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how to raise ph

dw1305 said:
Hi all,

That is a strange one. Where do you live?

Cheers Darrel
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lincolnshire, My water for changing is between 6.5 and 7, my tank is now 3.1 but when i do a 50% water change my ph rises to about 4.5 but after about half hour or so it drops to 3.1 again.
 
Andy Pierce said:
How are you measuring pH? First thought is broken/miscalibrated meter. What else is in the tank? Are you injecting CO2?
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ph meter calibrated, even if it isn't very accurate my ph is dropping 3+, no co2, only things in tank are jbl river sand, a couple of bogwoods, a few pebble like stones, plants and fish, tank is approx 3 years old.
 
Assuming pH meter is working correct. Its very unlikely. Esp since you have RO/tap water blended as already mention. As the cure would be add some kH ie tapwater.
Take glass of RO and tapwater wait 30 mins and take there pHs would be my first step
 
Hi all,
john6 said:
lincolnshire, My water for changing is between 6.5 and 7, my tank is now 3.1 but when i do a 50% water change my ph rises to about 4.5 but after about half hour or so it drops to 3.1 again.
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You can get water parameters from your water supplier (Anglian Water?), but this map will tell you that something isn't quite right with the measurement, not the water -<"Some handy facts about water">.
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Andy Pierce said:
How are you measuring pH? First thought is broken/miscalibrated meter.
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I'm pretty sure that is the answer, and
john6 said:
I'm not so concerned at the accuracy, it shows ph of ro water at 6 and tap at 7. my concern is it is dropping ph in my tank.
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I'm pretty sure it isn't. Do you have any<" snails">?

cheers Darrel
 
I must admit I'm suspecting the pH meter reading. It's highly unlikely you will get a reliable reading of RO (even slightly remineralised) with a hobby grade pH meter. I gave up trying to measure pH a long time ago with 4 dGH and 0.5 dKH, after buying two fairly expensive meters. I would also have thought your TW should have a pH of at least around 8 with 20 dGH and 10 dKH. I don't suppose there's any way anything acidic is being directly added to the tank?
Other than that I'm flummoxed.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

@john6 I think you should get similar tap water to @bazz ? Mixture of limestone aquifer water and abstracted from the river Trent?

cheers Darrel
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Yes I do but that has nothing to do as to why my ph is dropping, Plus I use ro water mix with tw. to mineralise as I need soft water.
 
Hi all,
john6 said:
Yes I do but that has nothing to do as to why my ph is dropping, Plus I use ro water mix with tw. to mineralise as I need soft water.
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I'm pretty sure none of your pH readings are right, even with the RO / tap mix none of them make any sense.

That was why I asked about snails, their shell condition gives you a better idea, they can't mislead.

Cheers Darrel
 
Try measuring alkalinity (KH). That is much easier to measure reliably than pH and there is a direct relationship between the two. If your pH really is 3, then a small drop of bromothymol blue (one of the typical reagents used to measure KH) added to a small amount of your tank water will instantly turn a very bright yellow. I use this alkalinity kit from Hanna. Seems pricey but worth every penny (at least for me it is). I really really encourage you to NOT try to raise your pH until you're 100% certain you need to. Your Lincolnshire water, like my Cambridgeshire water, is going to have an alkalinity out of the tap of around 14 dKH (250+ ish ppm). Your 80/20 RO/tap water drops that by a factor of 5 to around 3 dKH (50 ppm). That sets you up for an equilibrium pH of around 7.0 (give or take a little) in a typical indoor room setting. Nothing you describe as in your tank can shift the pH to the degree you're describing and certainly not in the rapid timeframe you're observing.

Get some el-cheapo pH test strips and see what they say. They're not super accurate but the will definitely show whether you pH really is as low as your other method thinks it is.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

I'm pretty sure none of your pH readings are right, even with the RO / tap mix none of them make any sense.

That was why I asked about snails, their shell condition gives you a better idea, they can't mislead.

Cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Surely a ph reading of 6 for ro water is correct?
 
Andy Pierce said:
Try measuring alkalinity (KH). That is much easier to measure reliably than pH and there is a direct relationship between the two. If your pH really is 3, then a small drop of bromothymol blue (one of the typical reagents used to measure KH) added to a small amount of your tank water will instantly turn a very bright yellow. I use this alkalinity kit from Hanna. Seems pricey but worth every penny (at least for me it is). I really really encourage you to NOT try to raise your pH until you're 100% certain you need to. Your Lincolnshire water, like my Cambridgeshire water, is going to have an alkalinity out of the tap of around 14 dKH (250+ ish ppm). Your 80/20 RO/tap water drops that by a factor of 5 to around 3 dKH (50 ppm). That sets you up for an equilibrium pH of around 7.0 (give or take a little) in a typical indoor room setting. Nothing you describe as in your tank can shift the pH to the degree you're describing and certainly not in the rapid timeframe you're observing.

Get some el-cheapo pH test strips and see what they say. They're not super accurate but the will definitely show whether you pH really is as low as your other method thinks it is.
Click to expand...
My ph readings are 6 for ro water. 6.5-7 for my mix, are they not correct?
 
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