Ph Problem

[10walkham]

Hi

My PH has gone from 7.5 to 5.5 recently , i have a 125 ltr tank that is in the process of being recycled as my friend washed my filter in tap water when i was on holiday .

My fish seem to be ok, but the low PH is a worry.

5 Neon tetras
5 Yellow talied guppys
5 Red Platties
1 Red Sailfin Pleco

I dont have any real plants or bogwood , just fake plants and a few rocks

Can anyone help me to understand whats caused this ? and how or if i need to rectify this ?

Thanks in advance

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Do you know what the KH of your tap water and tank water is. PH crashes like this are normally due to have soft, low KH water. If you have a low KH the PH can swing rapidly from high to low or vice versa. If you have low KH water you may need to add something to it to increase its "buffering" capacity. Cant really advise on what to use as I have never had to do it myself (my local water is like liquid rock so exactly the opposite problem ).

the good news is that its not to difficult to manage and you most likely have very good water for most fish (your neons especially will like softer water).

 

[10walkham]

Do you know what the KH of your tap water and tank water is. PH crashes like this are normally due to have soft, low KH water. If you have a low KH the PH can swing rapidly from high to low or vice versa. If you have low KH water you may need to add something to it to increase its "buffering" capacity. Cant really advise on what to use as I have never had to do it myself (my local water is like liquid rock so exactly the opposite problem ).

the good news is that its not to difficult to manage and you most likely have very good water for most fish (your neons especially will like softer water).

Hi

To be honest im fairly new to fish keeping , i have the means to test Broad range PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate

Im not really sure what KH is.