PH advice

[woopaul5]

Well it’s been awhile since I’ve posted... I have what’s left of my fish back and moved them to a 180G. Since I moved from AZ to NV I decided to upgrade. Luckily the filters been running so didn’t have to cycle. Since I have wilds I decided to keep with the remineralized RO since vegas water is pretty hard and the house I bought has a salt water softener system. Out of the tap it’s above 8 ph and well into the 3-400’s for TDS. Well recently my fish got sick. Originally thought because I accidentally left the fx6 filter off for a day... I’m doubled filtered with a air pump to a sponge as a back up. I’ve been using the same remineralization process as I have for the last 5 yrs, pure RO mixed with replenish and discus essentials to make a 6ph 70TDS. I mix in a trash can as I do a water change.

Well shortly after my fish got sick (day 4 of metro treatment, white feces) I was trying to determine what made them sick. No new stock in months, same water change schedule I used for last 5 yrs (every 3 days to every day 50%). The only thing I’ve noticed is I have a ph swing now. From 5-6ph from new water to old water. Should I start mixing in my 275 tote and aerating it? What methods do you use for remineralized RO?

The tanks parameters are as follows

temp 82 F
ph 5-6 swing
tds 70-80
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 2-10
stocking 7 adult wilds

thanks in advanced.

- Paul

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Paul, when I was using a RO/tap mix (2/3 RO to 1/2 tap) I would first mix the tap in with the RO for an TDS of about 40. I would then add my RO Right, Discus Essentials for a target TDS of about 100. I would age at least 12 hours or so to ensure a good mix and handle the Ph swing. My ph swing was 7.4 to 8.2 in pure tap. Not sure what it was in my RO mix. It does sound like you should age your water or at least try it.
Pat

[woopaul5]

Thanks Pat! I tried the mixing and aging for 24hrs. Didn’t really have an effect at all. But it seems things are starting to stabilize a little more at 6-6.5 now. Well API test kit. I need a new probe for one of my electric ones and the pH pen I have reads lower than all the other test kits I have. Prob just gonna send that one bac. Tried recalibration several times but everything reads low by 1 or more on everything I test.