i need help with low PH

[daltonr70]

Its a new tank 55gal im running a penn plax 1000 set the tank up on 7/31/15 on 8/3/15 i bought 2 3dotted damsels they died with in mins LFS said everything was normal except very low PH i think he said 7.2?? He said i need more fltration in the tank so get a HOB that would give me an additional 500gal per hour my canister fliter gives me 100 any help here please

 

[NanaReefer]

Your tank is definitely to new for fish! It's not even cycled yet. How many pounds of live rock? Are you running power heads? What are your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite numbers? What is the specific gravity?

 

[daltonr70]

So far ive got 9.75 pounds of live rock my salinity is at 1.023my ammonia and all otger levels was good thats what the LFS sayed right now ive not got no power heads just the fliter and heater water temp is at 78

 

[ReefMadScientist]

You haven't cycled yet nor even began to cycle. Give it a few weeks. Since your fish died, you shoulda just left one in there to start your Ammonia.

 

[daltonr70]

Woops i threw them both out should i put a little fush food in the tank will that help any also im not running a protein skimmer right now when do i need to get that

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Woops i threw them both out should i put a little fush food in the tank will that help any also im not running a protein skimmer right now when do i need to get that

Yeah you might as well. Just put some food in there and wait. Turn your skimmer off. Just wait and get a good test kit. Lots of reading up you need my grasshopper.

 

[daltonr70]

I will ive not got a skimmer yet i was thinking of buying one when i got fish to live lol in your opinion should i get another HOB fliter to increase my GPH to 600

 

[Russ265]

9.75 lbs in a 55 gallon?
at the very least get 30 lbs total.

7.2 ph is super low. is there turbulence on the top of the water or can you see down to the bottom of the substrate? aim a powerhead at the surface and get some ripple action going.

fish dying in hours makes me think it is a temperature issue. is your temp between 72-80?

i used bottled bacteria and windex and even as impatient as i was i didnt add any fish til week 3 when ammonia was gone and nitrites were dropping.

hth

 

[daltonr70]

No power head right now i turned my spay bar on my fliter up to cause ripple action on top if watera few mins ago my temp is holding at 78

 

[daltonr70]

LFS sayed i need 10 times the turn over in my tank i belive i have read this also some where on the fourm can anyone tell me if adding another HOB fluter will help

 

[Russ265]

No power head right now i turned my spay bar on my fliter up to cause ripple action on top if watera few mins ago my temp is holding at 78

open a window if you can. that tank needs some serious gas exchange.

LFS sayed i need 10 times the turn over in my tank i belive i have read this also some where on the fourm can anyone tell me if adding another HOB fluter will help

turnover to me is filtration. sump to dt kinda thing. although i guess 500 gph is fine.

it gets ridiculous when you have a 265.
2650 gph? meh.

i think he meant flow. which requires power heads.

 

[daltonr70]

Ok so far ive got the speay bar rippling up the water ill go get a piwer head to add more movement in the water

 

[daltonr70]

The levels in my tank are as followed
Amonia 0.0
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
Ph 7.5_8.0
Carbonate 120
General hardness is above 180 which test will not show

 

[Russ265]

LFS sayed i need 10 times the turn over in my tank i belive i have read this also some where on the fourm can anyone tell me if adding another HOB fluter will help

The levels in my tank are as followed
Amonia 0.0
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
Ph 7.5_8.0
Carbonate 120
General hardness is above 180 which test will not show

k general hardness is a freshwater thing. throw the api kit away lol

120 ppm is 6.7 dkh. you need to raise that SLOWLY to 7.7 dkh or 140 ppm. because you probably have a freshwater api kit, im gonna doubt the validity, but others can chime in.

keep going with the turbulence on the top. looks like it is working out.

 

[daltonr70]

I just picked up a 5 n 1 test strips for the time being ill go get the saltwater test kit/reef test kit when i get paid i added just a air pump in the tank to see if that would rise my ph and it hss helped ao ill go get a power head in the very near future

 

[Russ265]

I just picked up a 5 n 1 test strips for the time being ill go get the saltwater test kit/reef test kit when i get paid i added just a air pump in the tank to see if that would rise my ph and it hss helped ao ill go get a power head in the very near future

long as the air pump is encouraging gas exchange at the top of the water you are good.

my wife has a 40 gallon breeder and all i gave her was a hang on back filter and a 20 dollar powerhead from wally world

 

[NanaReefer]

long as the air pump is encouraging gas exchange at the top of the water you are good.

my wife has a 40 gallon breeder and all i gave her was a hang on back filter and a 20 dollar powerhead from wally world

What a guy!! [emoji12]