Need help with MOSURA soil

[avex30]

I already had intentions of removing the biohome and replacing it with powerhouse anyway.. this just expedited the process. But I put the biohome into my test box.. I just measured and the pH is the same as last night, sitting at 6.1-6.3

HOWEVER, my tank water is now sitting at 7.1 according to my pH meter, and 6.9 according to eviltrain's meter.

I REALLY have no idea what's wrong with it hah. Maybe I need to do a 100% water change?

You got powerhouse did you get the right one??

[SeahSengYong]

Did you put coral chip in your canister?

[Ecalyte]

You got powerhouse did you get the right one??

There's nothing in my canister except for powerhouse..

I bought the powerhouse while I was in HK, and ya.. it's the right one haha!

Did you put coral chip in your canister?

Is this a serious question? Obviously I didn't put coral chip in my canister..

[avex30]

There's nothing in my canister except for powerhouse..

I bought the powerhouse while I was in HK, and ya.. it's the right one haha!



Is this a serious question? Obviously I didn't put coral chip in my canister..

Kk than really puzzling

[eviltrain]

i can double confirm what bro ecalyte all his setup are properly done. just puzzle about what increase the pH.

[avex30]

Hmm mind posting a full tank shot maybe can help identify

[Ecalyte]

Let me recap the entire process from the time I got the pH problem. I will summarize as best as I can ...

Tank specifications:
Size: 2x1.5x1.5ft
Filtration: 2 prefilters, Jebao 503, Eheim 2213, Ocean Free HOF Large size.

Two separate filtration system. Each system consists of a pre-filter, canister and HOF.
Water Flow: Inlet --> Pre-filter --> Canister --> HOF.
The outlet of the canister is dumped into a HOF so the water passes through another set of filter wool. This HOF has black coarse filter wool.

1 week before going on my vacation to HK, I got myself a pH meter. The pH was relatively high at 6.8. The last time I tested the pH was when I was having regular deaths with my CRS that coincided with water change. That was around 1-2 months ago. The only thing that changed between then and the point of pH meter is the adding of ADA 2 Amazonia Powder soil. The pH kept rising and rising... and it went all the way to 7.7. I borrowed Alvin's liquid pH test and the values were confirmed. I did separate tests using left-over soil that included external breeder box, and an ice cream tub separated from the entire system. Tests concluded that the soil was increasing the pH.

First reset.

I drained all the water and soil.. cleaned the tank. Both my pre-filters was taken out, drained out.. and the white filter sponge was replaced. I added shizhen into the prefilter before filling it up with water and reconnected them. What was kept from the previous set up is the water in the two canisters, and the HOF. I deliberately kept them there to maintain the BB as a means of expediting the cycling process. Filled the tank with 3cm of coarse Mosura, added 2 packs of Old Sea Mud and a bottle of BT-9. Added powder Mosura soil on top of it. Total soil height is 5 cm at the front, sloping up to 11cm at the back. Filled the tank with water and dosed 11 spoons of shizhen. After 2 hours, I turned the canister on.. when I left for HK the pH was 6.8

1 week later, back from HK and the pH is 7.0. So I thought it's the soil. I did a 50% water change and went out to buy ADA Africana. My intentions was to reset the tank using Africana as the base soil then covered with Mosura powder. This was because initially I thought the problem is the Mosura soil. I did a separate test of putting the soil in an ice cream tub and adding tap water (measured at 7.5pH) into it. 4 hours later, the pH in the tub is 6.0 and the water in my main tank is 6.3. So this indicated that the soil is probably not the problem. I did another 50% WC, and yesterday the pH went up to 6.8. Last night, bro redsuns and eviltrain came over and the pH was 7.0. After much deliberation, we concluded that the ONLY possible problem (very minutely possible) is the Biohome. So I took out both canisters, cleaned them both and replaced the biohome with powerhouse. I added shizhen into the canisters before filling it up with tap water.

This morning.. pH is at 7.1

I am at a complete loss as to what it may be..

[binniez]

The power house indeed has ph lowering properties. I have added 1 pack into my ehiem 2217 with substrate pro and it brought down my ph from 6.7 to 6.2. So far been 3 months ph still seems pretty constant.

[Ecalyte]

Full Tank Shot



Filtration

[binniez]

Let me recap the entire process from the time I got the pH problem. I will summarize as best as I can ...

Tank specifications:
Size: 2x1.5x1.5ft
Filtration: 2 prefilters, Jebao 503, Eheim 2213, Ocean Free HOF Large size.

Two separate filtration system. Each system consists of a pre-filter, canister and HOF.
Water Flow: Inlet --> Pre-filter --> Canister --> HOF.
The outlet of the canister is dumped into a HOF so the water passes through another set of filter wool. This HOF has black coarse filter wool.

1 week before going on my vacation to HK, I got myself a pH meter. The pH was relatively high at 6.8. The last time I tested the pH was when I was having regular deaths with my CRS that coincided with water change. That was around 1-2 months ago. The only thing that changed between then and the point of pH meter is the adding of ADA 2 Amazonia Powder soil. The pH kept rising and rising... and it went all the way to 7.7. I borrowed Alvin's liquid pH test and the values were confirmed. I did separate tests using left-over soil that included external breeder box, and an ice cream tub separated from the entire system. Tests concluded that the soil was increasing the pH.

First reset.

I drained all the water and soil.. cleaned the tank. Both my pre-filters was taken out, drained out.. and the white filter sponge was replaced. I added shizhen into the prefilter before filling it up with water and reconnected them. What was kept from the previous set up is the water in the two canisters, and the HOF. I deliberately kept them there to maintain the BB as a means of expediting the cycling process. Filled the tank with 3cm of coarse Mosura, added 2 packs of Old Sea Mud and a bottle of BT-9. Added powder Mosura soil on top of it. Total soil height is 5 cm at the front, sloping up to 11cm at the back. Filled the tank with water and dosed 11 spoons of shizhen. After 2 hours, I turned the canister on.. when I left for HK the pH was 6.8

1 week later, back from HK and the pH is 7.0. So I thought it's the soil. I did a 50% water change and went out to buy ADA Africana. My intentions was to reset the tank using Africana as the base soil then covered with Mosura powder. This was because initially I thought the problem is the Mosura soil. I did a separate test of putting the soil in an ice cream tub and adding tap water (measured at 7.5pH) into it. 4 hours later, the pH in the tub is 6.0 and the water in my main tank is 6.3. So this indicated that the soil is probably not the problem. I did another 50% WC, and yesterday the pH went up to 6.8. Last night, bro redsuns and eviltrain came over and the pH was 7.0. After much deliberation, we concluded that the ONLY possible problem (very minutely possible) is the Biohome. So I took out both canisters, cleaned them both and replaced the biohome with powerhouse. I added shizhen into the canisters before filling it up with tap water.

This morning.. pH is at 7.1

I am at a complete loss as to what it may be..

Bro. Just to check. What is your tap water PH? Might have some effects though. Would be helpful if you include that info.

[Ecalyte]

Tap water pH is around 7.3 to 7.5

However adding shizhen into the water will reduce the pH dramatically. After adding shizhen the pH dropped to about 6.6 to 6.7ish

Do you think different types of filter wool can attribute to a pH increase?

[Ecalyte]

Just to add.. I have a cull tank with about 2cm of ADA 2 Amazonia normal type soil.. I do regular water changes with the same tap water treated with shizhen. That tank is at 6.2 pH..

[gryphon]

The power house indeed has ph lowering properties. I have added 1 pack into my ehiem 2217 with substrate pro and it brought down my ph from 6.7 to 6.2. So far been 3 months ph still seems pretty constant.

You only add powerhouse media and nothing else is changed and it helped to bring down the PH?
What is your tank size and the amount of powerhouse you bought?
Looks like I got to spend some $ at GreenChapter

[binniez]

Hmmm.. Am not too sure if Shizhen has pH reducing capabilities. Have never tested it out. What I can probably say as your tap water pH is probably on the high side. What i can advise is that you can age your water with some peat before water change to avoid the drastic change in pH. Also, as for powerhouse, I have been to Hong Kong goldfish market but have not had any luck spotting them. Have seen that there are different type of power house in Japan. There is those with pH lowering properties like the one that bro Alan is using and I also mistakenly bought the powerhouse normal substrate which does not have any pH lowering properties. Maybe you would like to check on that.

[binniez]

I bought just a normal box of powerhouse. My tank is a 4ft tank and nothing was changed before that.

[eviltrain]

i can double confirm he is using the correct power house (slightly acidic) s size media

those with lower acidic properties will have some chinese character "微酸性“right at the bottom of the "window" of the box.

[Ecalyte]

Hmmm.. Am not too sure if Shizhen has pH reducing capabilities. Have never tested it out. What I can probably say as your tap water pH is probably on the high side. What i can advise is that you can age your water with some peat before water change to avoid the drastic change in pH. Also, as for powerhouse, I have been to Hong Kong goldfish market but have not had any luck spotting them. Have seen that there are different type of power house in Japan. There is those with pH lowering properties like the one that bro Alan is using and I also mistakenly bought the powerhouse normal substrate which does not have any pH lowering properties. Maybe you would like to check on that.

I agree that the tap water is on the high side, but in my controlled testing of using tap water and mosura soil in an ice cream box, the pH is down to 6.0 and has remained that way for 2 days now..

[avex30]

I agree that the tap water is on the high side, but in my controlled testing of using tap water and mosura soil in an ice cream box, the pH is down to 6.0 and has remained that way for 2 days now..

Bro can try this if you have Ph down lower the ph in your age water before you pour in. I see a few crs moving inside can you try isolate them out 1st. Just my own thought use Ph down lower your changing water. Overnite than add it and see what is the effect.......

[Ecalyte]

Those 2 CRS are commandos i used to test the water cycle. The water is fully cycled, just unstable pH. I've already put them back into my cull tank...

I don't want to start a chemical warfare as it will only mask the underlying problem... the pH is increasing and I'm trying to find out what is the source of this pH rise..

Anything I add to the tank to buffer the pH to a value I like will only hide the actual problem.. I'm currently in the process of doing a 100% water change to see what the problem is.

In my controlled test, the tap water was successfully brought down to a 6.0 pH by the Mosura soil. So I think there's something in my tank that is buffering this water. I'm thinking that there are still traces of whatever caused my previous setup's 7.7 pH water still in there that's buffering it. I'll try to do a couple more 100% water changes to dilute that as much as I can and post updates..

Please continue to contribute ideas as to what you guys may think is causing the pH rise.. thank you all so far for helping me figure out the problem thus far.. really appreciate it

[avex30]

Those 2 CRS are commandos i used to test the water cycle. The water is fully cycled, just unstable pH. I've already put them back into my cull tank...

I don't want to start a chemical warfare as it will only mask the underlying problem... the pH is increasing and I'm trying to find out what is the source of this pH rise..

Anything I add to the tank to buffer the pH to a value I like will only hide the actual problem.. I'm currently in the process of doing a 100% water change to see what the problem is.

In my controlled test, the tap water was successfully brought down to a 6.0 pH by the Mosura soil. So I think there's something in my tank that is buffering this water. I'm thinking that there are still traces of whatever caused my previous setup's 7.7 pH water still in there that's buffering it. I'll try to do a couple more 100% water changes to dilute that as much as I can and post updates..

Please continue to contribute ideas as to what you guys may think is causing the pH rise.. thank you all so far for helping me figure out the problem thus far.. really appreciate it

Why i suggested that i don't whether it will help previously soil is also facing raising in PH despite removing this and that..... it still go up i suspect soil so what i did is i try to lower my aged water ph as my tap is ph 7.5 even with 1 week of aging it only go down to 7.3 or 7.2....... Whenever i change the water the PH in the tank will go up regardless how low i bring it down using peats etc.

So i seek advise i try either using blackwater to lower my ph in age water and it works this time round.

1) i use super peats to bring my tank water down to 6.5....
2) Use blackwater at 1st but realise i need a lot so i change to Mosura Ph down. i bring down to 6...... (dripping in)
3) Do water change after 1 week and monitor the ph it maintain at 6.5 this time round w/o raising up.......

Anyway that is what i do try with troubleshooting.