keeping my PH level @7.0

[robert Shark]

my 55 gal aquarium is the start of a bigger system I am building I finnally got my tank I believe cycled ok and the cloudieness is gone for the most part and the foaming I have been able for about four days straight to keep the ph at 7.0 by using muratic acid I have well water which is about 8.0 or 8.2 but this mourning it looked as though it went up to 7.2 and my water leve was a liitle low so I added less than an once of muratic acid and two gallons of water I put my acid in where it gravity drains back into the aquarium after running all day I came home and it appered to be a liitle cloudy but my ph was 7.0 again well where my drain is I can put these sorta round charcoal filled filters after an hour or so it cleared up any way when I get my real fish i got minnows right now and waiting to get my tilapia will they affect the ph and help stay in line more and should I get another water storage tank to and maintain the ph in it and use it to control my water quality I am concerned that doing partail water changes to control ph that my plants will suffer with the lack of nutrients
any all thoughts are most helpful being a newbie and all

[Hotrodmike]

Robert
No fish that I am aware of will take a PH of 8+ and lower it for you <G>
Unless you have gone through your nitrogen cycle then no do not get the new fish .
Yes the best route for plants and fish would be to have a an extra tank to adjust your PH in before adding to the fish tank . 1 Oz of acid sounds like a lot for a 55 gal tank !
Have A Kind Day
Mike

[TIGERBRONZE]

i have gravel growbed, water pH stuck in 8.2 -8.0?
Does it mean i have a limestone problem in my
system, or its only a young system, by the way
my system is 6 week old
FT=200LITERS
GROWBED = 8 X 18 LITERS = 144
FISH = TILAPIA 11
GROW MEDIA = CONSTRUCTION GRAVEL
PLANTS = 8 LETTUCE
= 2 CALAMANSI
= 4 FLOWERS
SUMP = 200 LITERS
PHOTOS NOT UPDATED YET

[Murray]

Most likely that your system has not finished cycling. It is not uncommon to have pH high readings in the early stages. Once your system has fully cycled the pH should start to come down, if it does not then you may need to start looking for the cause as a pH above 7 will mean nutrient lock out of some elements such as iron.

[TIGERBRONZE]

Murray,
How long will it take for a small system liked
mine to fully cycled,
Do adding seaweed extract help in the nutrition?
How often should i add seaweed extract?

I'm very confused right now about the pH, cause before i
started this, i just did a acid test with my
gravel, a glass of gravel with muriatic
acid, i have seen no bubbles from the gravel,
or maybe i should used a microscope to detect
a smallest bubble.

Added Info:
Last June 2, 2011
pH= 8.0 to 8.2
ammonia= 0 to 0.25
nitrite = 0.25
nitrate = 40 to 80

Last June 4, 2011
pH= 8.4
ammonia = 0 to 0.25
nitrite= 0
nitrate= 40 to 80

[Yabbies4me]

Hey TB,

I'm very confused right now about the pH, cause before i
started this, i just did a acid test with my
gravel, a glass of gravel with muriatic
acid, i have seen no bubbles from the gravel,

Most likely that your system has not finished cycling. It is not uncommon to have pH high readings in the early stages. Once your system has fully cycled the pH should start to come down,

As Murray has suggested, when first started, the pH of most AP systems will rise into the high 7's or even low 8's... and shortly after cycling the pH should begin to drop, if it doesn't then you may have hard water or limestone etc in your gravel.

Give it time to cycle, but if your worried about plant health in the meantime, then you can add small, regular amounts of your Muriatic acid to help keep the pH down to 7.5 or below. Adding the Muriatic acid to any top-up water a few hours before adding to your main system is the best way to go about it.

Add 1ml of Muriatic acid per 250 litres of fish tank capacity, to your top-up water, let the top-up water sit for a while after adding the acid, then slowly add the top-up water to the fish tank. Wait a couple of hours then re-test the pH in your system.

Adding 20 or 30mls of seaweed extract to your system once a week until the system is cycled, will help with plant nutrition.

Cheers, Yabbies.
.

[TIGERBRONZE]

Yabbies,
I have collected rain water store it in a plastic drum.
I'm thinking of using this as a top-up.
How much safe quantity of rain water can i put in the
FT as a top-up.
Thanks

[Yabbies4me]

Whatever quantity is required to get your system back up to it's full capacity.

But when adding Muriatic acid (hydrochloric), you should add the few mils required to at least a bucket of water, let it sit for a while then slowly add it into your FT, maybe a 1/3 of the bucket every time your auto siphon does a dump. If not using auto siphons in your system, then maybe a 1/3 of the bucket every 15 mins.

Regarding time taken for a new system to cycle, I've heard everything from 2 weeks to 3 months. Both my system took 3 weeks, but it depends upon a lot of variables, like temperature, cycling with or without fish, etc. You system isn't cycled until both your Ammonia and Nitrites have had a "spike", then dropped back to 0.0

Cheers, Yabbies.

[TIGERBRONZE]

Five day ago i did a gravel/water pH experiment,(an ice cream container with gravel and water) so i decided this morning to post a reply on this thread, i take a measurement of the pH of the water with the gravel last night, the measurement is the same as the water without a gravel. Is this duration of days of experiment enough for me to conclude that the gravel not a limestone? Or i'll just wait for another 2 day to be exact (a complete 7 days) to see wait will be the changes?

[bigdaddy]

I reckon 5 days should be enough, but in the big scheme of things the longer you keep the experiment going, the more the limestone will dissolve and increase the pH levels, if you have any limestone.

What's the pH in your system now, and your top up water pH?

Cheers.