My new 90 gal has been giving me a lot of grief lately. I would like to keep my pH around 6.5-7 but anything around 7 would be fine if stable. I have driftwood in the tank that brings the pH of my tap water down to around 7 from over 8 (my tap water has a very high pH, it doesn't even register on high scale water tests). the KH goes from 5 to 3.5-4, and remains there (i tested the parameters of the tank over a few weeks before i put fish in it). if everything just stayed there i'd be happy, but everytime i do a water change (10%) the pH goes up .6 points. I know its not that much, but I'm sure its stressing the fish out. what i want to know is how i can reduce the pH of the water i add, but realistically. i use RO water in my smaller tanks, but even that is a hassle lugging water containers home from the store. i use a python for water changes and the amount of RO i would have to use is just not realistic. i would invest in a RO unit, but, as i understand it, they waste a lot of water. i dont want to use baking soda because, even though i could use CO2 injection to reduce pH increases i travel a lot and dont want to have someone mess with adding something as unpredictable as baking soda. i've considered getting rid of the driftwood and trying another method to adjust pH, but that doesn't address the issue of water changes. the best idea i've come up with is doing very small water changes twice a week. i'm a student, and that isn't very time effective. i would really appreciate some help with this. i'm quite a perfectionist, and this has been really troubling me for a while now. thanks
very, very frustrated!
- Thread starter Madkour
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madasafish
Aquarium Advice Addict
Have you tried SeaChem's "Neutral Regulator?" Works charms. Of course, it's a chemical, but I've have absolutely no problems with it, and I've used it for a while. That will bring you up or down to 7. "Discus Buffer" from Seachem will bring the pH down between 5.8 and 6.8, depending on how much you use. You can add it as the water flows in from the Python. This should be no problem.
I think the buffering capacity of your tank will be great enough that when you do water changes, the water's pH will not change (much).
Hey, I swear by the stuff. http://www.seachem.com/en_products/product_pages/030_ntrl_rgltr.html
P.S. Seachem's products will also soften your water... could be a good thing.
I think the buffering capacity of your tank will be great enough that when you do water changes, the water's pH will not change (much).
Hey, I swear by the stuff. http://www.seachem.com/en_products/product_pages/030_ntrl_rgltr.html
P.S. Seachem's products will also soften your water... could be a good thing.
it contains phosphates, right? do you have any problems algae? when my water gets back to where i want it and i buy this stuff, will i have to treat the pre-existing water, or just the water i add to the tank? when you say it softens the water, do you mean GH? haha, sorry, a lot of questions there.
An t-iasg
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi Madasafish,
Can I ask a question too? The Seachem site said that it removes chlorine and chloramines. So is that all you add to your tap water? You don't add anything like Amquel or Novaqua? Do you think it's overkill for a 5 1/2 gallon tank? My pH from the tap is always high -- my test kit only goes up to 7.4, and I bet my pH is higher than that. I use 4 drops per gallon of pH down when making up my water. It only gets the pH to about 7.2. I don't want to add any more than 4 drops, because I heard that isn't good either. I don't test for GH or KH. Do I need to? I don't have any real plants yet. I do have very hard water, and I have a little hard water line at the top of the tank.
Can I ask a question too? The Seachem site said that it removes chlorine and chloramines. So is that all you add to your tap water? You don't add anything like Amquel or Novaqua? Do you think it's overkill for a 5 1/2 gallon tank? My pH from the tap is always high -- my test kit only goes up to 7.4, and I bet my pH is higher than that. I use 4 drops per gallon of pH down when making up my water. It only gets the pH to about 7.2. I don't want to add any more than 4 drops, because I heard that isn't good either. I don't test for GH or KH. Do I need to? I don't have any real plants yet. I do have very hard water, and I have a little hard water line at the top of the tank.
Madkour - what kind of fish are you keeping in the tank? You say you travel a lot. That could be bad in the fact that if there is a problem with your tank when away and someone else came in to fix it they might not be able to "adjust" the pH the same way as you do and that could lead to a tank crash.
An t-iasg - try using RO water as your tank is small and it won't cost too much and is much safer to use then trying more chemicals.
Whatever you guys do to drop pH make sure to do it very slowly as pH changes can be very hard and stressful on fish.
An t-iasg - try using RO water as your tank is small and it won't cost too much and is much safer to use then trying more chemicals.
Whatever you guys do to drop pH make sure to do it very slowly as pH changes can be very hard and stressful on fish.
tkos - it's not so much that i travel frequently, but i have to travel abroad twice a year and these trips can be anywhere from 2 weeks to a month and a half. it's long enough that anyone i have take care of my tanks will have to perform some maintenance. i'm keeping dwarf cichlids (apistos and laetacara dorsigera), keyhole cichlids, cardinals (may go with something hardier), otos, and a peckoltia. i'm trying to give my brother the aquarium bug because he's pretty good about picking these kinds of things up and he's around when i'm not. so does anyone know if i should treat the aged tank water as well as the water i add during water changes, or if the tank water is where i want to be should i only treat the added water.
An t-iasg
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi tkos,
By RO water, do you mean the filtering apparatus that you can install under your sink, or just bottled water that says "purified by reverse osmosis?" We don't have the filtering apparatus. I've looked at this one web site that lists a bunch of bottled water brands and their pH. There's a lot of variation among the brands. I'm trying to see which brands have a good pH and are available near me. My tap water's pH is high and the water is hard. I don't think it's too detrimental to the fish, but I'm sure they would like water that's a little less hard, and water that I don't have to constantly treat for lowering the pH. One lfs told me to use tap water because bottled water is ground water and it's too hard. Our tap water is river water, and it's still very hard. I would like it if I didn't have that water line around my tank and heater! I can't get all the water line around the tank off, even with my green scrubber pad.
By RO water, do you mean the filtering apparatus that you can install under your sink, or just bottled water that says "purified by reverse osmosis?" We don't have the filtering apparatus. I've looked at this one web site that lists a bunch of bottled water brands and their pH. There's a lot of variation among the brands. I'm trying to see which brands have a good pH and are available near me. My tap water's pH is high and the water is hard. I don't think it's too detrimental to the fish, but I'm sure they would like water that's a little less hard, and water that I don't have to constantly treat for lowering the pH. One lfs told me to use tap water because bottled water is ground water and it's too hard. Our tap water is river water, and it's still very hard. I would like it if I didn't have that water line around my tank and heater! I can't get all the water line around the tank off, even with my green scrubber pad.
(sorry about the post hijack Madkour)
An t-isg: My supermarket has a machine that dispenses RO water for drinking purposes. That is what I would buy. It is cheap and you will always be getting the same water. Never use just distilled water or RO or bottled water. Always mix it with your tap water. THe process to purify takes almost all minerals out of the water and that isn't good for the fish.
An t-isg: My supermarket has a machine that dispenses RO water for drinking purposes. That is what I would buy. It is cheap and you will always be getting the same water. Never use just distilled water or RO or bottled water. Always mix it with your tap water. THe process to purify takes almost all minerals out of the water and that isn't good for the fish.
An t-iasg
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi tkos,
I know what you mean -- One of our grocery stores has that machine. Mixing it with tap water would be convenient too. I wouldn't have to lug home as many bottles from the grocery store! At first I'll mix in just a little, and work up to half tap water and half the RO machine water. Thank you very much!
I know what you mean -- One of our grocery stores has that machine. Mixing it with tap water would be convenient too. I wouldn't have to lug home as many bottles from the grocery store! At first I'll mix in just a little, and work up to half tap water and half the RO machine water. Thank you very much!
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