# eco-complete raising ph?



## kindbud (Mar 15, 2004)

hello all. i have 2 tanks (10g and 29g)

i used di water for both.
both contain similar plants that i've been steadily dosing with flourish excel for about a week now.

tap water is 6.8 ph according to aquarium pharmaceuticals test.

the 10g has a mixture of red flourite and pet store bought gravel, and a piece of well boiled driftwood. it has a ph of 7.

the 29g contains 3 bags of eco-complete including the packing water from all 3 bags. it is showing me a ph of 7.6.

is eco-complete known to do this? i searched the forums here and found one post that sorta casually mentions this, but in no detail. is it supposed to raise the ph this much or could it be something else? both tanks have been set up for less than a week. some of the plants have been in there less than a day.

my plan was to get some plants that would grow in my medium wpg lighting situation and have some schools of tetras with cories. does this 7.6 ph in the 29g tank preclude any chance of cardinals and neons which the charts say require a ph of 5-6? i realize that the fish could probably go higher on the ph meter, but i want them to be happy.

i read the interview with the carib sea rep that was posted somewhere on this forum. he said the liquid in eco complete will keep a floor on ph. but does anyone know what he's referring to? maybe changing water over time will eliminate whatever it is that is raising my ph so high. if it's actually the substrate, then i guess i will have to modify my water somehow. just when i thought my nyc soft, slightly acidic tap water would be perfect for tetras.


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## Ace (Dec 10, 2003)

the pH of the 29 gallon might be swinging around since the tank is still new and cycling. what is the KH in the 29 gallon?


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## ninoboy (Jan 26, 2004)

Eco-complete shouldn't increase the pH unless you mistakenly bought eco-complete cichlid substrate. 

How big is the driftwood in the 10gl? Usually it takes a while for driftwood to lower the ph unless it's a huge piece. I had one huge piece in my 55 and drop the pH about 0.3-0.4 in a week. 

Why do you use DI water? what's the KH both tap and di water?

Don't give up on the neons and cardinals yet. I only use RO/Di water for my discus tanks. I use tap water in my planted/neons tank. My tap pH is 7.8, after driftwood close to 7.4. KH 6.7. AFter CO2 injection, pH is 6.8-6.9. All the neons are healthy.


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## Ace (Dec 10, 2003)

same thing goes to ADA sand... there are amazonian,malayan and african types...


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## kindbud (Mar 15, 2004)

thanks for the replies.

i definitely did not get eco complete cichlid formula. so that isn't it.

the gh and kh of my tap water, tested pretty much right out of the tap is under 1 degree each. the first drop in my aqu. pharm. test kit was enough to get to the endpoint. however gh of water in 29g and eco-complete with a few plants receiving excel is now 1 drop (degree) and the kh is 4 drops (degrees)

the 10g containing flourite/gravel with a few potted plants still has a gh and kh of 1 drop (degree). the plants in here have been receiving excel as well. the driftwood in the 10g is about 10 inches long.

thanks for any ideas.


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## Ace (Dec 10, 2003)

inject some co2 into the tank and increase the kH by baking soda or crushed corals


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## kindbud (Mar 15, 2004)

tried a water change on the 29g that was registering >7.6 ph. got it down to 7.2 on that alone. changed 50% of the water with tap water and dechlorinator. i'm thinking the water that the eco complete comes packed in was contributing to high ph levels.


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

yeah, with a Kh of only 1 degree, you can expect pH to swing easily and rapidly (this isn't a good thing)


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## scoach1999 (Mar 20, 2004)

The KH should run between 3 and 8. The higher number KH will stabilize the CO2 in the tank better than the lower number (it will allow the CO2 to disolve better into the water). pH should be between 6.4 and around 7.2. In the case of pH, the lower number will help keep CO2 in suspension better. Therefore, theoretically, a KH of around 8 with a pH around 6.4 to 6.8 will be much better for CO2 disolution in your water than a KH of 3 with a pH of 7.6.

Adding CO2 (as previously mentioned) to your 29g water will lower the pH.

And (as mentioned), a KH of only 3 should probably be buffered upward to help stabilize the pH (keep it from swinging up and down).

Hope this helps.

Earnest Steve


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