ph of 8, add crushed oyster shells???

[Tank Commander]

Hi

My new fish were experiencing breathing dificultiues so i took a water sample to the local fish shop: p.h. 8, Nitrate: 6.5 I bought an air stone which helped a lot, but I still wanted to sort out the p.h.

He told me the test results were ok, but the p.h. was a bit high and there were chemicals available to lower it, but the best thing to do is to crush up an oyster shell and mix it in with the gravel....

I have just added half of one crushed oyster shell to my 60 litre tank, but I have since read that a p.h of 8 is slightly alkaline and the oyster shell looks more like chalk (which is also alkaline).

Have I done something that I am going to regret? Will half of one oyster shell make any difference?

Can anyone reassure me this is ok, or am i just going to make the water even higher in p.h.?

 

[crazie.eddie]

Oyster shells, snails shells, sea shells, coral (crushed or regular) will RAISE the pH. If you want to lower you, you can use pH buffers, but your water may have chemicals in it to raise the pH back up again. I believe softening the water will help, in addition to pH buffers. Be carefull, becuase you don't want to lower the pH in your tank, becuase if you lower the pH too much, your fish will go through a pH shock. You should put the water in a bucket and then try to lower the pH there, then add it to your tank during water changes. Make sure you keep the water agitated with a water pump or powerhead. Another way to lower your pH is to use RO water and mix it little by little with your tap water until you get the right levels.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

An easier way would be to add drifwood or peat to the tank. I use lots of drifwood in one of my tanks and the ph is significanlty lower than in the others.

 

[Tank Commander]

Right, ok, I have removed the crushed oyster shell (luckily I had the foresight to put it in one corner). I will get some peat or driftwood tomorrow then and try that... Shows you how much my local fish shop worker knows. I thought it didnt seem right.

Thank you for helping me avert a possible dissaster.

(And to think that I ate raw oyster for no reason, yuk!)

Chris

 

[crazie.eddie]

Oops. Yes, I forgot about peat or driftwood, but a few people don't like using this becuase it makes your water turn brownish. This is due to the tanning being released from the wood, which is what lowers the pH. Frequent water changes and changing the carbon in your filter will eventually clear your water up.

FYI, depending how much wood you add, your pH may not drop significantly. If you want to lower it by alot, then the best is using RO mixed with tap water.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Oops. Yes, I forgot about peat or driftwood, but a few people don't like using this becuase it makes your water turn brownish. This is due to the tanning being released from the wood, which is what lowers the pH. Frequent water changes and changing the carbon in your filter will eventually clear your water up.

FYI, depending how much wood you add, your pH may not drop significantly. If you want to lower it by alot, then the best is using RO mixed with tap water.

Tanin should not be going into the tank as the wood should be soaked for a time before putting it into the aquarium. It won't reduce the ph by loads but I think it would do at least .5, it has with mine. Although I do have a lot of wood.

Hmmm

 

[Tank Commander]

Thanks Eddie and Cheese

I have come to the conclusion that the water in my tank wasn't moving enough and was going stagnant; within hours of putting the air stone in the fish perked up, i should have left it at that but I had to go one step further with the oyster shells didnt i...

I have some kind of "African twisty gnarly, dark on one side, light on the other type of wood" in there already and it is quite big in size, but some drift wood would look good too.

I will buy a test kit and check everything out again before I put anything else in there though. There is more to this aquarium game than I realised!

Thanks

Chris

 

[crazie.eddie]

HAHAHA. Now you're starting to get the bug.

It won't be soon, before you start thinking of a fish room and wanting to move into a new house especially piped to support your fish tanks.