PH levels during a water change?? Does this sound right???

Question

Maybe someone can help me out with this........

Tests showed before water change....
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Nitrite 1.0 ppm
Hardness 120 ppm
PH 6.6

I am setting this tank up for Angels....It's been cycling with 2 clown loaches and 2 silver dollars for 4 weeks.

I decided it was time for a water change........
I did a 50% water change since it had been almost 5 days since i did the last 10%.

This is the first time ive tested the tap water and the water in the tank after a water change. The tap water was off the charts on PH....i am using Mardels test strips (which i dont like test strips....got a master kit comming in the mail!!) and after i did the water change the PH was off the charts in the tank!!!

It went from 6.6 to off the chart (flouescent pink on the stick) and over the next about 4 or 5 hours its gradually went back down to 6.8 last night the last time i checked. I got up this morning and HAD to test it again and it was 6.4. What the heck?

50% may have been too much???

It's a 50 well, 49 gallon bow front tank.

The Ph going into the tank was off the charts with the test strips......
this is what i couldnt fit it with my question....

I was using a test kit that ive had for years....it was showing the tap water at 7.0 so i went ahead with the water change.....(its one that uses drops) but it only tested the PH so i got some test strips so i could test everything else and that's when i noticed the PH was not right!! Only it was too late i already changed the water.

The fish seem to be fine.

Answer 1

You have rather low hardness and apparently very low carbonate hardness. This allows the pH to change easily and to drop rapidly. Try getting a cup of water from the tap and checking it, then check it again in a few hours or the next morning. If you see a big move then you will know for sure that's the cause, otherwise you have something in the tank causing the major pH change. It's situations like this that I consider to be the only time a chemical pH adjustment to be worth while. Since the fish you have need a fairly low to neutral pH you would do well to buffer the water with a neutral buffering compound from the pet shop. SeaChem makes a good line. You could go for neutral or use the Discus buffer. I would suggest you buffer your new water before making a water change and it will slowly buffer the entire tank.

Also be warned that the ammonia in your tank is much more dangerous to the fish at lower pH. The lower the pH, the more dangerous the ammonia.

Hope this helps

MM

Answer 2

If you are on municipal water or a water district chances are the chemicals added for our benefit (chlorine or flouride) may have increased or decreased thus throwing your tank water off. If you are on well water then it would go back to the big water change you did. 25 to 33% is all that is really necessary. One great rule of thumb is--if it ain't broke.....let it be....especially when it comes to ph tempermental fish such as the angels.

I did not see on the problem where you added any chemicals at the time of the water change--start right or stress zyme or easy balance--- When you change or add water (due to evaporation) you have disturbed the fish environment and need to replace the natural bacteria (which is found in these products). Personally I like the new tetra line for fresh water tropical. Mardel test strips are great and do the job super easy, but if you like to play chemist then aquarium pharmecuticals has a great master kit.

Checking the ph every 8 hours is too much--- when you do something to the tank let it cycle 24 or so more hours before testing. Your fish will help bring it around. My favorite fish to help stabilize a tank is the giant danio--they are inexpensive, full tank swimmers, and will live happily among any fish you put them with--even semi-aggressive. Good luck to you and have patience--it will come around.

Answer 3

Sometimes the chlorine content of the water will throw a test strip off.

Answer 4

50% is too much for a water change. Drop it back to 25%.

This is going to sound dumb but what kind of gravel do you have? Believe it or not certain types of gravel will keep your ph from increasing or increase it too much.

The property of water to resist changes in pH is known as buffering capacity. You can determine the capacity of your buffering system by measuring total hardness. A reading of 4-6 dH or higher is usually adequate to keep the buffering system in place and maintain a stable pH. A reading under 4 dH means there isn't enough of a buffering system and the pH is likely to drop. For higher pH levels, you will probably want to aim for 6-12 dH. Many hobbyists choose to measure only Carbonate Hardness (KH), which is a measure of the calcium carbonates in your water. This test is also effective in maintaining a proper buffer system. When testing for Carbonate Hardness, a reading of 75-100 mg/L is adequate for most aquariums, while a reading of 100-200 mg/L would be desired for higher pH levels. For the purpose of freshwater aquariums, measuring either total hardness or carbonate hardness is necessary, but measuring both independently would not be needed.

You need to know that anywhere in your aquarium where detritus (a fancy term for dirt) accumulates is a source of Phosphate production. As detritus accumulates in your gravel bed and on your filter pads, the Phosphate levels in your aquarium rise. Free Phosphate ions may bond with calcareous buffering material, precipitating calcium from your aquarium, and reducing your aquariums ability to keep pH stable. This is why it is so very important to clean your filter pads regularly and vacuum the aquarium gravel with each water change. In addition, your tap water contains buffering ions. Doing regular partial water changes will help to replenish the buffers which have been lost. This is important in all aquariums, because fish respiration and organic wastes alone will cause a gradual drop in the ability of your aquarium to buffer against pH swings.

Now the question becomes what to do if the fish you want to keep have very special pH requirements. If your fish prefer a pH level which is reasonably close to the pH your aquarium water is naturally buffered to, then I do not recommend you make any changes at all. Unless you are keeping an extremely specialized fish your fish will be fine. On the other hand, if your fish have pH requirements which are far from the values in your tank, then you have work to do.

Let us consider methods of raising the pH of your tap water. There are many additives on the market today which claim to raise your pH. Most of the liquid products on the market today are a 50/50 success at best when used alone only to find the ph will soon return to the normal level of 6. You also need to use a product to increase the buffering ability of your aquarium. To maintain a stable pH in the upper levels of the pH scale for fishkeeping, I would recommend using a buffering substrate such as crushed coral. You can add crushed coral to your existing aquarium. You can place larger amounts of shells or chrushed coral beneath the substraight in the tank. I personally place the crushed coral in a mesh bag and place the bag in my filter. You will want about 1 kg of crushed coral per 40 liters of water to buffer the water to hold a pH around 7.6. This method does not allow for the use of large quantities of crushed coral, but can be effective if you only need to make small adjustments to your aquariums buffering ability. This is why ocean items such as shells and ocean sand should not be used in a fresh water aquarium. It does raise the PH level.

Be assured that attempting to control pH is the most frustrating experience for a fish hobbyist. I would guess that 50% of the problems encountered in new aquariums are a result of the aquarist attempting to change the pH level. Few fish keepers actually need to adjust their pH. For the majority of aquarists your tap water pH will be adequate. The dangers of adjusting the pH incorrectly far outweigh any benefit you may receive by moving your pH a few points on the scale.

Remember, when it comes to adjusting your pH, less is more! Stability is most important. Routine maintenance is the key to keeping your pH stable and your fish healthy!

Also, do not use baking soda in your tank. Over doing the ph plus adding additional salt is not going to do your tank any good. It will also revert back to 6 when the carbon filters pull the Soda out.
This should help.

Answer 5

What is the pH of your replacement water? Also 50% is alot of water to change at one time.This is odd.----PeeTee