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pH fluctuations? GH drift?
Hi all,
I've been trying to figure out what may be stressing my fish... before I start adding wide-spectrum antibiotics or anti-parasitics, I wanted to rule out stuff that is more prosaic than some insidious infection... so I've started to test pH more regularly (every day for the past 4 days). it's a moderately planted 37G tank, nitrite, ammonia, nitrate is always zero... temp ~75F.. UGF (2 aquaclear201 powerheadss) + HOT Magnum. unfortunately when I test, I sometimes get a color that doesn't match any of the color on the pH chart (AP pH test kit). so one day, I got a dead-on 7.0... then the next day, it was baby blue, but not as dark as a 7.6.. and it definitely was not 7.2 or 7.4 green-tinge. so.. what the heck is this value? so my question is: 1. what would equate to a very diluted 7.6 color? is that considered 7.6? (basically, no green.. looks like the baby blue for the AP freshwater nitrite test kit when nitrite=0, but much much lighter than what the card shows for 7.6). I've tried very high pH (tap water).. and the color turned very dark blue, like the 7.6 on the scale.. so.. 2. can a pH drift from 7.0 to 7.6 in two days when you dont' do anything? can plants do this? (CO2 outdiffusion, etc) I've heard of water turning acid, but not creeping to alkaline... 3. dKH=2, dGH=6... which is kinda funny.. it was 3, 3 last month. just tested the the tap and is GH/KH=2... (I use the dechlor'ed tap when I do partial water change...) so the GH drifted from 2 to 6 in the past month or so. is this indicative of something strange with the water? (oddly enough, when I checked my LFS's water it was pH7.0, GH=6, KH=2, and we probably have the same water source as we are neighboring city.. I wonder if tap drifted really high in GH one week when we both did water change?) 4. I've added flourish, flourish tabs, flourish iron and flourish excel in recommended doses over the past month. can that contribute to GH creep and pH instability? 5. should I even *attempt* to increase kH to stabilize the pH from fluctuating too much? (my idea is less is better for overall maintenanceship of tanks... but if it is necessary..) 6. is there a better pH indicator that will show me better 7.0-8.0 range? (my water is alkaline.. have yet to see it go below 7.0) linda |
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