Ph is driving me nuts!

Ok my snails are arriving tomarrow, so yesterday I decited to do a water change.
I waited about 3 hrs and tested the tank. the Ph was at 8.0 where it had been
8.4 a few days before. so on my way home tonight I picked up a new test kit and
some buffer. I tested it just now before adding anything and it's between 8.4 and 8.8
Arrrr, so I checked the water I used for the change and it's testing 8.2 so it's not the prob.
I'm not quite shure what to do at this point, I've delt with low Ph in the past but not high.
I have a bad feeling that I just killed $65 worth of snails before they even arrived.

the mix.

Ok my snails are arriving tomarrow, so yesterday I decited to do a water change.
I waited about 3 hrs and tested the tank. the Ph was at 8.0 where it had been
8.4 a few days before. so on my way home tonight I picked up a new test kit and
some buffer. I tested it just now before adding anything and it's between 8.4 and 8.8
Arrrr, so I checked the water I used for the change and it's testing 8.2 so it's not the prob.
I'm not quite shure what to do at this point, I've delt with low Ph in the past but not high.
I have a bad feeling that I just killed $65 worth of snails before they even arrived.

**********End Of Post*************

Ok just tested again and I'm a 8.2 .I got to thinking , We run a kerosene haeter in the living
room in the evening and on weekends. Could it be putting that much CO2 in the room
to affect the tank? Now if thats the case moving the heater to another room is fine to stop the
fluctuating(funny but it never affected my old tank but it was a lot bigger) ,
But what do I do to keep it under 8.4?

[Marc Levenson]

When I acclimate snails, I match salinity and temperature. I've never worried about pH as there
is little I can do about that one.

Marc


wrote:

> Ok my snails are arriving tomarrow, so yesterday I decited to do a water change.
> I waited about 3 hrs and tested the tank. the Ph was at 8.0 where it had been
> 8.4 a few days before. so on my way home tonight I picked up a new test kit and
> some buffer. I tested it just now before adding anything and it's between 8.4 and 8.8
> Arrrr, so I checked the water I used for the change and it's testing 8.2 so it's not the prob.
> I'm not quite shure what to do at this point, I've delt with low Ph in the past but not high.
> I have a bad feeling that I just killed $65 worth of snails before they even arrived.
>
> the mix.

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marc Levenson]

Sure it does. Opening the doors and windows would lift the pH in your tank several points, as
fresh air enters the system. I don't add any pH buffers to my tanks.

Marc


wrote:

> Ok just tested again and I'm a 8.2 .I got to thinking , We run a kerosene haeter in the living
> room in the evening and on weekends. Could it be putting that much CO2 in the room
> to affect the tank? Now if thats the case moving the heater to another room is fine to stop the
> fluctuating(funny but it never affected my old tank but it was a lot bigger) ,
> But what do I do to keep it under 8.4?

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

When I acclimate snails, I match salinity and temperature. I've never worried about pH as there
is little I can do about that one.

Marc
**********End Of Post*************
Thanks Marc. snails arrived I'll post about that later after I have a better idea of DOA's

[Kevin M]

> wrote in message
.. .
| Ok my snails are arriving tomarrow, so yesterday I decited to do a water
change.
| I waited about 3 hrs and tested the tank. the Ph was at 8.0 where it had
been
| 8.4 a few days before.

Sounds like you have a fairly new tank. A pH of 8 is a fine number, no need
to adjust it. In a new tank, the pH will fluctuate quite a bit. Unless it
drops below ~7.8, I wouldn't worry. Below that and I'd start looking for the
reason for the low reading.

| so on my way home tonight I picked up a new test kit and
| some buffer. I tested it just now before adding anything and it's between
8.4 and 8.8

Could it be you made one test in the morning, and one in the evening? That
could explain the difference in the readings, although 4 points is quite a
large swing, it could happen. Do you have much algae in the tank?

| Ok just tested again and I'm a 8.2 .I got to thinking , We run a kerosene
haeter in the living
| room in the evening and on weekends. Could it be putting that much CO2 in
the room
| to affect the tank? Now if thats the case moving the heater to another
room is fine to stop the
| fluctuating(funny but it never affected my old tank but it was a lot
bigger) ,

Excess CO2 would drive the pH down.

| But what do I do to keep it under 8.4?

Ummmmm......a honkin' big Calcium Reactor?
Seriously, tho, 8.4 is not a bad number to hold, either. The main thing is,
if your tank is less than about 6 months old, RESIST the urge to adjust
things like pH. Monitor and adjust your alkalinity, and calcium, instead,
and let the pH pretty much fall where it may. Unless, of course, it gets
dangerously low, which it could if you don't watch your alkalinity. If
you're like me and have an older frame house, you won't have a problem with
excess CO2.

HTH,
Kev