Should I bother trying to raise my pH?

[ChrisD]

Should I bother trying to raise my pH?

Thoughts and opinions please...

Given the params below and the health of my plants and livestock, is it worth trying to raise my pH, to prevent the swing (0.25-0.5), or to improve my tank (if need be)?

I was thinking about adding argonite to raise my KH which is essentially 0. But I think it's silly to buy 10-20 lbs of the stuff and I already have some Seachem alkaline buffer.

Aquarium:
10 gallon.
High lighting.
CO2 injection.
1+ years old.

Parameters:
Temperature: 76 deg F.
pH: Before lights on at beginning of day 6.5; After lights out at end of day: 6.0-6.25.
Ammonia: 0.
Nitrate: 0.
Nitite: 0.
GH: ~160 ppm.
KH: ~0.

Ferts:
Seachem Flourish.
Seachem Excel.
Seachem Nitrogen.

Plants:
Java moss: insane growth.
Pennywort: prolific growth.
Rotala indica: moderate growth.
Ammannia Gracilis: Recently planted but beginning to take off.

Livestock:
~20 Cherry shrimp colony- healthy and breeding.
4 Amano shrimp- healthy.
4 Clown killifish: 2 males, 2 females, males healthy, 1 female healthy, 1 a bit under weight. None breeding.
1 Feeder Guppy (rescued at GF's insistance). Happy, go lucky little guy.
 

[Ken Burke]

@ChrisDnot an expert on high tech aquariums, but trying to control ph is like playing Whack a Mole.  If you manage to get it stabilized where you want if, something else is bound to go off the rails.

are your CO2 levels also fluctuating?  

 

[Streetwise]

pH fluctuation is normal with any lighting schedule. I can see my dual siesta schedule in my Apex graphs:

[Daniel]

My tank below is lit with sunlight and gets the normal day/night pH swings just like @Streetwise demonstrates.

In a planted aquarium pH tends to drift down as organic acids build up over time. Water changes can bring the pH back up because this dilutes the organics acids.

It doesn't sound like you are having any problem with your water chemistry. Your plants are growing and I assume your fish are healthy and you are otherwise happy with the tank.

pH also varies over the course of the day, so it depends on when you measure it. As you can see from last week in one my aquariums the pH is lowest in the early morning everyday. This is because during nighttime photosynthesis runs in reverse and plants take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide with the peak build up of CO₂ being in the early morning thereby lowering the pH. Once the lights are on (or the sun is up in the case of the graph below) plants begin to photosynthesize and thus begin to consume carbon dioxide and release O₂ again. As you can see below, my lowest pH occurs at 8 am in the morning and the highest pH occurs at 4 pm in the afternoon just like clockwork.

It sounds like your plants and fish are doing well, I would not be concerned about your pH.

[Phill D]

Generally, i think, your fish can adapt to the pH of your water provided it remains consistent (like a consistent routine and all that) But like the other poster said if you go chasing a number its like whack a mole. And your fish might be distressed at the sudden quick changes outside normal fluctuation. So, unless your pH is way outside the bounds of normalcy. e.g. my tapwater comes out at high 7s, maybe even 8. My tank water doesn't change much in pH over time either (maybe because of buffers in the water or from the substrate i use) but my fish dont seem bothered by it even though they may prefer something slightly lower. 

 

add: i see that your KH is null. Maybe raising this would serve to add some stability to your pH fluctuation because if i remember correctly the carbonate hardness buffers sudden pH changes. although, i've heard plants grow faster with lower pH so its up to you 

[Ken Burke]

4 hours ago, Daniel said:

My tank below is lit with sunlight and gets the normal day/night pH swings just like @Streetwise demonstrates.

In a planted aquarium pH tends to drift down as organic acids build up over time. Water changes can bring the pH back up because this dilutes the organics acids.

It doesn't sound like you are having any problem with your water chemistry. Your plants are growing and I assume your fish are healthy and you are otherwise happy with the tank.

pH also varies over the course of the day, so it depends on when you measure it. As you can see from last week in one my aquariums the pH is lowest in the early morning everyday. This is because during nighttime photosynthesis runs in reverse and plants take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide with the peak build up of CO₂ being in the early morning thereby lowering the pH. Once the lights are on (or the sun is up in the case of the graph below) plants begin to photosynthesize and thus begin to consume carbon dioxide and release O₂ again. As you can see below, my lowest pH occurs at 8 am in the morning and the highest pH occurs at 4 pm in the afternoon just like clockwork.

It sounds like your plants and fish are doing well, I would not be concerned about your pH.

Thanks.  You and @Streetwise made my point much better than I could without feeling preachy.  If I understand, at nite the CO2 rises, resulting in more carbolic acid and lowering ph.  During the lighting period, CO2 falls ....  Even if the ph is raised, you still have the swing, and now some other issue.