Should I change water or add buffer powder?

[fanaticbooks]

Did water testing. Cauldron is boiling nicely....BUT

My ph has again dropped to 6.0

ammonia is now at 1
Nitrites are top color
Nitrates are also high color.

I know I need to get the ph up. Which is better, Putting in some Seachem ph Buffer OR

changing the water? My water ph from the tap is 7.2.

If I do a total water change than probably ph would remain at 7.2.

If I do a partial change then the ph will be below that.

It took about 3 days for it to drop down to 6.0 so it means I might also have to complete change in three days again to keep the ph at a good level.

Either way, I know I will probably be adding more ammonia.

Advice please?
fanaticbooks

 

[slitherbomb]

Try crushed coral, or use aragonite sand. Don't use those buffer powders since you need to constantly be using them whenever you do water changes.

 

[fanaticbooks]

I can't get any at this time of night. Don't know if I will be going out tomorrow either since I have some stuff that needs to be done.

Could I add the buffer for the moment to keep the ph up and then do a change of water when I get the crushed coral. I don't want sand.

fanaticbooks

by the way, I already have a large bottle of buffer.

 

[slitherbomb]

Are there fish in the tank? If there are, I would do an immediate water change because your ammonia is pretty high. And if you really have to, then yes you can use the buffer for now.

 

[Pschmitt]

What do you mean by "my tap water is......"? Are you not using a RODI unit? Still, looks like you are not done cycling with your readings. Don't add anything yet just do some PWC's. More if you have already life stock. The salt mix should keep it in balance. I am a true believer of doing more water changes then supplementing if you don't keep SPS's or clams yet. By the way, just like you I already bought a 2 part dosing system, just haven't used it yet and only doing my WC's religiously every week. Of course all my friends and co-workers think I'm nuts because every answer to"what are you doing this weekend?" is I'm working on my tanks. Very addictive, but love it.

 

[fanaticbooks]

I am sorry. I posted this in the wrong group. I am talking freshwater.

I will post question in that section.

 

[fanaticbooks]

Should I continue with buffer powder or water change

Did water testing. Cauldron is boiling nicely....BUT

My ph has again dropped to 6.0

ammonia is now at 1
Nitrites are top color
Nitrates are also high color.

I know I need to get the ph up. Which is better, Putting in some Seachem ph Buffer OR

changing the water? My water ph from the tap is 7.2.

If I do a total water change than probably ph would remain at 7.2.

If I do a partial change then the ph will be below that.

It took about 3 days for it to drop down to 6.0 so it means I might also have to complete change in three days again to keep the ph at a good level.

Either way, I know I will probably be adding more ammonia.


By the way, I bought myself a little time for advice...

Just for tonight, I have added a little buffer powder which has brought the ph up to 7.6.

Also added 1/2 tsp. of ammonia, which brought that up to 4.

Should I change water out tomorrow and re-ammonia?

Or as I asked above, can I use the buffer powder. I really don't want to do complete water changes every 3 days.

And what about when fish are in the tank? The ph doesn't seem to want to hang around and I won't want to do complete changes with fish in there.

Advice please?

 

[Oscarr19]

Why not use a natural buffer like limestone or crushed coral?

 

[absolutangel04]

I would not recommend the powder buffers ever. They cause pH instability which is bad for fish. I would look into natural buffers like oscarr10 suggested. Doing a water change is much better than a buffer. Also, research the fish you want and look into what pH they thrive at. Many fish do better at a slightly lower pH. Fish can adapt to w ide rnage of Phs as long as it stays stable.

 

[chagoi]

I treat my water in a drum then pump it to the tank. Temp,dclor,PH-KH( baking soda) GH (calcium chloride & epsom salt). My water from the tap has a high PH but a low KH .. If I did not add baking soda to^ the KH to buffer the PH it would go way down. Yes I do A lot of water changes to the point I even put a working sink under my tank. I'm sure using chemicals has killed more fish then it"s helped. But done right they are a great aid.

 

[ccCapt]

I moved your thread from the Saltwater section and merged it with the 1 you started in the FW section.

 

[librarygirl]

Personally I would do a 100% pwc to get the PH back up. Then as soon as you can, get a bag of crushed coral or crushed argonite and pick up a mesh media bag (pet stores sell them) or a new nylon stocking and put in a handful and place it in your filter. That should help.

 

[fanaticbooks]

Thank you ccCapt for moving the thread.

librarygirl, if I get the coral or argonite, how often do I change it to keep the stuff producing pH.

Also, I'm not familiar with the kH and Gh stuff? Is that something I need to worry about also? I don't have anything to test for that. Mine just tests for the low and high pH, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia.

Since I don't have fish in here yet, I want to get this stuff right as to what I should be doing and watching and testing, whatever.