Rookie issues

[Mark C.]

Thank you @DebSills, I still don’t get why my pH has dropped so low. I feel like it’s under 6 but I can’t test for it that low. 

[DebSills]

Not sure why your ph is so low - have you tested the ph straight out of the tap? I assume it will be similar, but just to have a baseline. Also, you might want to get either an all in one test strip, or a Gh/Kh liquid test kit, you may just have really soft water? I'm not the best with that stuff - I believe Irene did a video on Gh/Kh and I'm sure others have as well, might want to look that up just to see.

As for the cloudiness - may still be a bacterial bloom...is that real driftwood? If the water is "tinted" vs. "cloudy" it may be the wood releasing tannins (makes the water brownish/orangey) not harmful...may do a big water change and see what happens - do you have filter floss in your HOB?

can you post an updated picture? may help figure out what the cloudiness is.

[Mark C.]

On 5/13/2022 at 12:07 PM, DebSills said:

Not sure why your ph is so low - have you tested the ph straight out of the tap? I assume it will be similar, but just to have a baseline. Also, you might want to get either an all in one test strip, or a Gh/Kh liquid test kit, you may just have really soft water? I'm not the best with that stuff - I believe Irene did a video on Gh/Kh and I'm sure others have as well, might want to look that up just to see.

As for the cloudiness - may still be a bacterial bloom...is that real driftwood? If the water is "tinted" vs. "cloudy" it may be the wood releasing tannins (makes the water brownish/orangey) not harmful...may do a big water change and see what happens - do you have filter floss in your HOB?

can you post an updated picture? may help figure out what the cloudiness is.

Yeah I have pretty soft water. And the water out of the tap has a pretty high pH so I don’t know. The driftwood is real. I soaked it for about 3 days in a bucket of water prior to putting it in the tank. Yea, I have some filter floss in my HOB filter, just got that in there yesterday though. Adding some pics for this post. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 9:25 AM, Mark C. said:

Yeah I have pretty soft water. And the water out of the tap has a pretty high pH so I don’t know. The driftwood is real. I soaked it for about 3 days in a bucket of water prior to putting it in the tank. Yea, I have some filter floss in my HOB filter, just got that in there yesterday though. Adding some pics for this post. 

KH is absolutely crushing your PH.  So you need something to buffer that. your water has basically 0 KH it looks like.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

 

Take a cup of water from your tap.  test it immediately.  Aerate the water for 24 hours and test it again to see how your KH, GH, PH changes.

This is basically what's causing a lot of issues for you because you don't have stable parameters.

[Mark C.]

On 5/13/2022 at 12:39 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

KH is absolutely crushing your PH.  So you need something to buffer that. your water has basically 0 KH it looks like.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

 

Take a cup of water from your tap.  test it immediately.  Aerate the water for 24 hours and test it again to see how your KH, GH, PH changes.

This is basically what's causing a lot of issues for you because you don't have stable parameters.

Ok. Should I turn off my air stone? I didn’t have any issues like this on my 10 gallon aquarium I set up a few weeks back. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 9:47 AM, Mark C. said:

Ok. Should I turn off my air stone? I didn’t have any issues like this on my 10 gallon aquarium I set up a few weeks back. 

No.  The tank is going to have oxygenation and flow from the filter, air aside. The water/cup aeration test is to show you how stable or unstable your water is.

That's the main point of it.  So we can verify how much things are dramatically changing.

[Mark C.]

@nabokovfan87this is straight out of the tap. Did you mean put an air stone in it for 24 hours?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 9:56 AM, Mark C. said:

yes. so now that same water sample, aerate it for 24 hours and we'll see how PH and KH and GH changes.

Just to verify, this is the reading after 60 seconds of waiting for the color to develop?  (It should only matter for nitrite/nitrate)

[Mark C.]

On 5/13/2022 at 12:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

yes. so now that same water sample, aerate it for 24 hours and we'll see how PH and KH and GH changes.

Just to verify, this is the reading after 60 seconds of waiting for the color to develop?  (It should only matter for nitrite/nitrate)

I don’t know if it was quick 60 seconds but it was at least 30. So test it again in 24 hours and what am I looking for?

 

[nabokovfan87]

KH - about 80 is the goal for a minimum stable tank.
GH - Can fluctuate a bit, but I would think that 80+ or so is about what you want for "soft water"
 

Quote

KH is measured in dKH (degrees of KH) or ppm (parts per million), where 1 dKH equals 17.9 ppm. Typically, freshwater aquariums should be between 4-8 dKH (or 70-140 ppm). If you need to lower the pH for animals like discus or crystal shrimp, you’ll need to decrease the KH to 0-3 dKH (or 0-50 ppm). African cichlids, on the other hand, appreciate KH higher than 10 dKH (or 180 ppm), which usually goes hand in hand with higher pH levels.

Bottom line: In general, you don’t want KH to reach 2 dKH or below because then pH swings can easily happen and potentially kill your animals. (The exception is if you’re raising certain animals that like low pH.) If you have very low KH, try to raise it using the techniques described below.

I suggest reading through that co-op blog post, it has some great information.  This might be a seasonal thing too, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on with monthly testing or testing every few months.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

On 5/13/2022 at 10:02 AM, Mark C. said:

I don’t know if it was quick 60 seconds but it was at least 30. So test it again in 24 hours and what am I looking for?

Just to see if the test is the same results or different.

Edited May 13, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[DebSills]

what are the settings in your 10g? you said you weren't really having any issues in that tank, so, other than water volume, what are the differences between the tanks?

just trying to narrow down the possible "culprit(s)" for the 29g issues

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 9:25 AM, Mark C. said:

The difficult thing, and I can go grab some photos of my setup (same filter) is that there's really not room to add enough crushed coral. 

I would have on hand for you:
1. Seachem Equilibrium
2. Crushed Coral
3. Media bag of some sort

I have a dark substrate as well, and corydoras, and so I really didn't want to add the crushed coral to the substrate itself.

[Mark C.]

I guess my air pump won’t run both air stones at once. When I hooked up a T is is bubbling in the Tupperware things but has stopped in the tank. Ugh 

[nabokovfan87]

Seiryu stone might also be a great addition to your tanks, generally speaking.  It will also help to buffer up your parameters.

On 5/13/2022 at 10:07 AM, Mark C. said:

I guess my air pump won’t run both air stones at once. When I hooked up a T is is bubbling in the Tupperware things but has stopped in the tank. Ugh 

Just remove it from the tank for 1 day then 😞

If you have valves you might be able to balance out the pressure a bit and get them both going.

[Mark C.]

On 5/13/2022 at 1:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Seiryu stone might also be a great addition to your tanks, generally speaking.  It will also help to buffer up your parameters.

Just remove it from the tank for 1 day then 😞

If you have valves you might be able to balance out the pressure a bit and get them both going.

I moved the valve around and got them both to work. This is a pain lol. 
 

Thanks for all the help so far. 
 

On 5/13/2022 at 1:06 PM, DebSills said:

what are the settings in your 10g? you said you weren't really having any issues in that tank, so, other than water volume, what are the differences between the tanks?

just trying to narrow down the possible "culprit(s)" for the 29g issues

Right now I’m treating ich in that aquarium so not sure how that will affect it. I have to do the water change tomorrow and I will test it all. But I haven’t had any issues what so ever with clarity in that tank and it just has a sponge filter. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Mark C.

[Mark C.]

Would just doing some water changes help to bring my ph up? Since the ph out of the tap is a lot higher.

I ordered some crushed coral. My local store didn’t have any. Won’t get it until Sunday. Can I just put that in a media bag in the HOB filter? How much?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 11:12 AM, Mark C. said:

Would just doing some water changes help to bring my ph up? Since the ph out of the tap is a lot higher.

I ordered some crushed coral. My local store didn’t have any. Won’t get it until Sunday. Can I just put that in a media bag in the HOB filter? How much?

 

I just found this, but I have to watch it myself.  On the co-op website it says (for substrate use) you would do 1 lb per 10g.  It also says later on in the page that if you plan to use it in a HoB, run less, it will dissolve much quicker and need to be replenished more often. I have to get the pups from the groomer, but I'll dig into my HoB and show you what I have going on with the tidal and trying to jam it in there to fit.

I ended up with about 1/2-3/4 of a lb in my 29G tank. It isn't jumping the KH up as much as I'd like, but I do see it slowly climbing and PH stabilizing. It's the first time I've had to use it personally, so hopefully someone else can chime in and offer some advice for this specific instance.

[Mark C.]

I feel like I didn’t have issues with the pH until I put the driftwood in the aquarium. I know driftwood with make it go down but that much? I wonder if it affected it that much because of my low kH?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 12:00 PM, Mark C. said:

I feel like I didn’t have issues with the pH until I put the driftwood in the aquarium. I know driftwood with make it go down but that much? I wonder if it affected it that much because of my low kH?

At the old house I had a PH of 7.2 on some days, other days it was 6.8.  It eventually settled out at 6.8.  I added rock and wood, eventually changed out the rock to stop some issues with parameters jumping.  First time using rock and it really just messed with my head even though everything would literally be perfectly fine.

That being said, wood changed it in my tank from about 6.8 to around 6.5 or so.  Not too much of a shift and especially if you're changing water, not going for the hard blackwater tank, you shouldn't see a massive swing like what you're seeing.

[Mark C.]

Came home to a dead guppy today. They have all been doing by really well. Haven’t lost a fish in there in close to a week now. 
Maybe I should do a water change in the morning? At least 50%?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/13/2022 at 1:05 PM, Mark C. said:

Maybe I should do a water change in the morning? At least 50%?

because you're going to be dosing buffers (baking soda, crushed coral, equilibrium, or others) you're going to want to do about 15-25% water changes as your limit. I personally prefer the 50% WC, but keep in mind the idea is stability. So if you have say buffered water with a KH of 80 and then you replace it with your existing water in large volume (0-20 KH), you could crash the tank every WC.  It's something where you might dose a light amount of something (equilibrium) every WC and that helps to reduce the drop, but that is something to specifically research on the best method for your situation.

[Mark C.]

I have one teat strip left that I can tree at my kH with. I ordered the kit from API and it will be here on Sunday. 
I'm wondering if I should add a little baking soda when I get home? What I read is to add 1/4 tsp per 10 gallons so maybe I could just start with that amount even for a 29 gallon to be safe, and see what happens?

[Mark C.]

Here’s where I got that info about the baking soda. 

 

[quikv6]

Mark,

I have very similar water to yours, in terms of low KH and low GH. If you have guppies, you will certaily want to buffer up a bit. The crushed coral will help. 0 KH can lead to a PH crash, which is what looks to have happened in your case.

As for baking soda....personally I use it, though you need to be cautious with it. In my opinion, try to avoid using it unless it is needed. (See what the coral will do first.)

But, I do suggest seeing what effect it will have on YOUR water. (Keyword: your. Don't go off internet guides). The same amount of baking soda will not change all waters equally.

Test out of the tap. That is your baseline. Then start with 1/2 teaspoon per 5 gallon bucket. Mix well, and test after at last 15 mins. See what 1/2 teaspoon will do to your water.  (Note any changes to KH, PH, and lastly GH) .

With this info, you can adjust accordingly, and replenish waterchanges appropriately to match parameters until the coral arrives.

[Mark C.]

I added a 1/4 tsp of baking soda a few hours ago. It has brought my pH up some but it didn’t have a tremendous effect on kH. I’m not gonna add anymore baking soda it the tank right now. I’ll wait till I get the crushed coral on Sunday and add that to the tank. I’m also gonna do some testing like @quikv6suggested. I tested the pH in my 10 gallon tank and it’s right around 6.4 or 6.5. I only have one more test strip for KH and GH right now and that one will be for the water sample I’m doing for @nabokovfan87  My wife suggested we take the driftwood out but I’d rather not do that if we can avoid it. I’m hoping coral will buffer it enough to keep PH stable enough to get my cycle completed.