# Super low PH...fish gasping...Buffer?



## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Hi, my PH is super low 6 or below....should I use alkaline buffer or baking soda, I've had a rash of deaths recently after rinsing my cannister with aquarium water. LFS guy says it could be the boiler that my building is working on, changing chemistry of tap water and such.... PH has always been really low and had moderate losses since the tank started 5 months ago. 


here's the rundown. 

FISH
gold gourami
3 (used to be 12) corys
5 (used to be 8) ottos
many dead shrimp...

PLANTS
Wendtii, Red (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae)
Dwarf Baby Tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides)(potted)
Limnophila ‘hippuroides’ (Limnophila hippuroides)
Nesaea Red
Java Fern, Lace (Microsorium pteropus v. ‘'Windelov')
Wendtii, Bronze (Cryptocoryne wendtii v. ‘Tropica’)
Sword, Red Melon (Echinodorus Barthii v. "red melon")
Java Fern (Narrow leaf)(Microsorium pteropus)
Sword, Red Flame (chinodorus Red Flame)

FILTER
I have a fluval 405

CO2
diy 2L bottle into intake of fluval

LIGHTING
8 hours of 2XCoralife Aqualight T5 Fluorescent Light Bulbs for Freshwater (30 Inch, 2 x 18 Watt Lamps) one 6700 and one general daytime in each strip.


FERTS
Pellet ferts
Flourish Comprehensive supplement for planted, iron, phosphate, nitrogen

SUBSTRATE
aquariumplants own substrate

PH
weirdly low at around 6 or less..

WATER CHANGE
Weekly 30%


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Justice Bucket,

Is it possible your CO2 level is high? Do you measure it? What size aquarium?


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Thanks for your quick response Seattle. It's a 29 gallon. Not sure how to measure the co2 but the bubbles come out every 4 seconds. I've taken the co2 off for about 4 days. Done some 10% water changes since. Water is a little cloudy now too. I've added less than the required amount of seachem alkaline buffer. Ph is slowly raising.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Justice Bucket,

Here is a chart that will allow you to use your PH reading and KH readings to determine your CO2 ppm. It may not be totally accurate, but it will give you a good approximation. A good target level is 30 ppm, my fish will start showing distress over 45 ppm.


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Thanks again Seattle, I'll go out and get a KH test kit...



All the best


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

so looks like my KH is 150ppm or 6ish on the KH chart and my PH is around 6 which makes for a deadly combo. I'm slowly adding seachem alkaline buffer. Could also be my two pieces of driftwood lowering the ph. i've made a little movie if you want to see what the tank looks like and thanks again.

http://www.youtube.com/user/michaelpaoli1?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/Ob4m7bC08kM


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Justice Bucket,

Keep up the water changes, I would recommend at least 25% per change. Also, watch your bioload....lots of fish plus food will definitely lower PH. You also might want to pick up a nitrate test kit and check your nitrate levels.


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Ok. I've added the alkaline buffer slowly and ph has risen to 6.5+. As it stands now I have one gourami, a few ottos and a Cory cat in the 29 gallon. I've unplugged my dig co2 for about 5 days. Ammonia is still zero and I have a nitrate test at work which I'll bring. These 25% water changes should be done daily along with adding the buffer to get ph = 7 I assume. 

Thanks again for your response. Also, when I water change, I haven't been going near the substrate to disturb the plants. Should I get in between the plants as best I can?

And would baking soda be a good substitute for the sachem alkaline buffer?

Grazie


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Justice Bucket,

Two or three times a week on the water changes should be enough. Buffers (Seachem, Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda, others) only "mask" the problem but do not solve it. A low PH does not normally cause "gasping", however low oxygen and possibly high CO2 certainly can. Does you aquarium have good circulation so the exchange of gasses can occur at the surface? Poor circulation due to low filtration or heavy growth can decrease the oxygen level in the aquarium and cause the gasping you saw.


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Ok thanks. I have my spray bar pointed at the back of the aquarium to minimize the escape of co2 through surface agitation (I have the DIY co2 going directly into the intake of the fluval 405). I can always keep it spraying along the surface to maximize the co2 release. I also (wrongly?) assumed plants created o2 so I didn't need an airstone. 

I don't like the idea of using the alkaline buffer myself. I think it is the driftwood and the abundance of co2 that caused all this. I haven't used the co2 for 5 days and I don't mind not using it at all. I dose with chemicals and have heard that one needs both the ferts and the co2...

Thanks again for all your responses and guidance.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Baking soda will raise the KH, which in turn usually raises the pH. But if your KH is already 6 German degrees of hardness (150 ppm), then low KH is not the reason the pH is so low. 

There is some other source of acidic material or acid reacting material in this tank. 

Plants produce O2 in the day, but use it at night. The net result on all of Earth is for the plants to make more O2 than they use, but this relationship may not hold in an aquarium. 

What are the test results doing now that you have turned off the co2? 1 bubble per 4 seconds is not very much at all.

If you think there is a problem with something in the tank, then put that something in a glass or bucket of tap water and test that water every few days for a week. Just test one thing at a time, but go through all the things in the tank.


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