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how can i get my ph to remain at 7?

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Try to find out what raises the pH in the tank. In most cases it is a source of calcium carbonate such as she'll grit, coral sand, marble, sandstone, limestone etc. In some cases it can be something like cheap plastic ornaments in the tank.
Once you remove the source, the pH in your tank should stay stable.
If you just add something like alder cones or peat moss the calcium carbonate source (if that is what raises your pH) usually manages to outlast the capacity of the alder cones or peat moss and the pH will creep up again.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Is the pH high early in the morning when the lights first come on? If you have dense plants and low fish load, it might just be the normal daily pH rise and fall due to plants depleting the CO2 during the daylight hours. "Large pebbles" ... without knowing what kind of rock we cant say much; depends what minerals are in them.
 

samwood26

Member
Messages
53
Location
lancashire england
yes there is a large amount of plants I will measure the ph in the morning and night ? I think it is the substrate though because I took the rocks out and placed them in a bucket for 48 hours and no rise in ph , I will do the same with the substrate
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Just keep on testing individual components in the tank as you did, eventually you should find the culprit.
If it turns out too difficult to identify what causes the rise in pH you can still go with alder cones or similar, you may just have to keep on checking the pH and replacing the cones as required.
 

wethumbs

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
476
Strangely enough, a small amount of urine can help lower the pH. Just make sure you don't use your month on the hose to siphon the water when doing water change.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
According to Wikipedia: "The pH of urine can vary between 4.6 and 8, with neutral (7) being norm." ... not to mention all that urea (9300 mg/L per Wikipedia) that will release ammonia if not absorbed by plants. So ... wouldn't vomit (stomach acid) be much better? Please test and report back to us. ;) (Personally I use leaves to lower pH, which works fine with my very soft tap water).
 

Rod

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
196
Location
Brisbane,Australia
Personally….I'd check the substrate and replace if necessary
alternatively take out plants and make it a Tang tank!

If your substrate is leaching alkalinity into the water and you are adding chemicals to nullify it, you aren't solving the problem and you are most probably just increasing the conductivity (TDS) of the water

It will eventually take a toll on plants and fish
 
Last edited:

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
While the alder cones and leaves will not significantly increase the conductivity the api buffer will, which is not a good thing if you want to keep soft water fish, so I would stay away from that one.
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Fine sand is best if you want to keep apistos. Most aquarium sands that you can get from pet shops or (much cheaper) from landscaping places will do.
Just make sure that it doesn't contain sources of calcium carbonate such as crushed sandstone or similar. You can test it by keeping some in a bucket with water and teasing pH after a couple of days.
To make sure there is nothing in there you can also wash the sand with acid. For that purpose fill a bucket with sand, not quite to the top. Get hydrochloric acid from your hardware store - careful, that is nasty stuff, read the manufacturer's instructions. Pour about half a litre of the acid into the sand, then top up with water until the water covers the sand. Give it a good stir with a stick. Stir it up every few hours and leave for a total of two days. Then wash with plenty (!) of water until the water that comes of the sand is not acidic anymore (well, or the same as the water that goes in).
The above procedure will get rid of any unwanted sources of calcium carbonate in the sand and will leave behind the pure silica sand.
It pays to try a small sample first to make sure you don't get a strong reaction that could splash acid everywhere (usually you don't). If it reacts that strongly get some other sand.
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
The substrate should be ok. As far as I know it is not leaching large amounts of ammonia into the water at the start as some of them do (which helps the plants grow and to establish the nitrogen cycle in newly setup tanks)
The only problem I can see is that the sand being finer and heavier will work its way down to the bottom leaving the substrate on top. You could have the substrate just in the areas with plants and pure sand in the other areas. They will still mix over time - apistos will make sure of that - but that should give you a good start.
 

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