API KH Test

[jsoong]

pH of 8 is not too bad. I am not that expert with Africans, but I would think that they should be able to adapt to that level of pH. If you waited this long with the cc, chances are the pH & KH won't move much. <If it does it will be slow.> If you are going to keep that as your target parameters, then you may as well start stocking. <Just really do slow acclimatization as you will be switching the fish from the lfs's paras to yours.>

If you think you need to mess with the water para some more to get it prefect, then it is wiser to do that with no fish in the tank.

 

[fddlss]

I did that and now my pH is back to 7.4, KH 4, and GH moves from 6 to 8. I've been doing PWC (30%) to drop nitrates maybe that's not helping the CC do its work? the thing is that I have 4 fish there now and I would add baking soda being that CC is not working or it's going to take long but I don't want to mess around with the fish in the tank. Should I add baking soda slowly to reach the desired parameters in a week instead of instantly? or maybe I should leave it with a pH of 7.4 - 7.5 and forget about it since the fish are not WC and most breeders don't spend the time to keep their pH to that of Lake Malawi. Although I'm one of those guys who tries to make the aquarium as close as possible to their natural environment, and I know it's impossible to do so, that's why I said "as close as possible". I think they'll will thrive if I try to match their natural environment, but at the same time I don't want to kill them by trying to do so. Maybe they live just as long and happy if I live things as they are. I know some parts of Lake Malawi have a pH of 7.5, but KH is higher and most parts of the lake range above 8.0 pH.

 

[jsoong]

When you do a 30% pwc, it will remove some of the buffers, & drop the pH. It will take a few days for the pH to come back up with cc. If the fish looks good, you can just let the tank come back to whatever pH it settles out at with the cc. However, you might want to limit future pwc to less than 10% to avoid the pH swings. For large pwc, you will have to prepare the change water to match the tank water when you are doctoring the water. So either have buckets of water with cc in it, or add baking soda in your change water to match the tank water.

For most fish, unless you are breeding, you don't really need to match KH & pH that closely. Stability is more important, as no doubt you know. So I think keeping cc in the tank & let pH rise gradually is a good way to go. I wouldn't do much more ... such as starting with R/O & adding in a salt mix.

 

[fddlss]

Sounds good! Actually my pH is now the same as my tap. My tap's pH is 8.4 but because of the gases and stuff, after being exposed to air for sometime it drops to it's real pH which is 7.4 - 7.5 and that's the same as my tank's. I've been doing PWC's everyday to drop Nitrates, they are at 10 PPM now, and I will do the last PWC to day to drop it near 0 PPM and then I will start with the regular weekly 10%-20% water changes, and like you said, that should give the CC some time to react and also the limestone that I've added last Thursday. Maybe the reason why it's not changing is because I've been doing daily PWCs to drop nitrates. If the CC and limestone finally work after a few weeks, I will keep my weekly water changes to 10% or so so that the pH swing is not very big. Thanks for all your help!

 

[fddlss]

I had to treat my fish for Ich with salt+heat, so I went 13 days without a PWC, nitrates were fine (under 30 PPM), and I perform a series of water changes to drop salinity, but before that I tested for hardness and pH had raised to 8.2, KH to 6 dKH, and GH to 11 dKH. Then, I did a 50% PWC last week Wedsnesday, another 50% PWC the day after and a 25% water change last Saturday (all to lower the salt level and finish the Ich treatment), that same Saturday (the 21st), before de 25% PWC, the pH had dropped to my tap's pH, which is 7.5, due to the big 50% water changes; However, I tested for hardness today and it raised again, pH 8.0, KH 5.5 dKH, GH 8 dKH, it will probably keep raising until it reaches a pH of 8.2 or so.

With that said, we can conclude that the raise in hardness is due to the crushed coral and limestone, and a 15% water change every Saturday shouldn't be a big deal in terms of hardness, I don't think it will affect it as long as I keep it under 20%.

Just wanted to keep you updated and tell you that it takes time, but if placed in a spot with water flow crushed coral and limestone really work! It raised my pH, KH, and GH. pH went from 7.5 to 8.2 which is great! I just have to do a water change every week and keep the partial water change under 20% so that it doesn't affect the hardness and it gives time to the CC and limestone to adjust the new water.