[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Way-too-low PH



Can someone advise me on the best way to raise very low PH that's probably
around 4 or 5 (yellow water using a PH test kit)? I started having this
problem after moving everything into a slightly smaller tank earlier this
year. Nothing changed with the new setup except I added a lot more sand than
gravel than before. Could this be it? Everything else is the same - same
fish, same decorative rocks, plants, everything. In the old tank, I
constantly fought high PH, which I lowered with DIY CO2 and got some nice
plant growth to boot. Now I have the opposite problem and I fear it's slowly
killing off my fish, which seem to be succumbing one by one. I've tried
adding bits of coral and that shot the PH way up for awhile but didn't last.
I have a black brush algae problem to boot, worse than ever (and I thought
algae was usually a problem with high PH!). So sometimes I leave the lights
off to discourage the algae, but that drives the PH down even further. I
can't add CO2 anymore to encourage plant growth, because that drives PH
down, too. I hope I'm not stuck with constantly adding powders and
monitoring the PH in order to keep everything under control. I thought when
I changed tanks it would be a fresh start - less algae, better plant growth,
etc. I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I had a high-PH problem. HELP!