Help Ph drop......

[cjvolitan]

Help me please my ph has dropped from 8.4 to about 7.3 on the ph test kit(aquarium pham)
My hardness test as noramal about 420 degrees
What do i do i know sharp changes in ph can shock and kill fish and inverts what do i do ?
i need to add a buffer but how do i do this do i add to my replacement water for whater changes water?
do i add some new sand ?
Do i need to start adding calcium to the suster ?

 

[bertoni]

7.3 is very low, and might be a testing error.

What is the alkalinity? Before adding a buffer, you really need an alkalinity result. Is the 420 the ppm of calcium?

If any animals are showing stress, some large (25%) or so water changes might help a lot.

 

[mg426]

First off, in what amount of time did this PH swing take place??That is a huge swing, I would think you would have some mighty unhappy fish if this came on quickly.Secondly 420 is what reading?? Like above is it ca?? cause if it is that test is fine.Do you mabe have your alk and ca test results confused?? Do not add anything untill you can verify just what is going on.

 

[cjvolitan]

420 degrees carbonate hardness
it happend over a couple of month everything in the tand is fine even my starfish and crabs and star poylps.
no i don't have an alk test

 

[cjvolitan]

yeah thing is i was lazy and diddn't check my ph because the fish and inverts all seem fine although i test nitare nitrite and ammonia weekly and do 25%water cahnges every week.
I was under the impression that my salt would have buffers and stablise my ph . I use instant ocean.

 

[mg426]

Dont get mad, but you say 420 degrees then say you dont have an alk test. Something dont sound right. I have never heard of 420 dkh in anything or anywhere.I am pretty sure that nothing would live in that situation. What lind of test kit are you using??

 

[cjvolitan]

I not going to get mad your trying to help me.
Prob is that the test kit is in my office so i cant like read it now to see what exactly the measure ment is.
It's on of those dr. well fish ones from aquarium pham.
It was a kh test i put in 13 drops to get the colur change.

 

[cjvolitan]

sorry i don't have enough info to get a propper response.
will repost when i get the exact readings.
okay is 13 dKH
phew

 

[cjvolitan]

bump any one can help me now ?
my hardness is 13 dkh ph is 7.3 how do i riase it safely.

 

[bertoni]

Okay, a dKH of 13 is okay, although a bit high. I wouldn't add a buffer if you're sure that's correct.

The pH of 7.3 is likely a test error, IMO. I would recommend finding a store or a hobbyist who can run a test for you. Take your kit along and do a side-by-side comparison.

 

[dchao]

It's winter now, most people don't have their office windows wide open, it could simple be high CO2 level in your office.

Take a cup of water out and put it in a drafty spot for 12 hours, and then test this water again. If pH jump back to 8.2, you have a CO2 problem in the tank.

CO2 could enter into your system by two ways, CO2 in the room not enough aeration, or too much fish bio-load or something is dying-off inside the water.

IO is a good salt for buffer, newly mixed batch typically has 11dKH.

 

[mg426]

I think that is some great advice. Could very well be just that.I do however recommend strongly that you get another test kit and get some good data to go on.That is a big big Ph swing. Once again no more buffer untill you get some good info.