what could be causing pH to INCREASE?

[rytis]

i was measuring pH's all this afternoon of different waters with my accurate electronic measurer...

my tap water is 7.5ph.....
my 125g tank which has been set up a year ago with ~1" peat moss bottom layer whole tank beneath gravel (1 year old) CO2 baloon has expired and pH went up to 8.1!!! not just 7.5... fishes (angels) seem freaky, but ok...

so what could be causing pH to rise in this tank? old peat? lava rock? dirrect sun? bio pond filter? i dont get it... anyway i figured the hell with this peat, then i exctracted some with my hands into a small container and measured, within a few seconds pH went to 4.5!! so that's good. i have faith in peat moss, will buy a ton next time i go to home depot, fill up pots...

[FishLover]

Few things:
1. The gravals could increae your PH
2. Peat lose ph lower ability after a while
3. Anything in your tank that reacts to acid will increase your ph
4. tap water can change to higher PH after the CO2 aired out. Mine cames out at 7.2 and goes to 8.3 after 24 hours.
5. Execessive air that drives the CO2 out could increase PH too

And I like your question. My answer is Bush!

[rytis]

thank you. but your answer is incomplete. there is a ruling class, bush is a puppet (american in america)

[Merrilyn]

Rytis, CO2 drives you pH down. If your tank is not receiving CO2 at the moment, that will cause an increase in your pH.

Peat moss is a gentle and effective way to lower your pH, but it does lose it's ability after a while.

To answer your question fully, I'd need to know the other parameters of your water. KG, GH, etc. My guess is the lava rock.

[wickedglass]

The answer is ... I benefit! The more terrorism, the more the government has need of scientific glassware, the more jobs I get to make scientific glassware! The more terrorism, the more angst about biological/chemical/nuclear weapons. There's a hell of a lot of testing equipment that needs to be made and much of it is glass which can't be machine-made. So, in many ways, unfortunately it is I who benefits, because I get to make it.
Or rather .... should. Because even though I was trained as a scientific glassblower, I decided it was just as worthwhile to beautify the world through art, so most of the stuff I make is artwork. Which due to the current economic climate and the fear about terrorism and the natural predeliction of people in times of war or imagined war not to spend money on beautifying their lives isn't actually selling as well as it should be. So I don't benefit!
But ... this comes full circle again, because I'm able to adapt due to my skill level and take on scientific jobs .... which I have been recently ... actually a heck load ...
So I guess I was right in the first place ... It's me who benefits ... actually, I kind of benefit whichever the tide turns.

On your problems with PH however I'm not willing to comment, on the grounds that I may incriminate myself and make myself a target for terrorism...

[FishLover]

good one wickee. lol

I guess the question should be asked is who is paying for the war?

Alright, I hear someone said: Get back to the fish story please.

[RichVic]

Hi just wanting to add that a short while ago, my Ph was going up and up for none of the usual reasons ie. No rocks, gravel etc. I later discovered it was the bubbles! I had read somewhere that Discus love oxygenated water and you can never have too many bubbles - alas you CAN - non-stop bubbling removes CO2 and this drives the ph up!! HTH

[FishLover]

Hey,
I said that in my note #5.

I used to have air stones in my tank. Not any more. They drove up my PH level for sure. If you have the sandy ones, they also leaching Ca into your water, which drives the PH too.

I order to have some air, I point my spray bars upward to the surface of the water and the bars stay 1" below water. That way you have enough gas exchange and will not alter your PH.

[Merrilyn]

Now that's interesting. I have airstones in all my tanks. Larger tanks have two airstones. Never seen a problem with my pH in either my planted tanks or the bare bottom breeding tanks.

Anyone got any ideas as to why? Is it our very soft water in Melbourne?

I have more of a problem with pH dropping, rather than increasing.

[nicholas76]

Im with you on this one Red. Ive only had issues with ph dropping!

the only time it ever raised is when when I had added to much crushed calcium into the tank.

apart from that no issues.

[rtraher]

Hi all, the CO2 level in water can very greatly depending on the source.... If the water source has a high Co2 concentration (which consequently lowers the pH) then when it’s aerated the CO2 level decreases causing the PH to increase. Our Melbourne water (at least in my neighbourhood) has a really low concentration of CO2 and consequently aerating it doesn’t cause much of a change in pH.

There is a relationship between KH and pH and if you know those values you can estimate the CO2 concentration of your water. I have attached a link to a chart that you can use to determine your CO2 level.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/kh-ph-co2-chart.html

HTH,
Russel

[FishLover]

Right on Russel,

I think for some poor folks like me in US, our water is hard and has high CO2 level in them. If you use airstomes to drive out the CO2, you will see a big jump of PH.

Plus, sometimes the airstone maybe the problem. The sandstones people use can react to the acid and leaching CA into the tank water, which drives up the PH level for sure.