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PH Help!

511 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  sadchevy 
#1 ·
Okay so I just got my tank set up with substrate, rocks, and water and I'm trying to get the PH of the water just right for when my plants come later this week. I've been putting in a cap full of "PH Down" and then testing the PH with a PH tester a couple of minutes after. I have done this almost 10 times and even have waited overnight to see if the "PH Down" needed time to filter evenly throughout the water. But no matter what I do the PH stays very very alkaline like around 7.6 ph or a very dark blue color. I once got it to around 7.2 ph but then tested it the next day and it went back to the dark blue color of 7.6 ph. What am I doing wrong?

Also, a side question.. How long should I be leaving my lights on once my plants do come for the maximum amount of growth with the least amount of algae growth.

Thank you so much for the help. Still trying to figure all this out!
 
#2 ·
Stop using pH down, there's just no reason to use it...no need to be messing with pH at all in fact, especially at 7.6 which is perfectly fine for most every captive bred fish (I've kept lots of fish with more alkaline pHs). By adding temporary buffers you're not going to be achieving any sort of pH balance, especially if you don't know the rest of the water chemistry.

I've seen people go anywhere from 6-12 hours, I usually shoot for 8-10 but there wont be an exact number.
 
#5 ·
pH Down just temporarily reduces the pH of the water. The buffering agents react with it, and the pH will climb again.

What you want is stability more than the 'ideal' pH. Rapid changes are far more stressful to your highly adaptable fish.

In the FWIW department, my pH runs 8.6 before I turn CO2 on.
 
#6 ·
What kind of substrate did you use? What kind of rocks? These can lead to higher Ph values sometimes. I used Safe T sorb for my substrate and it brought my Ph down from 7.6 to 6.4 but it also lowers the Kh to almost 0. Don't know if it is temporary but so far it has remained steady for a couple months. Also it works great for plants as long as you use root tabs.
 
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