PH & Buffer Solutions

Hi Guys & Galls,

Just wondering what additives you guys use to buffer and adjust your PH, i need to go downward here btw. At the moment im using Marc Weiss RO Vital for buffer and Ketapang Vital for PH, and like the rest of the range i wish i hadn't bothered. Anyone know of a good PH Buffer that wont make my PH go up to 7.5, and also a good PH reducer to bring it down to 6.5 once the buffer is set. I was thinking Seachem as the one to go for, or maybee Kent but im open to options.

Many thanks,

[Paul]

Take it from someone who was there not too long ago and had thought you couldn't raise discus without buffers and other chem products. For most except those with very extreme water parameters, pH shouldn't be a real concern. Focus more on seeing they get frequent water changes and they'll do fine.

Paul

[fcdiscus]

There is an old saying among alot of Discus Keepers and Breeders- Make your Discus adjust to your water, do not adjust your water to your Discus!
If you tryto adjust your water, you will more than likely do more harm than good! The only exception to this is making RO water. Frank

[Carol_Roberts]

I use no additives and no buffers. the majority of my discus are in 7.8pH and GH 11 water. Breeders get RO mix only while they are spawing (and pH is still 7.6). As soon as eggs hatch it's back to tap water. The*KISS method is best!

Carol :heart1:




*KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid

[shootingstar]

Does the RO water ever change the ph level ?

anyone know where to buy cheap PH buffer solutions ?

thanks

[Don_Lee]

Agree with the other posters, using chemicals is a long run pain in the a#s. Petsolutions.com has all of that kind of stuff you would want if you insist tho!

Don ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

Theoretically RO water has a neutral pH of 7.0. (membranes wear out and it's not always pure)

In your fish tank the natural nitrification process will lower the pH of your tap/RO mix.

Why do you need a buffer? Do you live in an area with extremely soft water like April or are you trying to use pure RO?

Carol :heart1:

Im Using pure RO, and i have allways been under the impression that whilst a fish may seem content to make do with conditions outside of its regular parameters your allways going to shorten the lifespan by a number of years. Evolution wouldn't have spent the last 200, 000, 000 years perfecting something for it to work equally as well in another environment. The buffer is becuase the Discus are in a natural planted environment and C02 is used to feed the plants. I wouldn't want to feel as if my fish were taking a daily rollercoaster ride up and down the PH scale. just my 2p

Anything better than Marc Weiss?

[arpanlib]

hi,
try the aquarium pharms PROPER PH 6.5 or 7.0
it works out the best for me.

but before using the buffers you must know your water kh and gh in order to avoid ph crash as you use only RO water.

i suggest that u dont play with the water paras till you dont wanna breed and raise discus.

hope this help.

arpanlib

[Kevin]

Good answer Carol. mouse you will find that even with plants ro will not hold at netural ph. I dont even try it in a planted tank. The plants like the minerals and things the ro takes out. On my breeder system the ph will fall into the low four's to high three on ph, then I will add some baking soda a little a day untill it goes back to around six. I don't know about mark weiss? but I do know bout arm and hammer. It works.

[tjudy]

:)


Evolution wouldn't have spent the last 200, 000, 000 years perfecting something for it to work equally as well in another environment.

I have seen Clarias catfish from tropical Africa thrive in water with 1/4" of ice on top.... I would break the ice and feed it! (Great fishy party trick!) You would be amazed at the ability for most organisms to adjust to different environemental conditions within a range of parameters... in fact, the ability to adjust is one of the characteristics that define living things.

Evolution does not perfect things, by the way... because the environments that organisms live in are not stable enough for anything to be 'perfected'. The Amazon basin has not always been a rainforest, nor will it be forever.

Aquamouse, Any salts will raiese and or buffer PH. The importance of doing so is to provide the discus with the necessary minerals and or salts necessary to induce proper development. Many commercial concoctions have some of the necessary minerals, but when using straight R/O, there are different considerations to ponder

First off all R/O units--no matter what the manufacturer states, leaches somewhat. The higher the water pressure--the more pure and greater amount of Product water. Typically an R/O unit alone may achieve a TDS of 10-14. With DI behind it, the TDS should be 0. ( Not saying this is what should be done ) Many people simply mix their R/O with tap to achieve their desired paramaters. By using just Arm and Hammer Baking Soda ( Sodium Bicarbonate ) you are indeed adding buffers. This is not essentially correct for pure R/O as it will not sustain life--plants--fish or otherwise by itself as it is devoid of minerals.

In Maryland, after suffering from drought, the tap water was turbid and had an extraordinary amount of additives from the municipality. The sediment prefilters were exhausted after only a week. Typically, they last one to one and a half months. I opted to use straight R/O. I adjusted the conductivity for my breeding pairs and adults to 65--100mS. by adding 3 grams Calcium Sulfate, 1 Gram Calcium Chloride and 1 gram Magnesium Sulfate per 20 gallons. I had to increase the amount for smaller fish as they require more minerals/salts for development. The amounts will need to be adjusted as all incoming water has dissimiliar qualities.

HTH, Joe ;)