Need pH to go up!

[Boosquash2]

I think I am losing fish to an acidic pH. My test strip says it is lower than 6.5 and I just lost a fish this morning! I have been frantically trying to research ways to either neutralize or increase the pH but some products have conflicting reviews.

So far I have looked at:

- Baking Soda: While cheap, I have been told it will have other adverse effects and increase the pH too fast.

- Tetra brand Correct pH: This is also fairly cheap…do you get what you pay for?

- API pH up: mixed reviews on whether or not it’s safe with live plants and I would probably also have to buy pH down too

- Seachem Neutral Regulator: Some say it’s great and some say it made their tank cloudy and killed all of their fish.

-Seachem Alkaline and Acid buffer: Two separate products that are NOT cheap

- Crushed Coral: Sounds good for many reasons but it is only available in large bags in which I do not need and it’s kind of spendy.

This tank has been running for almost 2 years. I have mollies, cories, nerites, and live plants. I use RO water as other water in my neighborhood is likely not safe for aquarium fish. 

Any and All advice would be greatly appreciated! I don’t want to spend a million dollars as I have too many other products I spent money on, and used once. Thank You!

[JE47]

If you could give us you water parameters that would be helpful. Also do you remineralize the RO water? I will also tag @Colu for additional help.

[Colu]

What are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH KH GH temperature what symptoms did the fish have that died 

[Boosquash2]

On 8/3/2024 at 7:47 PM, Colu said:

What are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH KH GH temperature what symptoms did the fish have that died 

pH: 6.4 or lower? (Color on test strip is lighter than the 6.5 coloring)

gH: 200 

kH: 0

Cl: 0

NO3: 0

NO2: 0

Temperature: 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit 

It may have been the pH or the fact that the male Molly was bullied by the other two females? 

Today the fish are skiddish and the cories are lethargic and hide

[Colu]

Mollies like hard alkaline water pH 7.5 zero KH can cause a lot of health issues with mollies  essential causing them to fall apart due to lack of minerals coupled with low pH i think that's the cause of the deaths your seeing what i would do is add crushed coral or oyster shell to your substrate or in a media bag in your filter typically you would need to add one pound of crushed coral or oyster shell per 10  gallons @Boosquash2

Edited August 4 by Colu

[Tony s]

On 8/3/2024 at 7:32 PM, Boosquash2 said:

I use RO water as other water in my neighborhood is likely not safe for aquarium fish. 

Sorry for your losses

I’m very curious as to why you think your water is unsafe for fish. Is it well water or city water. If it’s city water, most likely it is going to be safe for fish. It may carry a bit of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. That’s allowed under gov regulations. And will certainly carry chlorine or chloramines to keep the bacteria count down. But the harmful stuff is eliminated. Would be very interested in seeing your parameters coming from your tap. Just for this reason. The more people mess with their water. The harder this hobby gets. And then they quit.  And then depending on the parameters, adjusting the fish to meet them. I say this from experience. We’re on well water with incredibly high iron content. I use ro currently. It’s adds a ton of work. I’m currently thinking how to get back to my water. So much easier that way. I have about 300 gallons of aquariums. It takes all week to make enough water for changes. It doesn’t happen enough.

Nothing really harmful about baking soda. But you have to be very careful not to overdo it. It acts rapidly and overdoses can cause problems.

[Tony s]

I also use the seachem products, they’re not cheap. But they do a good job. Neutral regulator is not for a planted take. Use equilibrium instead. But that doesn’t do much for kh values. 

[face]

Low ph itself not a huge deal but low mineral content is going to be a problem for the moly’s but if the Cory’s are effected to it’s. Something else imo 

and depending on were you live crushing oyster shells might work instead is crushed coral 

[Boosquash2]

On 8/3/2024 at 9:37 PM, Tony s said:

. Is it well water

It is well water that I have. 

My tap water reads:

gH: 0 (I can adjust that with sea chem equilibrium)

NO3: 0

NO2: 0

Cl: 0-0.8

kH: 360 (This one turned dark right away so it’s likely higher)

pH: 8.0- 8.4 (See picture to decide what it looks like)

[Tony s]

Woah. Okay. The ph and kh look normal for anywhere not near a coast. Mine is normally 12 gh and kh. 8 ph. That would be roughly 240ppm. The weird thing about that water is the lack of magnesium and calcium. You’re picking up carbonates from something else. Honestly, I’d probably use the tap water and add equilibrium back into it. It adds both magnesium and calcium back in. Plus a few other things. 
 

id be curious as to what is giving you the carbonates. It’s possible that the other side of the formula gives you something way to high. You’d have to run tests to figure out what it is. For me it’s a very high concentration of iron. When we water grass, anything the water touches turns rust colored. Whatever it is is probably your main issue. 
 

then you could go back to back to your tap 

[Mmiller2001]

PH is not the issue. Just buy lab or food grade potassium carbonate off of Amazon if you want to safely raise pH. 
 

Also, that water temperature is too high for corries. Lower the tank to 75 degrees. 
 

Here is my old scape with pH 4.9 and it’s at 4.8 recently.

[Tony s]

On 8/4/2024 at 9:27 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Also, that water temperature is too high for corries. Lower the tank to 75 degrees. 
 

@Boosquash2 that depends on the species of Cory. Sterbais do great at high temperatures. You can keep them with rams and discus (I wouldn’t with discus. Discus are hard enough by themselves). Pandas and others fall apart in high heat 

[Boosquash2]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:16 PM, Colu said:

one pound of crushed coral

What is the difference between crushed coral, crushed oyster shell, and Aragonite?

Would any of them work to raise and maintain pH? 
 

Any cons to any of them?

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/4/2024 at 1:26 PM, Boosquash2 said:

Would any of them work to raise and maintain pH? 

They raise GH as well.

[Tony s]

On 8/4/2024 at 3:26 PM, Boosquash2 said:

Any cons to any of them?

No cons per se. Just slower at reaching their goal. 
 

there are other ways to get carbonates into the water. Sulfur is one. Does your well smell like rotten eggs? Looking to see what else. If it’s killing your fish, got to be something else there. 

[Tony s]

Silly question. Does your tap water go through a water softener? You know that strips out the gh, leaving the kh. What are your parameters before the softener?

 

If it’s softened, it just got a whole lot easier 

[Boosquash2]

On 8/4/2024 at 5:35 PM, Tony s said:

Does your well smell like rotten eggs?

Not quite rotten eggs…it does have a smell though and I cannot identify it. I do weekly water changes of 25-30% water and all of my plants and fish are alive 

[Tony s]

No softener? And using tap doesn’t kill fish? The low gh could easily be coming from the sulfur. You’re lacking calcium and magnesium in your water. Which fish need a certain amount to stay healthy. If the fish stay healthy you could go back to tap, if the smell doesn’t bother you. Ro if it does. Adjust it the tap with any method. Equilibrium, crushed coral, or oyster shell.

adjust the ro water with either alkaline booster or carefully with baking soda. Until you get a feel for it.

 

[Tony s]

On 8/4/2024 at 3:26 PM, Boosquash2 said:

What is the difference between crushed coral, crushed oyster shell, and Aragonite?

All just different forms of calcium carbonate (limestone). Different names for where they come from.