PH fluctuating

[holbritter]

Hi guys. Just got back from 4 days away.
The good news...my new tank finished it's cycle. I dropped a couple of shrimp pellets in before I left, to keep it going. Now I gotta clean up the mess! Lol

The bad news....the ph in my established tank seems to be fluctuating. Before I left it was between 7.8 - 7.9, and now it's at 8.0. The ammonia went up to .25 also. That, I'm pretty sure, is because I fed too heavy before I left.

I noticed this before, but didn't think anything of it, except maybe I had a drop or 2 more water in the tester tube, which threw it off.

Does this amount of fluctuation hurt? I can't figure out why it's doing it either.
I have to do a water change today anyway, so that should take care of the rising ammonia.
Oh, the ph out of my tap is pretty steady at 7.9.

[Lady Hobbs]

Watch the cleaning up of those pellets because if you disturb the gravel you will get set back. I don't believe the pellets did anything to help hold the cycle. What I would do, just incase, is add a small amount of ammonia again and make sure that cycle holds for you.........or.........add a "few" fish and let them finish it up. Check the nitrates, tho, if you didn't do a large water change when the cycle finished up.

[holbritter]

I have sand, so I'll just keep the vacum up a bit.

I'm was planning on the big water change later today. Since I can't get to the LFS until later this week, I'll keep adding the ammonia. I certainly don't want to start over!! :)

[Nautilus29]

Do you have some kind of air wand in your tank. THey can make your ph raise up some.

[Lady Hobbs]

They sure do Adam. Even the waters surface getting broken and bubbles from the filter will do that. My penguins really slap the waters surface so in some tanks I have to keep the tank pretty full.

[holbritter]

Just the same bubble wand I've had since day 1. It's not on very high either.

Just finished my water changes. Will check everything in an hour or two.

[Nautilus29]

I always keep my water level up high enough so that They dont make noise. my parents get mad if my 55g starts making noise.

[Chrona]

What kind of substrate do you have? Or do you have any rocks in the tank? Take a small sample and pour some full strength vinegar (or better yet, muriatic acid from a pool supply store) and see if it fizzes. That small amount of change won't affect the fish really, but I'm curious as to why the pH changed in the first place.

[holbritter]

What kind of substrate do you have? Or do you have any rocks in the tank? Take a small sample and pour some full strength vinegar (or better yet, muriatic acid from a pool supply store) and see if it fizzes. That small amount of change won't affect the fish really, but I'm curious as to why the pH changed in the first place.

I have silica sand. No rocks, just fake plants and ceramic deco.
I tested again, and it looks even lower! I did add Ammonia lock, since I was getting a .25 reading even after the water change.
Could that have made it worse?

I'm curious as well. Will it hurt the fish?

I would really like to go for at least a week without having problems!

side note: I used one of the fake plants in my new tank...guess what....I brought a little friend over with it! Good thing it's going to be a DP tank. Ready food!

[Chrona]

I have silica sand. No rocks, just fake plants and ceramic deco.
I tested again, and it looks even lower! I did add Ammonia lock, since I was getting a .25 reading even after the water change.
Could that have made it worse?

I'm curious as well. Will it hurt the fish?

I would really like to go for at least a week without having problems!

side note: I used one of the fake plants in my new tank...guess what....I brought a little friend over with it! Good thing it's going to be a DP tank. Ready food!

What looks even lower?

Ammonia neutralizing products like Amquel that you dump into the water often gives a false positive reading for ammonia, btw.

[holbritter]

Oh sorry! The PH looks lower

[Chrona]

Oh sorry! The PH looks lower

Wait, but you said it rose to 8.0 before, from a 7.8-7.9 at the tap. Is it back to 7.9 now? Testing tap water right from the tap is usually a bit inaccurate, since the CO2 levels have not equalized, which is why you want to let a bowl sit for 24 hours before testing it to get the "real" tap pH.

[holbritter]

Didn't know that. I will do that today. I'm sorry I'm confusing you...my bad.

It's usually the 7.8-8.0 in the tank. When I said it went down, that was also in the tank, and it read 7.6-7.8

About that Ammonia lock and the false positive reading.....would it give a reading of 4?

When I put it in yesterday the reading I was getting (before putting it in) was .25 This morning I tested, and it's 4.0

I'm really hoping you answer yes! Because I have to leave early today, and won't be able to change water until late this afternoon.

PS. thanks for you patience chrona!

[Chrona]

Didn't know that. I will do that today. I'm sorry I'm confusing you...my bad.

It's usually the 7.8-8.0 in the tank. When I said it went down, that was also in the tank, and it read 7.6-7.8

About that Ammonia lock and the false positive reading.....would it give a reading of 4?

When I put it in yesterday the reading I was getting (before putting it in) was .25 This morning I tested, and it's 4.0

I'm really hoping you answer yes! Because I have to leave early today, and won't be able to change water until late this afternoon.

PS. thanks for you patience chrona!

I don't know about ammonia lock, but I know Amquel has that result, and they are similar products. Stop using the Ammonia lock for a a bit after a water change or something and keep an eye on the levels. It sounds like it is screwing with the readings though, as 4.0 is really really high for not adding ammonia to the water (and even if you were adding ammonia, you have a ton of bacteria atm to eat it up.

[holbritter]

Ok. Now I got 2 threads going...sorry!

Well, I think I have the answer to the ph question. I tested the water that I had put in jugs previously. This water I had put ammonia lock in. Well, that ph is at 7.4

So I'm thinking that this stuff also lowered the ph in my tank. Now I don't know what to do. I thought I had figured out the source of ammonia in my tap water, but I guess not. In the meantime I put water in jugs, and added the ammonia lock....but now the ph is too low.
Cripes....I'm getting pretty frustrated over this whole thing. If I use bottled drinking water, I'll have the same problem with the ph, and my fishies are used to the 8.0

I have to think about what to do now. Thanks for sticking with me on this one :)