Hi, I have a newly planted 80L tank fitted with a flora grow nano co2 kit,I seem to have a problem with fluctuting ph levels,I am using ro water and trying to achieve a ph level of 6.5 but my ph seems to creep up to 7.5 I an hoping to keep 6 cardinal tetras & a pair of electric blue rams but I need to get my ph constant first, does anyone have any advice, I have been doing regular 25% water changes but still cant seem to get it right. kind regards Briardist
-
You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up
fluctuating ph
- Thread starter briardist
- Start date
Hi,
Any time you add CO2 to a tank the pH will fluctuate. Neither fish (unless they are breeding) nor plants care about this. The real question is why the water fluctuates and that could be a combination of things. Do you have any soluble rocks in the tank such as chalk or limestone substrate/ornaments? Have you added any tannin leeching wood or leaves or peat moss?
It is folly to try and set a target pH. it's much more important to set a target CO2 level and to allow the pH to vary (all other things being normal/equal). If you are using pure RO this might explain why the levels vary. You should adjust the kH and GH via GH Booster + baking powder or other commercial re-mineralizer such as Equilibrium.
If you are adding CO2 the pH should continually drop during the day and continually rise during the night assuming you use a solenoid to control the gas. If your pH is on the rise while you are injecting gas then you must look to something that is dissolving in the water tu buffer it, which then causes the pH to rise.
Cheers,
Any time you add CO2 to a tank the pH will fluctuate. Neither fish (unless they are breeding) nor plants care about this. The real question is why the water fluctuates and that could be a combination of things. Do you have any soluble rocks in the tank such as chalk or limestone substrate/ornaments? Have you added any tannin leeching wood or leaves or peat moss?
It is folly to try and set a target pH. it's much more important to set a target CO2 level and to allow the pH to vary (all other things being normal/equal). If you are using pure RO this might explain why the levels vary. You should adjust the kH and GH via GH Booster + baking powder or other commercial re-mineralizer such as Equilibrium.
If you are adding CO2 the pH should continually drop during the day and continually rise during the night assuming you use a solenoid to control the gas. If your pH is on the rise while you are injecting gas then you must look to something that is dissolving in the water tu buffer it, which then causes the pH to rise.
Cheers,
Hi,thanks for the advice, I am using co2 but am struggling to get the levels high enough, I have only plants and a piece of bog wood(not new so not bleeding)which has java moss and java fern attached to it, I add Discus minerals to the ro water and whilst it is in the water carrier it has a ph of 6.5(once the discus mins have beeen added) as soon as I add it to the tank the ph seems to raise to about 7.4, I have had the tank planted for 4 weeks now and have done three 25L ro water changes, I am hoping to add some otocinclus at the weekend but am a bit worried about adding any fish until I am happy with the water, oh and the kh is 3 but the gh is 7.I dont know what else to do. Please Help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well it appears that you are not adding enough CO2. Increase the injection rate. Do you have a dropchecker filled with 4dkH water?
Cheers,
Cheers,
