How does Ph get extremely low to begin with? And how do you fix it? We've done water changed every week, and I tested the water on saturday, and the Ph LOOKED like it was less than 6... the color wasnt even an option. We had a SMIDGE of ammonia, but probably cause it was the day we had to doa water change. Nitrites 0, and Nitrates was 5 I believe. Our Ph in that tank has always been low and we can never get it go to a normal place.

Any recomendations?
Its a 36 gallon, with 7 Platys, 4 Cardinal tetras, 2 Headlight tail light tetras, and 3 Otos.

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Definitely a cycled tank.. been up and running almost a year now.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

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Hello cop...

Unless you keep rare kinds of fish, the vast majority of tropical fish will be fine in the vast majority of public water supplies. So, you don't need to worry about hard or soft water. All you need to do is remove and replace at least half the water in your tank with treated tap water every week and your fish and plants will be fine.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

I guess you only fix it if it needs to be fixed. Overall, if you haven't gotten any issues from it I'd say leave it alone. Have you by chance tested kh? Are you on softened water? Water with low kh will have fluctuating ph because there are no buffers in the water to hold it.

Crushed coral can raise ph and beef up kh, but wouldn't add unless you test kh.

Wan ph got high? Baking Soda, Just a tiny amount diluted in a cup with the tank water,the pour into the tank. Will high believe me.

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55 Gals. Plants Anubias,Amazon Swords and more. Tetras: 6 Sarpaes.4 Red Eyes,5 Black Skirts,4 Giant Danios,2 Lemons, 2 Emerald Cory,4 German Blue.
10 gals. tank : Plants, Full of Guppies; 20 Gals. Tank planted Full of Guppies: 1 gal tank filled with Guppies

Low ph is fine for Tetras, not for Livebearers. Its easy to raise your ph. Put in some crushed Coral Gravel or get some Rift Valley Cichlid Salt (RVCS). Throw some seashells in if you have some. These measures will all raise your ph above 7.5. If you don't want to raise it that high, just use a little RVCS (follow bottle instructions) and no Coral Gravel.

What's the PH of your tap water? Bill in Va.

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..

That's the key. Test your water from the tap.

Good example, I'm on well water and pH for me comes in at 5.5. I use CC to age my water and it adds buffers to maintain it.

Ill test my tap when I get home this evening. Its always been on the lower side

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I mean my tank ph has alays been on the lower side

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