ph crashing

[ashley]

Hi Everyone,

Added six discus to my tank on the weekend before last and have kept a fairly close eye on water quality over the last week.

To night I checked PH and found that my constant 6.4-6.8 has fallen to 6.4-6.0, has someone any ideas as to why this has happened?

Should I start adding PH UP straight away or should I add something like crushed coral to stop the decline.

Ashley :shock: :shock:

[HAN 'd' Aquariums]

It would be helpful if you could post the water parameters of your tank – this will help other Forum Members to assist you. If you do not have these test kits, your Local Fish Shop should be able to perform these tests for you.

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Gh
Kh
Temp

It would also be easier for other Forum Members to assist you if you could answer the following questions.

How long has your tank and filter been in operation?
What sort of filtration do you run on your tank (litres per hr)?
Is your tank a planted tank with gravel or bare bottom?
What sort of decorations are in your tank?
How often do you do a water change (gravel clean)?
How much water do you change?
What additives to you put into your new water?
What are you feeding your discus?
How many times a day do you feed your discus?

If you can include a picture, that would also be a big help.

In the mean time, I would suggest doing a 50% water change using water ager (de-chlorinator) and water conditioner.

Heidi

[ashley]

Hi Guys
My water parameters are all ok, exept PH
Ammo 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate between 0ppm--5.0 ppm
Temp constant 30 celseus
Fish are all healthy,
Have not had a fish loss since setting up this tank 2 months ago, even through the cycle stage.
This is an aqua1 1 tank with the above tank fillter and pump suited to this tank
The tank is not over stocked 4 x juvi discus
1x 4 month old discus
10 x neon tetras
4 x flying fox
2 x peppered coryes
50% Water change every week, with dechlor, water ager.

I am feeding beef heart to the Discus, as they are only babies and flake for the others with some Tetra bits as well.

See my album for the type of setup I am running, there are plenty of pics there.

Ashley

[ashley]

I gather from what I have seen on the forum, that the extra food that is going into the tank due to my new additions, is making my water more acidic.

I have increased my water changes to 50ltr change every day, this has brought the PH back to its original reading, of around 6.5.

It bothers me that this could be causing my fish to become stressed more often, are my concerns warranted or am I stressing over nothing.

Ashley :?

[G-1000]

Sorry about not stumbling across this posting earlier....

pH drops are commonly caused by the production of nitrate i.e the end product of metabolism of waste.

So, when you add extra fish like you have, the extra fish will make extra waste. Not only this, there will be more food - again more waste. Couple this to what seems to be the same level of w/c as before, and you have your cause of the pH crash.

Increase W/C and be careful (feed them what they can eat but no more) with food.

G

[ashley]

Hi G-1000

Thanks for the reply

Was thinking that no one was out there.

As I said in my last post I have increased the water changes, which has helped, so the panic is over.

Ashley :oops: