Aeration and PH

[Fishquake]

Curious if anyone knows if there is a relationship between PH levels and the amount of aeration pumped into an aquarium. This morning I upgraded to a superior air pump and significantly increased the aeration in the tank. I noticed this evening that my PH rose from 7.1 to 7.5. never been that high before. I know that aerating the water will driving off (CO2), maybe this is what has caused the PH to rise?

[Frankr409]

Without a doubt it is driving off co2 which is what keeps ph lower. I actually will be removing the k1 media for this reason, too much off gassing for my liking.

[Fishquake]

Do you think I should reduce the aeration, accept the PH change oir adjust it using Discus buffer?

[jmf3460]

DO NOT adjust it using discus buffer! that stuff is crap-o-la and only will cause you headache. I say leave it, your fish will adjust plus going from low to high is not what causes ph burn its high to low that does that...your fish will do absolutely fine in 7.5

[brewmaster15]

Definetly stay away from the Discus Buffer.. its not needed and works by precipitating out calcium and magnesium. (Its a phosphate buffer) and can cloudy your water.


Bill in your tank, you are actually seeing the waters true pH. Akin to what we see when some of us age our water .Take me for instance. My well water is pH 5.8 to low 6's .. If I aerate water overnight, it blows off the CO2 dissolved in the water and the pH rise to 7.6 ..thats my water aged pH, what it will be in a tank after a day or so of tank aeration.

and 7.6 is fine for Discus.. your fish won't notice the difference of 7.1- 7.5 btw.

hth,
al

[jmf3460]

[QUOTE=brewmaster15;1142741]My well water is pH 5.8 to low 6's .. If I aerate water overnight, it blows off the CO2 dissolved in the water and the pH rise to 7.6 ..thats my water aged pH,/QUOTE]

uhh, Al do you live at my house because those numbers are my scenario exactly. are you living in my basement in that creepy corner I never go in?? :)

[Fishquake]

So I'm good as is. Thank you all!

[pitdogg2]

When I first started keeping Discus 20yrs ago I used RO only and kept my ph at 5.0-5.5. My discus loved it but man it was EXPENSIVE to buy all that water daily. How do I know my discus loved it ? Well first off when I used 50/50 tap they were dark listless and didn't eat very well. Went straight RO pH dropped to as low as 4.0 and they were kept in 55's then with 8 per tank with gravel and plants. But my god as soon as the ph fell below 6.0 the went nuts pairing up and laying eggs everywhere. I must say with the years or breeding they(Discus) are much better suited now for straight tap water for all but the worst cases of city water. I have found it so much simpler to not add a bunch of water stuff BUT just keep it clean and changed OFTEN and I can't stress that last part enough. Trying to anticipate how much rebound you get from using different buffers is just nuts and doesn't help your fish at all.

I agree with most on this 4m it is best to have a running tank of water to age so to speak to avoid all that rebound or collapse of pH it will just stress your fish and cause more problems than you are solving.

Keep it simple and just do the water changes and keep your filters clean.

[Fishquake]

Yes, my middle name is "Water Changes". I do 88 gallons a day. My wife thinks I'm absolutely nuts, but she thinks that about a lot of the stuff I do.

[Fishquake]

Ok, my middle name isn't Water Change.

[Chicago Discus]

Definetly stay away from the Discus Buffer

+1

[brewmaster15]

[QUOTE=brewmaster15;1142741]My well water is pH 5.8 to low 6's .. If I aerate water overnight, it blows off the CO2 dissolved in the water and the pH rise to 7.6 ..thats my water aged pH,/QUOTE]

uhh, Al do you live at my house because those numbers are my scenario exactly. are you living in my basement in that creepy corner I never go in?? :) lol...please leave some blankets down there...its cold at night.:)