can PH neutral sand be a problem??

[jhj0112]

I have been working on 2 apistos tanks with caribsea supernatural sand to lower PH for 2-3 months.

However, PH stays at 7 no matter what I do( including peat moss, almond leaves). my tap water PH with peat moss filtered is 5.8-6.0. There is nothing in the tank that can raise PH to 7 ( driftwood, 2 pots, and plants).

this leads to me that this PH neutral sand causes this as Ph does not go above 6.8-7.0.

is this possible? if sand is the problem, how can I change the substrate?? the only reason I got this sand is that I thought it would be perfect for apistos and it says sand does not increase PH...

currently I have Aggie D red in one tank and uaupesi in the other.. I really would like to lower the PH especially uaupesi tank..

 

[regani]

has the driftwood been in a nother tank before? if DW is kept for a long time in a high pH environment, it can cause problems later

 

[jhj0112]

no I bought it from LFS and soaked it under our tab water for a couple of days.. this really drives me nuts.. I have big chunk of peat moss in both tank as well as peat moss in the filter and 5-6 almond leaves.... any help would be very appriciated!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Might it have very small shell fragments in the sand? You'd probably need a binocular microscope to see if some of the sand is shell sand.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

I don't understand the term "pH neutral sand". Is the sand chemically inert and doesn't affect the water's pH or does it contain some buffering agent to keep the water's pH neutral?? If the sand truly is inert (doesn't release anything) then something else in the tank must be doing it. Why not do a test. Take some of the sand and put it in a glass with only your treated water. Check the pH over a period of days. If the pH rises, then there is something in the sand causing it; if not then it's something else in your tank.

 

[jhj0112]

if shell or coral is present in sand, would it go over PH 7.0 though?? it's does not go over 7.0. it's almost always 6.8-7.0..

 

[jhj0112]

same here Mike... all it says is PH neutral sand.. I did PH test on everything except the sand.. I just took some sand out of the tank and put it in the container with tapwater.. I will leave it for at least 24 hrs to see if PH goes up.. it is so weird that PH does not go above 7.0 though..

 

[Mike Wise]

It really depends on the amount of shell or whatever that is dissolving out of the sand. There might not be enough to buffer the water any higher.

 

[jhj0112]

Thanks mike!! So if sand is the problem, what would be the most effective way to change it to another type sand or any other substrate?

 

[Mike Wise]

I get a weird feeling that they somehow have mixed a buffering agent into the sand to keep the pH at neutral. I don't think a day will be long enough to adequately test your water, a week or 2 would be more informative. I would use some of your treated water instead of water straight for the tap.

 

[jhj0112]

ok I put 2 containers now one with tap water( PH 6.8) and the other with treat water (PH 6.0). I will leave it for at a week