Ever since my tank has fully cycled it’s been at 8.2 ph and I have added so many tannins , used more distilled water than tap water for water changes, never had any rocks or stones and my other parameters are good but my kh and gh are very high and I have no clue what to do Atp.. can I still buy some otos for my fish tank?
Posted by blue_jellyy
9 Comments
Strips may not work. Try testing the ph with lemon juice or something you know is acidic.
Honestly the only thing I can think of suggesting is the test is wrong or try adding co2. That lowers PH
Have you tested the water for GH/PH/KH that you use for water changes?
First stop messing with pH and stop adding distilled
Your pH is explained by your KH. As long as you water change to maintain some GH and KH youll be fine
Chasing PH is worse than just letting it be. If you can stock it according to PH preferences. Anything you add to change PH isn’t safe for live plants I believe. You can use RO/DI water that you remineralize, or add more plants I think
Tannins lower PH
Remember that pH is a logarithmic scale, so a small change is actually a larger change in hydrogen ion concentration than you think. Whatever you do, be patient and do it slowly. The small changes you are making are possibly the right approach.
Try adding more driftwood and/or peat moss in your filter. It’s bound to bring your pH down.
I had the opposite problem, extremely low pH due to lots of driftwood. Had to get crushed coral to bring it up.
I know this is gunna sound weird but add a airstone I struggled for 2 weeks with ph and a old head at the fish store told me to add air to the tank. I worked. My ph was low at 6.0 and went back up to a 7ish. Worked like a dream