pH and Hardness with Oscars

[MoraRocks]

My Oscar tank has me flustered, ive googled everything imaginable and asked numerous pet stores.. my pH is 7.8-8.0, GH is 16-19, and KH is 2. from what ive read and been told the pH Down and the Acid Buffer is causing the GH to go up. sometimes I can get it to pH 7.6, GH 14, and KH 3-4 but it never stays that way. a couple days and its goofed again.. nobody has an answer for me.. What is worse for my Oscars? the hardness or the pH??? I do water changes every 2 weeks to keep them semi happy..

Please, any help is much appreciated! If I missed something please ask

 

[Rivercats]

What happens when you just make WC's without messing with anything. Just whatever the readings are without adding anything? Most fish are fine with high ph, kh, gh and adjust to whatever your tap water is.

 

[MoraRocks]

My Tap comes out pH 7.8, GH 12, and Kh 3. My local pet store said that the pH level was horrible for their health, that's why ive messed with it.. im starting to wonder though.. The fish do much better that way but Pet Store was worried about their lifespan with high pH, if I keep up with water changes it stays close to my tap reading..

 

[GBHammbone]

My oscars do fine in ph of 7.6-7.8, the fish will adapt. it is worse to have constant ph swings than a steady ph. also what are the rest of your test readings? oscars are very messy fish and i would be more concerned about your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates.

 

[MoraRocks]

Not sure about ammonia, never been told by the pet store but the Nitrites are low and they said the Nitrates are right below 100ppm. But my Sucker keeps it pretty clean. They test my water for me and have never mentioned the ammonia levels. In the beginning they were low and haven't been mentioned since. I will keep the adaptation in mind, I just love my Oscars and baby them very much.

 

[Rivercats]

Nitrates at 100ppm are very very high. Nitrates should be kept no higher than 20ppm.

 

[GBHammbone]

Like RC said,100 is very high but we are here to help. I think first we need to know more about your setup. Tank size, filters, total stock, water change schedule. Also i would quit having the petstore test your water and pick up a liquid test kit. Me and many on this site prefer the API master freshwater kit. Might be 25-35 bucks at the store, but very worth it, also can get it on Amazon for cheap.

 

[MoraRocks]

i have the API for pH, KH, and GH. Im slowly getting the test kits I need. But as im learning on the web and advice forums, my pet store knows less than my toddler about fish.. My Oscars are Juvenile maybe 4 & 5 inches. There are 2, and a feeder fish they refused to eat who is about 3 inches now. I tried taking him out but the Oscars pouted for a week until I put him back. its a 55 Gallon (I am currently saving money for a larger one, maybe 100-150 gal.) its a 30-60 gal filter, not sure what kind exactly.. I do 25% water changes every 3 weeks to keep the water levels decent without much chemicals.. the water this week has been pH 7.4, Gh 24 and Kh 2. I stopped using the Acid Buffer the pet store talked me into and they have been doing much better.. Its hard to learn about the fish when every website tells you different things and my local pet store knows nothing.. I will be sure to get the Master test kit this week..

Your advice is Greatly appreciated!! Thanks guys!

 

[aqua_chem]

Are you still keeping track of your nitrate? I suspect that your current water change regiment might now be enough to keep levels down.

 

[Jmunroe]

50 % water change a week. I would start by doing a couple small 25 % changes in one day ( so you dont shock them with a big change after living in not such good conditions for this long)and do another couple days in a row of 50% changes then do the 50% changes a week. Take the ph down and acid buffer and throw it in the garbage. Treat your water with a water conditioner/ declorinator when doing your water changes. Get test kit and focus on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites should be 0 in a cycled tank, and when nitrates hit 20-40 ppm do 50% water change which should be weekly. Don't screw with your water chemistry your oscars will be very healthy with clean water and good diet.

 

[MoraRocks]

will do more water changes.. I am getting the water test kits.. greatly appreciated!! wonderful advice!

 

[MoraRocks]

Just ordered The Master Test kit from Amazon, should be here in a few days. I have started The frequent water changes.. They are happier already!! I appreciate the advice and feel silly for knowing nothing, I took for granted that my local pet store knew what they were talking about.. they had me so scared to use the acid buffer or my Oscars would "surely die" They are up moving now and are eating better than ever!!!

 

[Jmunroe]

That's great to hear. Don't feel silly. Hard to know things that you don't know. Lol