[Cobra]

A few weeks ago when I tested my tank, Ph was 5.9 , Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0 , but Nitrates are at around 50 ppm. U guys advised me to change water evry 3 days and clean gravel well. All that was done but my paramaters are still the same. I dont have any wood in the tank. Just gravel, some medium rocks, plastic plants. I dont know why the Ph is soo low, lower than my tap water (7.0). And why are Nitrates so High? I do frequent gravelvacs. I have a ac500 and a xp2 with biochem stars in it so I got plenty of bio-filtration. But I heard low ph kills the bacteria. So what can I do to Higher ph, lower nitrates and save my bacteria?
Oh and bout the hardness, I dont know but my ac 500 builds up white residue near the water flow, If that is calcium it means the water is not too soft, right?
can anyone help me stabilize my tank, please?

 

[NegativeCamber]

what kind of rocks do you have in the tank? There are some rocks that will actually lower the PH of your water...

 

[Guest]

Firstly 50 ppm of nitrates is higher than you would like but it certainly isn't anything to worry too much about. Nitrates are the least toxic part of the nitrification process and even huge amounts shouldn't kill your fish. You are right to look for the reason though.

Other things to consider: Measure for nitrates straight from the tap. Its rare but some peoples water have levels of it.
Gently rinse your bio media in tank water, maybe something trapped in there.
Look around for any waste foods.
Are you heavily loaded, lots of fish? If so even 3 water changes a week may not be enough.

How much water do you change?

As for the PH that is getting low and you should address that because its crashing. You can add a handfull of crushed coral to your filter, this will raise the PH slowly and the KH. Also you could add small amounts of Sodium Bicarbonate ( baking soda ) to bump it up. In both cases always add small amounts and work up. You don't want the PH to change fast. But it needs to steadily rise.
Again though address the problem, from what you have said it looks like the rocks are responsible as lwrlevel says. What are they? If you are unsure remove them.

Oh and you could use a commercially available buffer from you lfs! To correct the problem. Personally I prefer the slightly more natural approach. But thats just me.

Let us know how you get on. Good luck.

 

[Cobra]

I dont know wat kind of rocks they are , got them from a rock garden outside (boiled of course). They are really nice and lfs rocks are so expensive. I never thought rocks could lower PH. I got some small sea shells, will that work? Do I add sea shells and remove the rocks or do I do one of the two? oh and as u see in my sig I only have 3 reds in there. So I think the water changes are enuff, my tank is fairly clear. U say my ph is craching? Wat does that mean? Whats the worse that can happen?

 

[Husky_Jim]

NO,NO,NO!!!
Don't worry about the Nitrates or even your PH.
I have in my discus breeding tank 5,2 PH without a problem in my biological filtration.In your case i would try to increse PH by more frequent water changes.This will help your Nitrates also.
I suggest you also to reduce feedings.
Another thing is do not introduce in your tank rocks,gravel or anything else if you don't know if they are 'neutral' and they wont harm your tank's chemistry.

 

[joefromcanada]

whats the ph right outta ur tap?

 

[Cobra]

Ph out the tap is 7 as I mentionned. Husky jim I only feed my reds once a day. And water changes are frequent. I have been having this problem for some time now. Like I said I followed the advice given to me weeks ago and did many water changes and cleaned tank well. But my chem is still unbalanced. I'll remove the rocks and add some sea shells in my filter. will that do the trick?

 

[DominatorRhom]

I also have high nitrates...about 40ppm... and i have done numerous small water changes. straight out of the tap i have about 10ppm and i was just wondering if there is anything out there that can help me lower the nitrates without affecting my fish. i have read a little about nitra-zorb...does anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[Mack]

Gah. You have to do a water change once a week to remove nitrates. It's part of owning fish.

Don't worry about the pH... just leave it so it stays constant, this is more important than having any specific level.

 

[Fido]

Gah. You have to do a water change once a week to remove nitrates. It's part of owning fish.

Don't worry about the pH... just leave it so it stays constant, this is more important than having any specific level.

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how will it stay constant when his tnak ph and tap ph differ so much. every time he changes the water, it will go crazy.

 

[Mack]

Hrm. True.

I bet you have a limestone rock in your tank. That stuff makes the pH drop IIRC.

Try to find out what type of rocks are in there.

 

[Cobra]

I really dont know who can I dentify rocks for me. They wer building a water fountain in front of a new condo and I snatched some ( the foreman saw me from the balconey), had to run a block to my friends car with a backpack fulla rocks! Anyway, one rock is reddish with a dusty feel to it when dry, another is whittish with a few lines in it and it has some kind of tiny square sparkles on top. I got one small white rock with blue stripes in it, one black rock with sparckles on it and minute traces of white, 2 small rocks that are red with some white that looks kinda like quartz or marble. If I had a dijicam it would be better, I dont know if describing them helps but wtv, I took them out a few days ago...........my tank isnt as nice now though.

 

[Baldtrucker]

Pour some vinagar on the rocks if it fizzes then the rocks are causing the ph to go crazy.
~Trucker~

 

[FrankP]

Poly Filter works great!
Poly Filter absorbs nitrites , nitrates, ammonia, phosphates medication and many other waste products.You can simply add it to your filter mass and when the colour turns black (will take 6 months or so) you have to replace it for a new one.It is not cheap, about 20 euro for a piece of 6inch. * 6 inch. but it will clean your water effectively!

 

[DominatorRhom]

where would one find this poly filter?

 

[Dr. Giggles]

To help you stabilize your ph, first i would get rid of the extra bioload on your 55 (the convicts). If you don't see an improvement a KH test will tell alot. If you need to stabilize PH when you do water changes add 1 tablespoon of 100% sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda by arm & hammer.

 

[FrankP]

I ve bought Poly Filter in a local aquariumshop in Holland, but as it is a US. product you must be able to buy it anywhere in the US. i guess.
Just try google and you will see, you can also try one of those on-line stores like Sea me.com. Good luck!

 

[Cobra]

Well, its been alittle more than a week that I have removed all decor in my tank. All that is left is the gravel wich is neutral. And since then I have done 2-3 30% water changes. But Ph is still at 5.9 and nitrates are around 50-60 ppm. Should the ph be low by now? Or does the process take longer than a week??