is my ph too low?

[lesleyanndunn]

thanks for all the replies!

i really dont know whats wrong with our water, i always thought it was pretty good. 2 years ago when i had my last tropical tank, the ph was 7, and i never had to worry about it.

i will go the marine salt route, as this was were i was heading anyway, to turn FW to brackish.

i will slowly turn the small tank into brackish with weekly water changes, and go up the recommended safety salinity levels by 0.002.

i will set up the larger tank with brackish water, and raise the salinity slowly, and hopefully that will raise the ph slowly and steady it as well.

[Pufferpunk]

How about the substrate suggestions?

[lesleyanndunn]

is it ok to do both together?

or just the substrate will be ok for now, until i get other tank up and running?

[Pufferpunk]

Is there a reason you don't want to make this tank BW?

[lesleyanndunn]

im not against making it brackish.

i just dont want to do anything that may be detrimental to the fish.

when i replied saying i would go down the brackish route, you asked about the substrate suggestion,

i thought that maybe adding some salt water and some crushed coral substrate may put ph up too quickly and affect the fish?

[Pufferpunk]

Are these GSPs?

[lesleyanndunn]

yes its one gsp on its own in the tank since monday

[Pufferpunk]

i just dont want to do anything that may be detrimental to the fish.

So what makes you think BW isn't the best thing for him?

[lesleyanndunn]

raising ph too much too fast by adding both marine salt and sand?

i know BW is the best thing for a gsp, that i what i intend to do before i saw the ph problem

i just dont want to change too many things too quickly ie damaging the bacteria in my tank, and putting the ph up too quickly

arent these things meant to be done slowly and in stages over a period of time?

[Pufferpunk]

The substrate will dissolve very slowly. It's more to keep the pH stable than anything. Same with raising the SG only by .002/week.

[lesleyanndunn]

thats ok, this brackish water and ph drop is all new to me.

just dont want to lose this wee puffer!

im getting some crushed coral and marine salt tomorrow, and will add it.

thanks for all the advice.

[Pufferpunk]

Good choice!

[RTR]

+1 to PP's comments.

If your shop offers it, aragonite is significantly better than crushed coral, but if crushed coral is all they have, it is certainly better than an inert substrate. PP's description of its function is right on.

[lesleyanndunn]

well... looks like i had a dud test kit

good thing is tho my 'real ph' is 7.6

all other params are right, just the ph reading was wrong from that new test kit

*big sigh*

i've got marine salt and will starting BW over next day or so..

thanks for all replies

[Pufferpunk]

Well, at least you know now you're not drinking urine!