Umm, some of you might remember that I was having problems with my pH about two weeks ago... Well, the pH is screwing with me again!

To recap: I have a 5 gallon tank with one betta and one amazon sword plant. I also have an air stone, natural gravel substrate, and some plastic plants. After the initial setup of my tank, the pH was usually around 7.5. Then it started dropping about .2 points per day, until it was in the 6.0 range. Some people suggested I get a plant, some suggested an airstone, some suggested I test the gravel. I did all three, and the pH went up again.

It stayed at 7.5 for a while, then went down to 6.8. It was at 6.8 for over a week, spanning three 10% water changes and an ammonia spike due to the cycling of the tank.

Now it's suddenly - and I mean in a matter of two days - dropped to 6.0. I don't know what to do... I've been using filtered water from the fridge because of all the debris in our tap water, and it has a pH of about 7.0. If I change the water now, will that hurt my fish?

I'm at a loss here... I think our water might have a low buffering capacity, but it's really hard. Isn't hard water supposed to have a high buffering capacity? And what can I do to keep the pH from dropping so suddenly again? A friend of mine, who's had fishtanks all her life, suggested I switch to bottled spring water, but it has a lower pH than my tank does now, and it's very soft! Help!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

I had that kind of problem with my old 29 gallon. We did solve it by putting what's called angle hair plant. It grows n grows is the only problem. But also I would always get water and let it sit in clean milk jugs for 1to 2 days before putting it in the tank. If that don't work try buying water from a convence store. Which is what I did when I lived in a trailer park. Those things worked for me. But be carefull. I don't know much about fish. But I do know if its to much of a change it could hurt your fish. Idk I would say slowly change the water a couple cups at a time per day. Well best wishes.

Not sure about where you live, but here in Utah we live on two different water supplies - the snow melt runoff we collect in reservoirs up the canyons, and well water that we tap into in the heat of summer. When they start adding well water, I've noticed a discernible spike in hardness and a corresponding drop in pH, albeit not enough to affect my tank. Do you think your municipal water source might be doing this?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

I doubt it. I live in central Texas, and our water is always the same. They do flush the system every once in a while, but you can always tell because the water turns as brown as tea! It's really gross... But they haven't flushed it in a couple of months... Maybe it's a bunch of minerals or something that are lodged in the pipes? Maybe it's because they haven't flushed the lines in a while... I dont' know, I'll see what I can do to look into that.

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.