Best method for water changes

[gykramer]

I have a 40-gal dirted breeder tank currently filled with plants only; no fish (yet). Our tap water in San Francisco is super high pH: 9-9.2. How do I do water changes when the pH of the tank water is (and I want to keep it there) 6.8 to 7.0? Sure, I can lower the pH in the tank with pH Down buffer after the change, but if I had fish in the tank, the initial difference would shock them (including temp difference; Tank temp is 75 degrees; tap water is 62). So I came up with this solution: I fill a 20-gal bucket with tap water and adjust the pH and tempeature there, and only then do I pump it into the tank. This seems to work, but it's a lot of work. So I'm wondering how other folks do it without turning it into a "science project." Btw, I use distilled water to add water back to the tank lost due to evaporation.
And a second question: despite water changes, my tank water is still cloudy; I've tried activated charcoal, Purigen, etc., but nothing seems to make a difference.
When I was a kid, I had a number of (successful) aquariums, and only now, 60 years later am getting back into the hobby. It just seems a helluvalot more complicated now. I never worried about pH or other water parameters back then, but now it seems that water parameters are everything, and frankly, despite great attention to these issues, I'm not feeling confident yet to add fish into the tank. I'm finding that maintaining steady water parameters is very challenging, and the experience I'm having is robbing me of the joy I remembered in having aquariums as a kid.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The thing is the pH down products probably won't do anything. High pH is usually accompanied by high KH which buffers your pH by the acid in pH down products and prevents them from working.

Lowering pH is really difficult because of this buffering effect. pH/ KH is from mineral content in the water, so its easy to raise pH by adding more of these minerals. Lowering pH is tough because you have to remove those minerals. Products like pH down are mild acids, and because of the buffering from KH you either have to use a ton load of these products or use a stronger acid. Trying to chemically alter water usually causes more problems than it solves.

The only real effective way of lowering pH is to dilute your tap water with water that has essentially zero mineral content. So thats RO or distilled water. You can get to the pH you desire by adjusting the mix between your tap water and RO/ distilled.

Ideally though keep fish that suit the water rather than adjusting the water to the fish.

If you are intent on using your tap water and trying to lower its pH you need to prepare the water before adding it into your aquarium. So lower it in a tote container then use the water from the tote for your water changes.

 

[Andy Sager]

Back then, the fish, the tanks and the public water systems were a lot less complicated than they are today. Some of the " ease" of yesteryear was our ignorance of what was actually happening. 60 years ago was also when I started keeping fish. I can tell you for sure that nothing is happening today that wasn't happening back then. Only now, we have a better understanding of what all was actually happening.
Back in the day, when we needed better water for wild Discus, we used to soften water with peat moss. It was a little messy but the end result was softer, low pH water. You will need a separate container ( we used fish tanks but any large container ( i.e. 32 gallon trash can, 55gallon drum, etc) and a filter large enough to hold a decent amount of the moss. You want that water circulating through the moss to let it do it's work. Moss just sitting in the water will take forever ( actually just a really long time) to change.
Natural woods will also help lower pH and reduce minerals. Again, a slower process than peat moss was.
You are just going to have to pre-make water and do your water changes when the water is ready if you choose fish and plants that are not used to the higher pH. You should always have that spare container making water for the next water change.
As Aiken mentioned, the recommendation for today's hobby is to choose fish that like your available water parameters. The reason is because water parameters around the country ( and the world) are all different and in many fish farms, they alter their pH to match to grow the fish to match a larger number of hobbyist's water. Another difference is bac then, it was just chlorine you had to worry about. Today, most water companies use chloramine ( ammonia/chlorine combo), so you can't even let the water sit overnight for the chorine to dissipate like in the old days. That ammonia bond keeps it from evaporating. This is why you can't totally rely on past experiences for today's hobby as there are fewer wild caught fish and more farmed fish being raised in parameters that are more towards the general public's water vs the fish's natural water parameters. So yeah, it's going to get a little sciencey.

Hope this helps.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello. Tap water with a high mineral content doesn't mean you can't keep fish. But, you're limited on the types you can keep. If you're just getting started, then may I suggest some Platys. They're very colorful and hardy. If you get those going, I doubt you'd have to do anything other than change half the tank water every few days. I've started breeding some, that I call "Crystals". They're body is bright orange, but their fins are crystal clear. I don't worry about the water chemistry, I just remove and replace most of the water every few days.

B