driftwood and PH
6 posts
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a1k8t31524 - Posts: 939
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am
driftwood and PH
so i was doing my water testing today and was curious about the PH of my tap water, the water in my tank is a steady 6.4 - 6.8 my tap is 8.5 now considering my tap water is what is in my tank i was wondering if the driftwood could have anything to do with this giant PH difference. I am happy with my PH it is where i want it but it is such a drastic change i was wondering wht might be causing it. Sponge bob i know you had had problems with low ph due to drift wood. so i was wondering if this could be the issue or is it a combination of things like plants driftwood and mabey the slate?
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Tmercier834747 - Posts: 887
- Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm
The driftwood in my 16 gallon tank buffers my PH to such an acidic point if I didn't do regular water changes my Mystery snails' shell would probably disintegrate. I let it go for about a month once and he started to develop holes in his shell.
The gradual decrease in PH between water changes doesn't seem to bother fish much more the slight increase .04-0.7 from waterchanges.
My tap is roughly 7.4 and my PH remains relatively steady in the 16 gal between 6.4-6.7.
You seem to have mutant driftwood, sir. The wood in this tank occupies almost 1/10th the space in the aquarium but doesn't buffer quite that much...
The gradual decrease in PH between water changes doesn't seem to bother fish much more the slight increase .04-0.7 from waterchanges.
My tap is roughly 7.4 and my PH remains relatively steady in the 16 gal between 6.4-6.7.
You seem to have mutant driftwood, sir. The wood in this tank occupies almost 1/10th the space in the aquarium but doesn't buffer quite that much...
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spongebob4460 - Posts: 603
- Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am
yes my ph was at the lowest readable level.... 6.0 ... and definitely from the wood. Some wood drops it slightly, others drop it more than slightly. I am sure your ph level is from your wood, not your slate.
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Tmercier834747 - Posts: 887
- Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm
Doesn't matter if it was established or not, wood will continue to buffer PH for years because of its consistency, and as teh spongies said, there are varying degrees to which your pieces will buffer your PH.