Long over due cleaning / water change

[jbailey52]

Hey everyone, have a 90 gal FOWLR and a 25 gal sump. Well my tank went about a year without good maintenance. Only top offs really. Anyway I got in and vacuumed the CC, did an30 gal water change last week and did the same today. Got tons of dirt and funk out. The tank is sparkling. Anyhow my nitrates are still a little high 30-40. And my oh is reading 7.4 now. Lights have been on all day, and I don't have a top on the aquarium. I also have one dedicated power head blowing on the surface of the water. Should I be doing something about the PH??

 

[jstdv8]

do you have a tester to test Alkalinity, If so please post those numbers.
Is there any reason you can think of why your inside air may have alot of Carbon dioxide in it?
If it isn't cold outside you can take out a small portion of your water and areate it outside for an hour and then test PH, PH should go up.
Do the same test inside, if it doesnt go up then you have excess carbon dioxide in the living space air preventing it from exchanging in the tank.
Its usually a bad test kit for PH or low alkalinity.
There is an excellent write up on the subject if you google low PH causes and cures by randy holmes-farley.

 

[snakeblitz33]

7.4 is a little on the low side. But, keep up with those water changes. If your fish aren't showing signs of stress, then everything is fine, and it may just be an inaccurate test kit.
Try letting the powerhead blow accross the water, not up at it. That will definitely help with gas exchange.

 

[jbailey52]

I have a double head return from my sump and 3 power heads. The one at the top of the tank blowing Length wise along the water surface. I will try the water outside. Also the kh just tested at 179