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Thread: pH drop?

  1. #1
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    pH drop?

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    Hi,

    I would like to ask some questions for a friend. He set up his fish tank about 3 weeks ago. Added fishes at about 1 week (too early lah but his mum wants to see some fish). Not to mention, all the fishes met their fate.
    At about 1.5 weeks, he added some neons and penguin tetras in. Recently, he has had some problem with fishes dying more frequently. A few a day! Some died without any symptoms.

    He checked his pH and it was lesser than the test kit's lower limit of 4.5. Advise from a friend to add baking soda and it did help. However, the very next day, the pH went down low again!

    Is this due to nitrate built up as the beneficial bacterial has not settled in yet. Should he do frequent water changes to remove the nitrate but will this then slow down the settlement of beneficial bacteria? Heard somewhere that nitrate increase will cause algae bloom cause he kenna algae liao although his is quite low light condition (50 W for a standard 3 ft tank)

    He currently trying to use a product called Cycle to hasten the cycling of his tank. Hope it helps. New year coming and he doesnt wish to see fishes dying in there...hehe

    any help will be appreciated as i cant offer him much advise. Thanks in advance.

    Best Regards,
    tltan[]

  2. #2
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    tell him to get another pH test kit
    i doubt the current one is reliable anymore
    next, how are his water changes coming along?
    so long as he does small water changes frequently, he shouldn't have that many fish losses

    next, nitrate is the ENDPRODUCT of the biological cycle, and doing frequent water changes doesn't matter, because so-called cycling is a dynamic process, and eventually it'll reach a balance

    just ask him to keep on changing water in small amounts, about 15% say twice a wk, and see the results

  3. #3
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    Yeah.. agree wif DEA... do more water changes.

    Can ask your fren wat is the kH? BTW, is it a planted tank or a fish only tank?
    Cheers!!

    Sherwin Choo
    [email protected]

  4. #4
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    Ok
    I have already informed him to do water changes constantly.
    Think maybe his pH testkit is not reliable also lah cheap one...5.80 only.
    Thanks, his is a scarcely planted tank..adding plants along the way.

    thanks,
    tltan

  5. #5
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    And oso don't add in anymore fishes for the time being until everything settle in , Cheers ! []

    Akoh
    Safe Diving !
    Safe Diving !
    Seeking for the Ultimate Diving Adventure !
    - Sipadan, Similan Islands, Burma Banks, Palau, PNG, Raja Empat ( planning for June 08 )

  6. #6
    to help him cycle faster maybe you can loan him some old filter media or take some gravel from your tank, it should help to speed up the cycling process instead of using those cycling aid which I don't think will really work.

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    I think he kena whats call "PH Crash".This due to the water being too soft that is the KH = 0.For the benefit of newbies water from PUB is PH=7, KH=0 plus some other chemicals like chlorine & flourine.The PH scale is a logarithmic scale, so a ph 8 is ten times more alkaline than ph 7 and vice-versa.Obviously a drop from ph 7 to below 4.5 overnight is very traumatic (1000 times)and possibly fatal for fishes.Many factors affect Ph but the hardness of water, KH, is especially significant.For this reason the amount of KH level is said to buffer PH. Buffering is the water's ability to support the ph, and to resist PH change. I suggest ur fren get a KH test kit and KH up solution. Even daily water changes will not solve his problem because the crash will still occurs unless the KH is around 3-4.For me, my fishes already got used to the PH drops though not sure of long term effect to their well-being.

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    Yeah, I have KH 0 problem too. Using Sodium Bicarbonate to raise the KH to at least 3-5, even so, pH tends to drift to the low side after a while. However, my Sodium Bicarb is not pure and there are some impurities which I dont like. Anyone knows where to buy pure sodium bicarb?

    Btw, if you wanna use sodium bicarb, dissolve first in a small bowl and pour slowly into the tank, else your fishes might freak out! Measure KH and repeat until desired KH is reached.

  9. #9
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    addition to what the rest said, guide to increasing of KH is 2 degree a day

  10. #10
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    pH crash is when it becomes more acidic
    in his case, at night, it becomes a pH of 4.5
    i doubt the reason for that is the kH buffering the CO2
    if it were a pH crash, it'll be the other way around, 4.5 in the day and 7 at night

    there's also a possibility the plants are taking in CO2 during the day and thus increasing the pH
    this isn't likely to cause a pH increase of 2.5 units though
    and he added some kH powder, but it didn't make a difference
    more often than not it's a simply case of faulty test kits
    coupled with a new tank, it's more likely to be NTS than a pH crash (reason for fish death)

    so is your friend injecting CO2?
    whatever it is, tell him to relax
    doing more for the tank will confirm + guarantee stress both him and the fish out
    tell him not to add more chemicals

    personally, my kH is 0, doesn't make a difference to my fish
    all acidic softwater fish
    when i turn on the lights, the pH drops from 6.5 to 5.5
    perfectly normal

  11. #11
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    Alright man,
    thanks for the input,,will get him to read all these useful msg
    =)
    regards,
    tltan

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