What would cause the PH level in my fish tank to drop?

Question

I check the level at least once a week, and it is usually 7.0. I checked it last night after losing 5 fish, it was 6.6. The amonia level was very low (less than .25). The only 2 things I have done in the last week, was added live plants and a few new fish. There were and still are no signs of sickness or disease.Thanks.

Answer 1

There are a few reasons your PH will go out of wack.
Not sticking to a routine water change
not providing regular necessary filter maintenance
proper diet and feeding
correct temperature
correct salinity (in salt tanks)
healthy tank population

Chances are, if you are seeing problems, that one of these tasks is not being completed, and it is the cause of the problem, and adjusting the pH will make things worse rather than better.

What is the PH of the tap water you are using for your fish now?
When was your last water change? before the fish and plants or after?

Are your plants potted or were they potted? Peat will change the PH in any aquarium rapidly. Also adding plants and too many fish at one time will also effect the ph balance. 1-2 new fish or plants at one time no more. This will also save your biofilter.

Remember fish can live in a variety of PH levels unless you are housing specific fish. (Very few of these) Most fish require 7.0 however a 6.6 or even an 8 will not Kill a fish. They adapt. What shocks the fish is the quick flux in the PH. Which is why fish stores usually keep all their fresh water fish in a PH of 7 and salt in a PH of 8. this is why Introducing your fish at home should always include adding your tank water to the water in the bag from the fish store. Fish should never be taken directly from the bag into the tank since the PH levels could vary.

PH flux's are like ammonia spikes, can't see it until it is too late.

Remember only 1-2 plants fish or snails no more for a week. Peat and bog woods will effect the ph reading quickly on a tank. (Shells and corals in fresh water will do this slowly)

If you find that your PH really needs to go up, you can add a seashell to the bottom of your filter. (or a small nylon with small shells in it) However water changes are the best for adding back the buffers that have been removed.

Here is a little more about PH:

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.
Hope this helps

Answer 2

Usually you don't have to worry about the pH level because the fish you buy at the store are born/raised in those types of conditions. The fish that are caught wild, like ones that are very difficult to breed in captivity are the ones where you have to worry about the pH level. Adding more chemicals usually makes it worse because it will have the pH fluctuate which is much worse than it being stable at a 7.8 And the pH level wouldn't kill the fish that quickly. I am more worried about your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If you haven't cycled the tank then this is the problem. Have you cycled your tank? How long as the tank been set up?

Answer 3

Ph Drop

Answer 4

If you have to adjust the pH in your tank, always consider the carbonate hardness. The pH in harder water more difficult to adjust because it bounces back, while softer water is more easily adjusted. Keep in mind to change it slowly as it causes a lot of stress to your fish. Maintaining a stable pH is generally more the way to go.

Some other facts about pH:

>>>Ammonia increases in toxicity with rising pH
>>>Nitrifying bacteria experience a growth and action reduction starting at a pH value of 6 and lower

Answer 5

use a product by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. called Proper pH7.0. Sold a pet stores, you can bring a sample of your tank water, in a clean container or zip lock bag. They can tell you, but I had the same trouble. I had checked pH level all the time and still lost fish. Have been using this product for 2 years and have only lost 3 fish.

Answer 6

A tank will slowly become more and more acidic over time unless you do regular water changes. Be sure to change 25% or so of the water once a week to help prevent this among other things. If you already do so, you may need to increase the size of the water changes just a bit.

MM

Answer 7

Not doing water changes. Waste has a low pH. Human urine has a pH of 5.5. You know what happens when one kid pee's in your pool? PH drops a lot!

Answer 8

Check the ntrates level.

Answer 9

This may help by adding very little amounts of base lik Amonia. If the lvl. of amonia is the right amount then and a liquid base.

Answer 10

chlorine?
or maybe the new fish had a lot of amonia in the water or anyother base