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Low PH (newbie question)
I'm currently experiencing a PH swing with my newly planted tank that
has me a bit concerned. I would like to start implementing CO2
injections, but I'm scared to, because I don't want the PH to go much
lower (actually, I don't think it CAN go much lower!!!). Let me give
you guys a brief history of my tank along with the specs and maybe you
can help me out.
I started my 20 gallon tank as fish only back in May, cycled it
properly, and started adding it's inhabitants. While I was doing
research on the web about various fish species, trying to figure out
exactly what sort of tank I wanted (I decided on Angelfish), I grew
envious of all the beautiful planted tanks I was seeing and decided to
give it a shot. About a month ago, after consulting the owner of my
LFS, I decided that the easiest route to take would be to plant the tank
with the existing substrate (dark brown gravel about 1/8" across) and
enrich it with Dupla laterite balls. The PH in my tank at this point
was a perfect 7.0, which is what my tap water is. The day after
planting my tank, it read 6.8, which I attributed to the laterite (I
didn't know what else to attribute it to), and was delighted by, I had
figured that was my "ideal" PH for what I wanted. I also had a mild
nitrite spike during this period which quickly went away. The only
inhabitants of the tank at this time were 2 juvenile silver angels and 2
clown loaches. About 2 weeks ago I added 4 more juvenile angels (about
nickel size), the current ones had grown to be quarter sized at this
point. I then added more plants after reading that a newly planted tank
should be planted heavily in order to avoid algae outbreaks, something
which I don't really want to contend with if I don't have to this early
in my aquatic gardening career - so far so good. The problem is, in the
past week (maybe 10 days), my wonderful 6.8 ph has plummeted gradually
down to 6.4, at least on the test that I've been using. I figured that
the main culprit was low Kh, so I went out and bought a test kit today
to measure it and I have to say I'm a bit confused. First of all, they
didn't sell Kh kits solo at Petco (I know, I know, but I figured this
was an emergency), so I had to buy this whole deluxe set of test kits,
which didn't bother me too much because it also contained tests for iron
and Co2 which I didn't have, but the instructions for the Kh in
particular were not very helpful, you put a drop in and it's supposed to
turn blue, you then add more drops counting them as you go til it turns
yellow, I'm sure you all know the routine. Well mine didn't turn blue
at all, it remained clear, bad news I know, but then it took 8 drops
before I stopped and it still wasn't the "end" color. I don't know,
maybe I got a bad test or something, I suppose it doesn't really matter
because it seems obvious to me that my water has no buffering
capabilities at all. I also tested my PH again with the new kit to
compare the 2 different test results, and my PH read 6.2 on the one I
purchased today, my old one still reads 6.4 - same color by the way.
The plants seem to be doing well, although I know it hasn't been too
long, my stem plants are growing noticably (moneywort [?], I'm afraid
that I have no names for all of them), I have oxygen bubbles, no brown
leaves or spots, no algae, the only plants that look kind of sickly are
my 2 crypts, but I was told this is normal at first (Is this true?) I
have the tank (20 gallons) lit with a double bulb strip light (2, 20w
bulbs, standard flourescents) and the single strip that came with the
aquarium (1 15w AquaGlo), and it's filtered with an Aquaclear 150. I do
20% biweekly water changes at which time I fertilize with Ferro Vit -
which by the way, I would like some info on if anyone has experience
with using it , is it good stuff, is it enough combined with the
laterite balls in the soil, etc., etc. The fish are well (6 juvie
angels, 2 clown loaches, 1 algae eater), almost too well, they're
growing fast, and I've been comparison shopping for a new larger tank
;). I guess my main questions/concerns are these:
1. What should I do about my water? I know it's something I'll have to
monitor closely, but is it something I should try to change, if so,
what's the safest way to do this? some sort of carbonate media in the
filter? I don't want my water to turn hard, just harder than it is
right now
2. Is Co2 injection something I should even mess with considering my
low PH and not having (apparently), any buffering capacity? Or is my
fish load (I know it's alot) providing enough Co2 for my plants
currently? By the way, my new Co2 test says that my Co2 level is 24
ppm. I have no idea if this is good or bad, or enough - please advise
3. Can you recommend the name of a good brand of test kits, preferably
one that I won't have to mail order (I'm too impatient), lol. Cost is
not an issue here, accuracy is.
Sorry for the longwinded e-mail, but I wanted to make sure I was as
detailed as I could be, hopefully I haven't left anything useful out.
Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much
Heather
P.S Except for that one wierd little nitrite spike, my readings have
been consistantly zero
--
'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat, 'we're all mad here I'm mad.
You're mad.'
'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'
....Lewis Carroll