Proper pH

[Smokeman]

Anyone use or have any opinions on Proper pH made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals?? I live in Florida and have water with a pH of 8.0, GH of 130, and basically 0 on KH. Unforturnately I experienced a few pH crashes. Supposedly Proper pH uses phosphate buffers to stabilize pH. Just trying to find the simplest solution to keeping pH stable. The product comes in varying pHs...from 6.5 to 8.2.
Thanks!!! ??? ???

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Smokeman, here's a good link to read up a little bit on your water quality. Unfortunately there are no good figures for me to guage what you can do on this site. There are many different avenues available to you for keeping a stable environment in your tank. How often do you change water in the tank?


http://www.palmbayflorida.org/Departments/Utilities/waterqualityreport.pdf


Steve

[April]

hi. im using it right now for my fry. as i kept losing fry with ph flucs. and its working like a charm. i add it and kent ro right to my water storage. it stays at 7.0. but its costly.
so i will only use it for the tiny ones. kent ro right. adds minerals etc and gets your kh up. that helps aslo.
But.since ive added kent ro right and ph proper..no more fertile eggs lately. no idea if thats why. but i think so. thats when they went from lots fertile to only a few that hatch. i should say hatch. could be the male...but i think its the water.

[Smokeman]

Change the water 3 times a week....about 50% each time. Seems like a waste adding Proper pH when I'm changing the water that often, but with such a low value of KH my pH seems to go wherever it wants to!!! If I add chemicals to lower the pH from 8.0 the pH really just keeps dropping to nearly 5.0 in 2 days time.

[Smokeman]

Just read the water report that Steve sent me from our city water site and not a whole lot of info there...only thing I really caught was that just recently that have added flouride to our water....I'm still learning a lot about water quality and wondering if the flouride is anything to worry about. I'm using Amquel Plus to treat my water but it says nothing about removing flouride.
Thanks everyone for helping me out with my wonderful Florida water...LOL

[April]

Hi again. ok.the amquel plus. is that the dry powder one?
is your water 8 out of the tap?
amquel is not to be used with alkaline unstable water.
the dry one is ok. but if your using the liquid one..then read toward the bottom of the container. it has a part that says
NOTE: this product should not be used with alkaline unstable water.
it crashes your ph. might be why your ph is sliding so fast.
perhaps you should try prime by seachem. or just a aquaplus by hagen . as long as it removes chlorine and chloramines and heavy metals any conditioner will do.
avoid the ones with additives like aloe vera etc.
i crashed two of my aquariums once using anmquel with my soft water.

[Rob R.]

Smokeman,
Try using baking soda to raise kh and stabilize your ph. It will hold your water at a steady 8.2, and it's cheap. My water is similar to yours and baking soda is the only way I've had any success. Without it, my fish are skiddish and unhappy due to the constant fluctuations.

[jeep]

I used Proper Ph 6.5 in the first year I had discus and I found it to be very beneficial. My discus grew fast and healthy (coincidence?) but it is costly, especially with all the water changes discus owners do. One thing I don't like it the phosphates.

If you search through the water section you will find a recipe of minerals and such that will do the exact same thing but for a fraction of the cost.

Baking soda is very effective for raising kh, but crushed coral, although a little more expensive, will provide a little more stability, as well as add calcium tot he water.

Brian

[April]

well this last batch of babies are growing great with ph proper and kent ro right. i agree on the baking soda its doesnt hold that long. coral adds calcium which they need.

[Smokeman]

Thanks for all the advice!!!! Think I will try the crushed coral method....Proper pH seems great but will certainly break my wallet!!! I run an AC filter so would the best bet on crushed coral be putting it in some type of bag right in the filter??

[April]

Hi . yes. if water if flowing over or through it its far more effective.
you may have to fidget with how much to use.
let us know how it goes.

I am also blessed with FL Water.

I was told that the reason for the high pH and low KH is because the water runs over underground layers such as Leim an others.
You must prepare your water at least 24 hrs to get a somewhat stable pH reading, best would be 48-72 hrs but who does that ?
Anyway I have added Crushed Coral to the A/C by putting them in a pantyhose.
If you try to adjust the pH with the many products you can find on the market you will discover that most do what they say but they also impact other parameters. In most cases a increase of ECT/TDS will occur. It is very dangerous to try to adjust the pH with that low of KH.(just in case you thought about it)
There are only 2 way's I know of which work good.
1 is using peat and the
2 is R/O. either mix with Tap, or straight and the adding back minerals.

Ronald

[Smokey]

Hmmmm; perhaps I should not complain about my "liquid rock water". pH=8.4; GH = 450PPM; KH = 450 PPM.

I find, mpe, it is much easier to "soften " water than "harden" it! AND, it sounds like quite a problem for others. AKA - expensive ! ouch.

What to do ??

ONE can only try and find the magic , that does the job. Keep up on the good work.

Smokey

[Shari]

My first two years of Discus keeping were with Seachem 7.0 Regulator, followed by the Seachem Buffer - never fluctuated and only dependable stuff I've ever found. Not real cheap with all the water changes....but.....works. fyi

Since I'm now up to tap of 7.6, haven't crashed, I guess due to the water changes it doesn't have a chance. For the record it doesn't sound good, nor look good at first few moments of mixing, but the phosphates sure didnt hurt them any that I can tell. (but it's nice not to have to use them anymore will admit)

best of luck!! :) :)

[Smokeman]

Thanks again for everyone's posts. Tried the Proper pH for a few weeks and pH seems to crash after 4-5 days. I think I will go the crushed coral route right now. This water thing sure can get frustrating.