Can I use ph buffer solution with breeding tank?

[wo]

Hi,

I find the ph value of my tank goes to 7.1 and the browns spawn again today. I want to lower the ph value and lock on ph6.5. Can I use ph buffer solution? I heard the ph buffer is not safe. Could I use the ph buffer solution bought 8 years ago for the browns' tank? (The solution was bought 8 years ago when my father was addicted to the discus keeping.)

[gary1218]

ANYTHING you add to your water will INCREASE the water's conductivety and thereby DECREASE the likelihood that the eggs will get fertilized. FORGET about the pH.

GARY

[cgrim10]

i buffer my breeders daily with baking soda. if i don't, it will crash to numbers that the fish can't stand (4.0-) i keep them at 5.0/5.5ph.
and my eggs hatch @tds60/70, thats pretty soft water. the lower ph helps me with fungus on eggs. does anybody really hatchout good spawns at 7.0? anybody?
cg

[Carol_Roberts]

I get about 80 babies with a pH of 7.6. Plenty for me 8)

Carol :heart1:

[cgrim10]

hey carol,
well that says it again, some things work for some and not for others.
i wonder what it is in my water that promotes fungus?
i live on the beach in texas, my water comes from the river they say.
it is chloramined and everything else they could melt into it for sanitization, yet i still fungus @ higher ph.
how much aged tap do you put back in your r.o. mix?
i have ceased aging tap. and use r.o. only, buffering w/baking soda.
could my problem regarding fungus be total alkalinity? hey brew?
i realize that there is insufficient hardness for baby gill and bone growth in r.o. but i am not trying to growout currently, i am still working on getting better spawns, i see ya'lls pics. but have only once gotten over 100 fry out of a spawn. never 100%.
i guess if i had done it, i would have gone on to somethingelse.
any guesses? cg

[cgrim10]

adding, the 100 fry came from a spawn of 200 eggs=50%hatchrate
cg

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Craig:
I have a well and mix 50/50 RO tap. I've 95% or better hatch rate. No fungus and I don't add anything to the water - no blue, no formalin, no nothing.

I try to have the inside of the tank really clean, including squeezing the sponge and wiping the airlines and heater cords a couple of days before spawning. Then I do several small water changes with aged water daily trying to keep tank bottom as clean as possible. I feed small amounts of CBW several times a day.

Carol :heart1:

[wo]

Hi:

Thanks for the replies gary 1218, cgrim 10 and Carol. Adding PH buffer prove to be a stupid thing I did. As soon as I added the PH buffer the PH value immediately jumped from 7.2 to 6.5. In the second day the PH value returned to 7.2 with lots of white eggs. The strangest thing is that the second day I could see both eyes of the wrigglers but they turned to be white after two hours. I guess it must be due to water condition and rapid Ph change. As a result the browns succeed in spawning but I fail to bring them to life.
I hope the next time I learn from this experience; not to bother the pair just let them do whatever they do.

The other stupid thing I did is adding too much tetra black water, in the end I can not even see the eggs.

[gary1218]

Two things I have heard that eggs and fry are VERY sensitive to are pH and water temp. A slight change in either from doing a water change or whatever can DOOM a spawn.

GARY