Ask Me Help Desk - Raising ph levels

I live in an area with soft water (6.8) and with only having a small tank (63litres) my ph levels are always very low (it has been well below 6 just don't know by how much). I am having difficultly raising the ph level using commercial treatments - any ideas? One fish has died recently and another is dying, the others showing signs of stress. Don't have many fish in tank at the moment - only 3 bronze cory cats and two (rapidly decreasing to one) dwarf gourami.

The ammonia level showed high reading but was told by an expert that this was ammonium therefore not toxic. I have sorted this out anyway by improving filtration (got two filters in there now). There was a low level of Nitrite but now zero. Just can't sort out PH.

Thanks

Commercial products will increase the ph temporarily but since you have soft water, there is nothing to buff the water and the ph will fall again.
Putting some real sea shells in the tank will help buff the water naturally and keep the ph in a healthy range.
Add them slowly (3 - 5 to start) and check the ph every 24 hours, keep adding shells every 24 hours until it has reached 7.0

:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gillb

I live in an area with soft water (6.8) and with only having a small tank (63litres) my ph levels are always very low (it has been well below 6 just don't know by how much). I am having difficultly raising the ph level using commercial treatments - any ideas? One fish has died recently and another is dying, the others showing signs of stress. Don't have many fish in tank at the moment - only 3 bronze cory cats and two (rapidly decreasing to one) dwarf gourami.

The ammonia level showed high reading but was told by an expert that this was ammonium therefore not toxic. I have sorted this out anyway by improving filtration (got two filters in there now). There was a low level of Nitrite but now zero. Just can't sort out PH.

thanks

I picked up a ph adjuster called Neutral Regulator made by Seachem (at Petsmart). It knows whether to raise or lower ph levels, and it raised my ph wonderfully. Hope this helps.