fsa Is zero KH affecting PH

[Damien Dyer]

Hi I signed up awhile back but this is my first post so I hope I'm in the right section. I've been keeping crs/cbs for a couple of years now, starting with a dozen and now have approx 200. I have a large 200lt tank and use fluval stratum. My parameters have always been pretty steady, tds 130-150,  ph 6.7-6.8, GH 3-4 and KH 1-2 and have had great sucess but over the last few months my KH is reading zero and the PH has gone from 6.8 to 5.9!! All shrimp are still doing well and no noticeable deaths but the ph drop is concerning. Is this directly related to zero KH? (No buffering) Any advice on the cause and any action that I should take would be very much appreciated. Thank you 

[WhySoCRS]

How old is your Fluval Shrimp Stratum? From what I’ve read on here it loses it’s abilities quicker then other substrates, this could be the reason perhaps.


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[jayc]

10 hours ago, Damien Dyer said:

zero KH

Have you been keeping up regular water changes?

And regular tank cleaning including filter media clean?

What water do you use for water changes?

[Damien Dyer]

The substrate is almost 2 years old, I know it's getting on in age. But I use RO water which comes out around 7ph so it still seems to be lowering my ph and keeping a stable Gh. I guess my main question is, is the zero Kh the cause of the slowly falling ph? Or possibly something else? BTW nitrites, nitrate, and ammonia are not an issue. Cheers 

[Damien Dyer]

I top off with straight RO water every week to maintain tds and do a 15-20% water change once a month with SS GH+ maintaining 140 tds. I'm probably a little slack on cleaning the sponge filters, probably only every 6 months but when I do they are flushed under running rainwater and they're filthy. Would that effect Kh? I've heard of people using ss Gh+kh in small enough doses to maintain a kh of 1-2. Is this recommend by anyone? Is the zero kh the issue with my low ph?

[WhySoCRS]

Just to play it safe you would be better off cleaning those sponges in tank water.

[jayc]

6 hours ago, Damien Dyer said:

Is the zero kh the issue with my low ph?

zero KH is not the cause in itself. Because you have no buffer (0 KH), anything can cause the pH to drop.

A mature filter and the process of beneficial bacteria breaking down nitrates will cause a reduction in pH naturally.

 

 

6 hours ago, Damien Dyer said:

I've heard of people using ss Gh+kh in small enough doses to maintain a kh of 1-2.

No need to buy SS GH/KH +, since you already have GH+.

You can add a pinch of bicarb soda into your water changes to get the same effect.

Edited May 1, 2018 by jayc