Ph Problem

[monkeyman]

OK, here goes. I have a Juwel Vision 260 tank. Ive had it for 3 years so its fully cycled an everything with some fish in it. 1 Pleco, 1 Jack Dempsy, 1 Blue Acara, 1 Tilipia Mariae, 1 Cupido & 1 Parrot Chiclid. My pH has always been at 6.5. Now last week i thought i wood put in some bogwood to my tank tobrighten it up a bit. Then a Rainbow shark i had died about a week or so later. I tested my pH an it was at around 6!!!! So i started to panic and took out ALL the bogwood and done a 70% water change (i think i shouldnt have) and today i kept it to a 15-20% change. My tap water is pH 7 an i will be happy if my tank comes back to this. Question is, will it? If i do a water change (15-20%) everyday, and will ythe pH in my tank come round to pH7? Please help.

 

[Jen]

if you have taken out 75% of the water, and replaced with tap, you should be close to your regular pH already. Your best bet is the test the water again to see where you are at.

 

[rdd1952]

If your water is from a municipal water supply, chances are the KH (buffering capacity) is low. Most water companies try to keep the water as soft as possible. If that is the case, the pH will generally drop some once it is in the tank. y tap water runs about 7.2 but my tanks run about 6.4 to 6.6. Adding bogwood will generally lower the pH too but a pH of 6.0 really isn't that bad for most fish and they will do fine in it. The key thing for the fish is that the pH remain relatively stable and constant without big swings. Stay away from pH altering chemicals as they will keep the pH in constant swing.

With the water changes, your tank pH will gradually get closer to the tap pH. Of course, if you go back to weekly water changes, it will probably creep back to the 6.5 you are accustomed to.

Did the shark that died look like he had any type disease? Is it possible that the bogwood could have introduced some type bacteria into the tank and it caused a problem? When you added the bogwood, did you boil it or sterilize it in any way?

 

[fishing4exotics]

Was anything picking on your Rainbow shark? Sometimes when you change the decor in the tank the fish fight to re-establish their territories.

 

[Torrean]

some rocks you might want to look at, some of them can raise PH
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=55806

other methods for raising PH
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=59467

couldn't hurt
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=7443

hope this helps

 

[CFC]

Your fish will actually be happier at a pH of 6 but the problem is keeping the pH stable as each time you change any water the pH 7 tapwater will raise the pH and then the bogwood will drop it back down again. An unstable pH will kill fish faster than just about anything else.

Before you can take any actions towards stabilising the pH you will need to know the KH value of your tapwater, most better fish stores sell test kits for this. Once the KH is known all that is needed is to add a measured ammount of bicarbonate of soda to the tapwater before you add it to the tank.

 

[monkeyman]

Many thanks for all ur help guys.