PH level won't go up!!

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Jan 12, 2009
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I have a 10 gallon tank and its been cool since I got it ph level been normal but recently it dropped to 6.0 and been trying to get it to a constant 7.0 level. I did 50% water change every other day and been at it for almost a month. So far I have my pleco but he's going into a new tank soon with more room but I want to get my ph level back up to 7.0. Any ideas? I used this ph level increaser for a few weeks and I see no ph increase. I also plan to add some fish but first I need to get my ph level to a steady 7.0.
 
How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the PH out of your tap?
What are your GH levels?
I wouldn't use chemicals to change your PH, they arn't worth the hassle. As long as your PH stays stable i don't see that you have a problem.

What sort of pleco do you have and what size tank are you moving him to?
 
are your other levels ok? ammonia, nitrate, nitrite? is there anything else you recently started doing differently? new water treater? new objects in the tank like bogwood (which lowers ph), or new substrate material?

my tank wants to be at a ph of 6 because of my substrate and the bogwood i use. while great for plants not the best for fauna. i used a base rock that i bought at my lfs. it is the size of a baseball and i just hid it behind the plants next to my filter intake inside. now my ph stays at 6.5 (just right for what i wanted to keep).

i think it's important to figure out why your ph is so low before you do anything though. messing with it before you understand it can make things worse!
 
Why do you need to change it? Not every tank needs to be at 7. Some fish like it higher and some like it lower- you may not need to change it. My tanks all run in the high 5s and my fish are fine. I've done more damage trying to keep it neutral and the resulting pH changes back before I knew any better....

Baking soda will raise the KH, and also the pH. Don't waste your money on "pH increaser" KH is your carbonate hardness and that's thats what buffers your water to keep the pH from dropping over time. Many people have enough KH to keep it steady right out of the tap. Since your water changes are not doing any good I will assume that you have very low KH out of the tap, and if you NEED a higher pH you will have to alter it chemically (with Baking soda). Do a web search, someone's got a calculator for figuring out how much baking soda to add to move your KH and pH but honestly- PH swings are dangerous and stressful to your fish. You're unless there is a specific reason you feel 7.0 is necessary, just leave it the way it is.
 
pH swings are not a problem as long as it's only pH which changes; I've had planted tanks swing between 6.5 and 7.5 twice a day. pH is generally a red herring. GH and KH are many times more important. Fish are pretty much insensitive to pH.
 
I'm gonna add 2 guppies(there babies) or 2 mollies(babies;thinking bout this my cousin's mollies are kinda big might get them for my 30 gallon) and my pleco(Common Pleco) is gonna be moving to my cousin's tank he just offered to adopt it lol. My tank set up is simple gravel, 2 small live plants and a hiding spot for the pleco.

I went to petsmart and my ph level was 6.0 and my nitrate was slightly high forgot the number to that.
 
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