pH Level Question

[mike_jorg]

I have had my tank for about a year now, and for the last couple months have noticed a drop in pH. Everything else seems alright (phosphate were slightly high, but I added some phosfiltrum about a week ago to adjust that).

The LFS person (albeit she is not the owner and seems pretty young- she knows a heck of a lot more than I do) told me to leave the pH because consistency is more important than the perfect pH, but today when I did my water change, I compared my tank to that of the LFS which I use for water changes.

Is this an issue?

 

[sbash]

Not sure which vial is yours, but the one on the right is low for sure...

Randy Holmes-Farley has a great article about this very subject:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is the yellow colored tube a pH test of the tank? What is the other one?

If pH 7.4 were real (it almost certainly is not), then it would be a big problem well worth solving.

But is is likely test error.

 

[Cory]

Probably the yellow one is the ph of a bag of lfs water. Correct? Well thats probably due to excess co2 from something in the bag no?

 

[jpcrash1]

Probably testing error happens to me all the time.

 

[n21benson]

Do you have glass lids on your tank? If so, take them off.

If your stand has doors, open them.

The more air circulation in and around your tank, the better for pH

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you have glass lids on your tank? If so, take them off.

If your stand has doors, open them.

The more air circulation in and around your tank, the better for pH

Unless low pH is being driven by elevated CO2 in your home air, which is quite common.

 

[n21benson]

Unless low pH is being driven by elevated CO2 in your home air, which is quite common.

Very true. Don't forget to open your windows and doors when possible.