PH Problem in Community

[Kizz]

Over the past week I've lost a few of my peppered cory's .Done my usual WC on sunday night should have tested water param's before tested after everything normal PH 7.4 Amm 0 NitrIte 0 NitrAte 20. Woke up yesterday morning to 2 dead neon's either the SD's done it or it's the PH problem also found 2 Peppered cories dead . Tested water and PH is Reading 6.0 but could be lower than that . I have not added anything new to tank in ages . I done a 25% WC last night and just done another one 10 minutes or so ago.

Am i right in thinking that shell's can raise the PH ? Went to beach after other half finished work and grabbed a bag full of the beach and currently have them boiling . Do i add them to the filter? In the tank ?

So confused never had to deal with anything like this i'm sure it's caused by the bogwood and really contemplating taking it out.

Anyone offer advice?

[Vandraco aka Bronzecat]

Check your tap water Ph....ours went from 7.6 to 6.o very suddenly. A sudden change in Ph is probably the biggest killer of fish:(

[Kizz]

Checked tap water as soon as i got the first reading of 6.0 it comes out at 7.4 . My 17G in the kitchen also read's 7.4

Should i add the shell's? Is it a more sustainable way to raise the PH rather than adding chemical's

[Vandraco aka Bronzecat]

Anything that negates adding chemicals is a good idea Do it slowly though to avoid ph shock:)

[Kizz]

So should i just add a few shell's every other day ? Handfull at a time? i've got my soup pot half full with them to give a rough idea f how many's there lol

Do i add to the tank or the filter?

[kizno1]

i would try and work out why the ph has swung so much before i started trying to change it. i would do a big 75% water change.

[Kizz]

Well that's what my other half said to do too . But a water change like that is going to mean removing just under 140L of water leave 47L wiht ph at 6.0- then adding 140 wiht ph of 7.6 ..Too me that seems like it would cause PH Shock The PH has dropped to my knowledge due to the bogwood which as i said above i'm thinking about removing ...Just need to get some larg-ish plants to cover the bareness

[Vandraco aka Bronzecat]

If you remove the bogwood, do smaller water changes afterwards though:)

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