PH problems

[AGreen1209]

We have a 20 gallon tank with two gf, it's fully cycled. I do a weekly 30%
water change with aged water treated with the recommended amount of BioSafe. I
feed BioBlend gf food, a small amount twice a day. Every week before doing the
water change I check my numbers, the ammonia and nitrites are always 0, and the
nitrates are 20ppm. We have a Penguin 170 with a fully cultured biowheel, I
clean the filter weekly and replace the fiber on the cartridge in the filter.

I have not changed anything in the tank, either taken away or added anything.
I am using the same bag of filter fiber, same container of food, etc. But my
PH which was a steady 7.2 for months, went to 7.0, then all the way to 6.5. I
treated the water yesterday and took it back to neutral - it had changed in a
period of about a month to six weeks. My tapwater is alkaline, off the scale
for my current test kit, so I don't know if it has changed and become less
alkaline lately, it still registers off the scale on my kit.

My question is, what in the world is causing my PH to suddenly start changing?


Amanda

[T]

Do you have any drift wood in the tank???

Tim..


"AGreen1209" > wrote in message
...
> We have a 20 gallon tank with two gf, it's fully cycled. I do a weekly
30%
> water change with aged water treated with the recommended amount of
BioSafe. I
> feed BioBlend gf food, a small amount twice a day. Every week before
doing the
> water change I check my numbers, the ammonia and nitrites are always 0,
and the
> nitrates are 20ppm. We have a Penguin 170 with a fully cultured biowheel,
I
> clean the filter weekly and replace the fiber on the cartridge in the
filter.
>
> I have not changed anything in the tank, either taken away or added
anything.
> I am using the same bag of filter fiber, same container of food, etc. But
my
> PH which was a steady 7.2 for months, went to 7.0, then all the way to
6.5. I
> treated the water yesterday and took it back to neutral - it had changed
in a
> period of about a month to six weeks. My tapwater is alkaline, off the
scale
> for my current test kit, so I don't know if it has changed and become less
> alkaline lately, it still registers off the scale on my kit.
>
> My question is, what in the world is causing my PH to suddenly start
changing?
>
>
> Amanda
>
>

[Vissy Dartae]

pH drops are really common, and they are a good way to lose your fish.
Yours hasn't dropped too far yet, though. Goldfish can tolerate a
moderate rise in pH, but it doesn't take much of a drop to wipe out an
entire collection.

Seasonal fluctuations in municipal water supplies can be a factor.

But mainly pH drops are caused by Chemistry, by which I mean that
others will certainly chime in and tell you exactly what causes them.

My lame explanation is that somehow certain elements in your aquarium
get depleted over time and this makes the acidity rise. Ideally you
are supposed to keep track of your Total Carbonate Hardness and some
other stuff in order to predict pH behavior.

I just check the pH A LOT and buff it up when necessary.

[[email protected]]

you got gravel?
what are your nitrites and nitrates?
a couple things drive pH down.
1. rotting organic matter collecting in gravel
(fish moved to bucket with aeration, pull gravel, rinse in dechlored water, return,
do not scrub gravel or tank so dont remove biobugs) better yet is pull the gravel
slowly and get rid of it http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/care/care.htm
2. nitrites (as in something killed the biobugs)

Ingrid

(AGreen1209) wrote:

>We have a 20 gallon tank with two gf, it's fully cycled. I do a weekly 30%
>water change with aged water treated with the recommended amount of BioSafe. I
>feed BioBlend gf food, a small amount twice a day. Every week before doing the
>water change I check my numbers, the ammonia and nitrites are always 0, and the
>nitrates are 20ppm. We have a Penguin 170 with a fully cultured biowheel, I
>clean the filter weekly and replace the fiber on the cartridge in the filter.
>
>I have not changed anything in the tank, either taken away or added anything.
>I am using the same bag of filter fiber, same container of food, etc. But my
>PH which was a steady 7.2 for months, went to 7.0, then all the way to 6.5. I
>treated the water yesterday and took it back to neutral - it had changed in a
>period of about a month to six weeks. My tapwater is alkaline, off the scale
>for my current test kit, so I don't know if it has changed and become less
>alkaline lately, it still registers off the scale on my kit.
>
>My question is, what in the world is causing my PH to suddenly start changing?
>
>
>Amanda
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Kodiak]

If your tapwater is alkaline to begin with,
does that mean it measures off the scale on the >7.5 side?
Maybe you meant acidic and measures off the scale, (<6.5)???
For the latter your tank will trend towards the lower
numbers as you do more and more water changes.

Perhaps when you started you had tap water with PH closer
to 7.5 and now it's less than 6.5. I can't see any other reason
since you are doing everything right, and changed nothing in the
water/tank. Your water will also trend towards the lower PH if
you don't clean/siphon the gravel and do the water changes
regularly, but you seem to have that covered.

You can use a bit of Arm and Hammer to buff it up, but it
won't last. You can also use Rocks with Calcium in it, (see
previous post (trade secrets: pour vinegar on rock and if it fizzes
it has calcium in it! good rock for raising PH).
Add to tank or filter whole or crushed oyster shells or crushed coral,
organic dolomitic lime, limestone, calcium carbonate based
rock spring, etc etc.

Perhaps your PH is crashing because your GH/KH are too low?
Can you get a GH/KH tester?
Do you have a water softner in your tapwater system?
I think softer water is acidic (low PH)

....Kodiak


"T" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> Do you have any drift wood in the tank???
>
> Tim..
>
>
> "AGreen1209" > wrote in message
> ...
> > We have a 20 gallon tank with two gf, it's fully cycled. I do a weekly
> 30%
> > water change with aged water treated with the recommended amount of
> BioSafe. I
> > feed BioBlend gf food, a small amount twice a day. Every week before
> doing the
> > water change I check my numbers, the ammonia and nitrites are always 0,
> and the
> > nitrates are 20ppm. We have a Penguin 170 with a fully cultured
biowheel,
> I
> > clean the filter weekly and replace the fiber on the cartridge in the
> filter.
> >
> > I have not changed anything in the tank, either taken away or added
> anything.
> > I am using the same bag of filter fiber, same container of food, etc.
But
> my
> > PH which was a steady 7.2 for months, went to 7.0, then all the way to
> 6.5. I
> > treated the water yesterday and took it back to neutral - it had changed
> in a
> > period of about a month to six weeks. My tapwater is alkaline, off the
> scale
> > for my current test kit, so I don't know if it has changed and become
less
> > alkaline lately, it still registers off the scale on my kit.
> >
> > My question is, what in the world is causing my PH to suddenly start
> changing?
> >
> >
> > Amanda
> >
> >
>
>

[Carlos]

check the tap water.


> wrote in message
...
> you got gravel?
> what are your nitrites and nitrates?
> a couple things drive pH down.
> 1. rotting organic matter collecting in gravel
> (fish moved to bucket with aeration, pull gravel, rinse in dechlored
water, return,
> do not scrub gravel or tank so dont remove biobugs) better yet is pull the
gravel
> slowly and get rid of it
http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/care/care.htm
> 2. nitrites (as in something killed the biobugs)
>
> Ingrid
>
> (AGreen1209) wrote:
>
> >We have a 20 gallon tank with two gf, it's fully cycled. I do a weekly
30%
> >water change with aged water treated with the recommended amount of
BioSafe. I
> >feed BioBlend gf food, a small amount twice a day. Every week before
doing the
> >water change I check my numbers, the ammonia and nitrites are always 0,
and the
> >nitrates are 20ppm. We have a Penguin 170 with a fully cultured
biowheel, I
> >clean the filter weekly and replace the fiber on the cartridge in the
filter.
> >
> >I have not changed anything in the tank, either taken away or added
anything.
> >I am using the same bag of filter fiber, same container of food, etc.
But my
> >PH which was a steady 7.2 for months, went to 7.0, then all the way to
6.5. I
> >treated the water yesterday and took it back to neutral - it had changed
in a
> >period of about a month to six weeks. My tapwater is alkaline, off the
scale
> >for my current test kit, so I don't know if it has changed and become
less
> >alkaline lately, it still registers off the scale on my kit.
> >
> >My question is, what in the world is causing my PH to suddenly start
changing?
> >
> >
> >Amanda
> >
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[AGreen1209]

>Do you have any drift wood in the tank???
>
>Tim..

Not in the last couple of months - it started breaking apart and I took it out
- the PH stuff started a few weeks past that, don't know if that had anything
to do with it?


Amanda

[AGreen1209]

>If your tapwater is alkaline to begin with,
>does that mean it measures off the scale on the >7.5 side?

Yes - 7.0 is neutral, and anything higher is alkaline. My kit measures to a
maximum of 7.6, and that's what the tap water measures. The kit instructions
say that anything that registers the min or max for the kit could actually be
off the scale.

>Maybe you meant acidic and measures off the scale, (<6.5)???

Nope - it measures over 7.6.

>Perhaps your PH is crashing because your GH/KH are too low?
>Can you get a GH/KH tester?

I don't currently have that test kit . . .

>Do you have a water softner in your tapwater system?
>I think softer water is acidic (low PH)
>
>...Kodiak

No - no water softener. It's been 7.0 now since I treated it nearly a week
ago, and that's after a water change.


Amanda

[AGreen1209]

>you got gravel?

not gravel, larger natural stone that is vacuumed thoroughly (till nothing
comes out) every water change. My "dirty" water is usually extremely clear
with small bits of fish poop and a few uneaten bits of food in it.

>what are your nitrites and nitrates?

Just before my weekly water change, the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates are at
20ppm.

>1. rotting organic matter collecting in gravel

I feed them in one corner, where I have the stone in a single layer thinly
covering the bottom of the tank, they are easily able to move the stone about
and get all the food. I vacuum out the whole tank thoroughly with each water
change. I really don't think rotting organic matter is the problem. But if it
continues to be problem, I'll follow your suggestion of rinsing out the stone.






Amanda