Tracyp Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 So I added a nice piece of Mopani driftwood to my 8 gallon planted shrimp tank and it lowered my ph from 7 to 5.5. Luckily there's nothing but some hitchhikers (pond snails) in there as I've been letting it cycle for awhile. But I'm eager to add some shrimp and or a CPO or two and am thinking I will probably have to raise the PH. I don't want to use any checmicals so I was thinking of added a small bag of crushed coral to the filter. Has anyone else tried something similar? Are there any shrimp of dwarf crayfish that can handle such a low ph? Any help is greatly appreciated!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 take out the wood and soak it for a month and then reintroduce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Some thing else might be going on Calgary tap is usually around 8.0 ph right out of the tap some times lower this time of year with the snow melt & rain.What are you using to test with test strips are notoriously inaccurate.Did you clean & soak the wood before adding?might be something on the wood.To raise ph all you would need to do is water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracyp Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Thank you for the advice! I did rinse it and soaked it for about 6 hours also I use the liquid type test kit; it's about 2 months old. My other tanks (no driftwood) are maintaining a ph of about 7 which leads me to believe it must be the driftwood in this tank. I haven't done many large water changes but I think I will try that out. I'm reluctant to take it out for a month but If the water changes don't work I just might. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWho Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I boil my driftwood until it doesn't make my water dark; boil for at least 5-8 minutes, and if the water is dark, rinse, repeat. This will leach out the tannins faster. A small piece of driftwood shouldn't take too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylant Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thank you for the advice! I did rinse it and soaked it for about 6 hours It can take months or even years to leech everything out of a piece of wood. 6 hours is likely your problem. Boiling the wood, as JayWho has suggested is your best course of action, along with water changes. Boiling will speed up that leeching A LOT and will save you a ton of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I would check your test kit as I can't see driftwood lowering the ph that much(if so, I should've done that years ago!!). Also I'm sure with some water changes, it won't stay that low for long. Calgary water is liquid rock.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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