water science? ph crash.....

[Ben]

hi peoples! :lol:

i have seen a bit of talk lately about PH crashes. In a time frame how long would this take to happen? Also I do roughly 40% water change every second day, would this likely happen to me? I do not buffer the water at all, just age it for 48 hours.

Any other thoughts on PH crashes would be great!

cheers,
Ben

[kalebjarrod]

pH won't crash in 48hours

cycled tanks will be much more stable

maybe a few days at WORST (more likely 7-14 days)

overloaded tanks are a different story

you will get to know your water over a few months and will make your own mind as to quaility, your fish will tell you soon enough if they are unhappy :wink:

[Fishpimpin73]

The only time you should fear a PH "crash" would be if you are using chem to alter it and that can happen fairly quickly.

The major worry is PH "shift" which can happen even more quickly and if your fish go through more than a .4 degree shift in a 24 hour period it can cause stress which in turn can result in sickness and in extreme conditions even be fatal.

HTH

[lesley]

I find that in my very soft water, a pH crash can occur overnight - if you are using tap water, then I am sure it won't be that quick. BUT, if your water is very soft, can occur shockingly quickly.

What I would like to see is a digital pH meter, like the digital temp ones you can get. Dream on, I guess.

Lesley

[Aurora]

You can get digital pH meters. Not ones that you just stick to the glass and leave there like a thermometer, and they would be quite expensive, but........there out there :) You could rig a digital pH meter to be in there permanently I guess, but I dont think you would bother.

[flukes]

You can get ones like the temp ones, for under $100..

[Proteus]

I have posted several occassions where my pH has dropped from 7.4 to 5.0-6.0 in the space of 2-3 days. This was in a holding drum (200L).

I feel it has something to do with the age of the source water and the fact that it is very soft.