It seems like in my 30 gallon tank that the Alkalinity is always low and the PH is always acidic?

Question

I have a lobster and an Oscar in it I know they are gonna get to big but I have a 90 gal ordered so they are gonna get a bigger home but I was still wondering what the problem is. I change 25-35% of the water every week. Thanks.

Answer 1

It sounds like you have soft acidic water from your tap. If the fish and lobster seem happy, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless the pH is dipping below a 6.0 or so. If that is the case a small bag of crushed coral in the tank would provide the hardness needed to raise the alkalinity and the pH gently and slowly. You could also add a tablespoon or so of the crushed coral in your filter and replace it as it dissolves.

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

Alkalinity is basically a measure of your waters buffering ability. It makes sense that your pH is low and your alkalinity as they usually follow each other. Try and up your pH with an off the shelf pH raising additive available from most fish stores. Raise it slowly so as not to stress out the fish any.

Answer 3

Ph is an acid scale from 1-14. 1 is acidic, whereas 14 is alkaline. For your fish, if the Ph is about 7-8 or somewhere around there, u r fine. ;-)

Answer 4

First step is to clarify for you what pH is:
This is a rough measure the acidity of a solution. The "p" stands for "potenz" (this means the potential to be) and the "H" stands for Hydrogen.

The pH of distilled water is 7, this is neutral. Any solution with a pH below 7 (i.e. pH 1.0 to pH 6.9) is an acid and any solution with a pH above 7 (i.e. pH 7.1 to pH 14) is an alkali.

Acidic solutions have a pH between 1 and 6.9 === your stomach contains HCl it is pH2.

Alkaline solutions have a pH between 7.1 and 14. === your small intestine is pH 9.

Neutral solutions are neither acidic nor alkaline so their pH is 7

Therefore, the more acid it is the lower the pH is...

Basically, pH is a measure of acidity in the water. A pH higher than 7.0 is classed as alkaline, anything lower is classed as acidic. In the wild, Oscars like a pH around 6.5. However, they will be okay with a pH up to 8.0. A neutral pH of 7.0 is ideal in an aquarium.

I can't help you with the lobster unless I know the type.

Answer 5

You should always use a water treatment like Aquasafe to neutralize the chemicals and PH if your using tap-water. Otherwise there is chemicals to adjust the PH at Wal-Mart or a pet store

Answer 6

When you get a bigger tank you won't have as many problems getting your water in check. Smaller amounts of water, fish being too big those are your problems.

Answer 7

There's too much waste from the lobster, might want to consider removing the lobster.....

Answer 8

There could be a few reasons why your ph is low. First off, test the tap water if you are using tap water. This could be the start of the problem. Also, if you are using distilled or rain water they are very low PH. When you say low is it because it is below 7? both creatures can live in a 6.4 PH with no problem. Messing with the PH and using chemicals to raise the PH will do more harm than good. Also, any bogg woods in your tank will lead to a low PH. Replacing water on a weekly basis is good for restoring PH if the PH in your replacement water is higher.

Here is more on PH how to naturally and slowly fix it and what it means to your tank:

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.
Hope this helps

Feel free to email me if you need additional help.

Answer 9

Anything aquatic is always hard to maintain. Talk to a professional at an aquarium?

Answer 10

You got a lobster? i didnt know there was freshwater ones. where did you get it??