Frogbit added -Ph lowered significantly

[Oldhand]

Hi all,

I have a 20 gallon tank that has three guppies and a platy. I had ph level of 7.5 for the longest time, recently added frogbit and now my ph is 4.8? Should I remove the frogbit or is it something else? I do water changes every week and the water going in is at 7.8 ph.

 

[connorlindeman]

I don't think that frogbit does that...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Both of the fish you have prefer harder water and a higher pH. Here are the parameters from seriouslyfish.com

Platy
Temperature: 68-79°F (20-26°C)
pH: 7.0-8.2
Hardness: 10-30 dH

Guppy
Temperature: 63 – 83 °F
pH: 7.0 – 8.5
Hardness: 8 – 30 dH

Check your GH. If it is low like the pH and the readings are accurate, your fish will be going downhill fast and could even die. Also, KH is what holds up pH, so check that as well.

Make sure your test kits are not past the expiration dates and then be sure your are testing properly. The degree of the drop in pH is pretty large and not all the common to happen quickly.

 

[Oldhand]

Both of the fish you have prefer harder water and a higher pH. Here are the parameters from seriouslyfish.com

Platy
Temperature: 68-79°F (20-26°C)
pH: 7.0-8.2
Hardness: 10-30 dH

Guppy
Temperature: 63 – 83 °F
pH: 7.0 – 8.5
Hardness: 8 – 30 dH

Check your GH. If it is low like the pH and the readings are accurate, your fish will be going downhill fast and could even die. Also, KH is what holds up pH, so check that as well.

Make sure your test kits are not past the expiration dates and then be sure your are testing properly. The degree of the drop in pH is pretty large and not all the common to happen quickly.

This is why my concern was the frogbit as it’s been steady at 7.5-7.8 for a few months and the only change was adding the frogbit

 

[Byron]

The Frogbit was not the issue. Plants do change the GH/KH/pH but minimally, not like here.

To assess you need the numbers for your source water on its own, the GH, KH and pH. Remember to out-gas the CO2 from fresh tap water or the result may be off. Also, pH can change with seasons, depending where your water comes from.

 

[Oldhand]

The Frogbit was not the issue. Plants do change the GH/KH/pH but minimally, not like here.

To assess you need the numbers for your source water on its own, the GH, KH and pH. Remember to out-gas the CO2 from fresh tap water or the result may be off. Also, pH can change with seasons, depending where your water comes from.

Thank you I have just ordered a Gh and Kh test kit to determine those numbers and will post an update asap.

 

[Byron]

Just noticed you are in Portland, Oregon. This means you probably have soft water, this is the case along the coast of Oregon, Washington and into BC where I am. If so, then your livebearers are not going to last long because the water is much too soft.

This brings up another point, if the water authority is adding anything to increase pH (but not GH and KH). This is done up here in Vancouver. So the actual pH of the water will settle out over a day or two. You should see if there is anything about this on their website.

 

[StevenF]

The Frogbit was not the issue. Plants do change the GH/KH/pH but minimally, not like here.

Plant do alter water chemistry since they pull nutrients such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potasium (K) out of the water. Ca, Mg, and K push PH up. Other nutrients plants need Like Sulfur (S) and Chlorine (Cl) push the PH down. Now over a couple of days there will not be enough plant growth to make a large change in PH. But over a couple of weeks the PH change will be significant.

I use 100% RO water (as clean or cleaner as portland water) and mike my own fertlizers. So I have a lot of control over water chemstry. For example if I ad a GH booster to add Ca and Mg to my water there is no noticeable change in PH after a few days. But over a weeds I could see the pH slowly dropping. It eventually got to a PH of 6. The reason is the GH booster has a lot of sulfur in it. But plant need a lot of calcium and magnesium but very little sulfur. So over time sulfur dioxide building up in the water Hthe however if I limit the sulfur to minimum plants need PH will not drop. it might actually go up. In fact in my tank today my PH goes up and down depending if the lights are on or off. Typically my PH goes up slightly with the lights on and at night it drops down. Plant growth is the only explanation fro this. During the day plants are pulling nutrients including carbon dioxideout aof the water and releasing oxygen. At night oxygen levels drop and CO2 levels increase.

Since protaland water is low in Ca and Mg increasing these levels will help minimize the PH drop. One way to quickly do this is to put a spoon full of crushed coral in the tank. Crushed coral is mainly solid calcium and magnesium carbonate. IT will react with the acidic your water and increase Ca and Mg levels as it slowly desolves. Once the PH approaches 7 the coral will stop dissolving and the ph will stabilize.