 - 6.5 only after quite a number of months.
I think if your shrimps are okay then maybe don't need to worry too much.
My ph now is still about 5.5 only, but the shrimps are really moving around and eating happily, so as long as they are happy and breeding, don't try to make too many changes.
GC advised me that dosing chemicals are effective, but you must monitor very very closely, otherwise, backfire.
I'm working so most of the day time I won't be home, so chemicals is not my option.

[khementi]

you can use sodium bicarbonate (buy from mama store) to raise it, but the effect will not last long. see here: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/b...rbonate-39665/

I suggest you test the alkalinity of your source water too - if it's low, then no matter what you add, the ph will drop eventually due to biological processes, rotting of food, driftwood, etc. The problem with dosing anything to raise pH is the same, it's only a temporary step. Other causes of low pH will be a lack of aeration (excess CO2, or due to CO2 dosing)

You can try a product like Seachem Neutral Regulator or Equilibrium to help increase the buffering ability (that is, the ability to resist pH fluctuations) in water. Hope this helps!

[Starlett]

Thanks for your suggestions. I usually don't have this problem with normal shrimps, like fire red, as they are pretty adaptable. They started behaving poorly that's why I had to resort to testing. I removed 2 driftwods, leaving 1 in my tank. I try to siphon the gravel abit, like you said it could be rotting plants and dirt thay caused the ph to dip. I believe the driftwood was also leeching something that made them uncomfortable and stressed.
I have a kh ph buffer chemical from sera, may have to drop abit to help.
At least now the fire reds behavior are back to normal, I hope things get better with my water.

[khementi]

Sounds good. Actually I believe many animals can take low pH but need slow acclimatisation. Tannin (brown stuff in leaves and driftwood) lowers pH, as we know from Amazon habitat etc.

Thanks for your suggestions. I usually don't have this problem with normal shrimps, like fire red, as they are pretty adaptable. They started behaving poorly that's why I had to resort to testing. I removed 2 driftwods, leaving 1 in my tank. I try to siphon the gravel abit, like you said it could be rotting plants and dirt thay caused the ph to dip. I believe the driftwood was also leeching something that made them uncomfortable and stressed.
I have a kh ph buffer chemical from sera, may have to drop abit to help.
At least now the fire reds behavior are back to normal, I hope things get better with my water.

[Starlett]

Thanks! Driftwoods really makes our tanks really nice, but can't have a beautiful tank and happy shrimps at the same time. Have to sacrifice one of them.

[mUAr_cHEe]

I am still quite new to this but according to what I have read yesterday, adjusting CO2 levels would also have an effect on pH levels of the water. Maybe can the seniors share their insights on this point?

[bennyc]

Co2 will drop ph. Some non planted tank hobbist also do use CO2 injection as a means to control ph to match the natural environment of their fish. The change in ph after CO2 injection is also the "science" behind drop checker too.

[Pork Life]

Co2 will drop ph. Some non planted tank hobbist also do use CO2 injection as a means to control ph to match the natural environment of their fish. The change in ph after CO2 injection is also the "science" behind drop checker too.

Yup some hobbyists do use co2 to control pH but this is provided that the water have sufficient kH levels. With low kH pH swings due to co2 injection will be huge and causes stress to its inhabitants.

I did this for my bare bottom tank but due to low kH, pH was round 6 with co2 injection. Now I added a extra powerhead to create more suface agitation to "remove" excess gas and push the pH back to round 6.5.

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