Tap water has higher pH than tank

[whiskeyd]

I'm trying to figure out a way to safely do large water changes without having a pH swing. All my tanks have a pH of 6.0 but my tap water is 7.4. KH and GH are very low, about 2. I've tried aging the water but the pH does not drop. What can I do to get a stable 6.0 out of my tap water so i can safely do 50%+ water changes? I was thinking about rigging up some peat moss to my power head thats in my water barrel or is there a better way?

[Eddie]

I'm trying to figure out a way to safely do large water changes without having a pH swing. All my tanks have a pH of 6.0 but my tap water is 7.4. KH and GH are very low, about 2. I've tried aging the water but the pH does not drop. What can I do to get a stable 6.0 out of my tap water so i can safely do 50%+ water changes? I was thinking about rigging up some peat moss to my power head thats in my water barrel or is there a better way?

Try increasing your KH using crushed coral or Calcium Chloride. The nitrification process reduces KH in aquariums, thus affecting your PH. Try aging your water 24 hours and filtering it through crushed coral. I bet your PH/KH will become more stablized in your main tank.

Eddie

[mjs020294]

Peat Moss isn't going to drop the PH 1.4. How did you get you tank down to 6.0? Usually the PH rises slightly once you have taken it from the tap.

Personally I would just keep the tank at a higher PH. Maybe around 7.2, which would allow you to do WC's from the tap after aging.

[kaceyo]

If you have a power filter or even a bubble up filter, throw in some crushed coral or crushed oyster shell (very cheap at small animal supply stores). Calcium Chloride will raise the GH but not the KH. You can also add some baking soda to your aged water to bring the KH up but the crushed coral/oyster shell is more stable.

[Eddie]

If you have a power filter or even a bubble up filter, throw in some crushed coral or crushed oyster shell (very cheap at small animal supply stores). Calcium Chloride will raise the GH but not the KH. You can also add some baking soda to your aged water to bring the KH up but the crushed coral/oyster shell is more stable.

My bad...for some reason I thought Calcium Chloride also increased KH. :o Thanks Kacey

Eddie

[kaceyo]

My bad...for some reason I thought Calcium Chloride also increased KH. :o Thanks Kacey

Eddie

No prob Eddie. It almost seems like it should raise KH, but it don't.

[mjs020294]

My KH rose after I started using Moss. it was 3, and now its 7. Not sure if that was the Moss or just coincidence.

[whiskeyd]

I went out and bought a bag of Florida crushed coral. Do I need to put a little in each of my filters as well as the water aging barrel or will just aging the water with a little crushed coral do the trick? I'm going to sloowly start adding it so I dont stress the fish with a sudden change in PH.

[kaceyo]

I went out and bought a bag of Florida crushed coral. Do I need to put a little in each of my filters as well as the water aging barrel or will just aging the water with a little crushed coral do the trick? I'm going to sloowly start adding it so I dont stress the fish with a sudden change in PH.

I would just keep it in the tanks since that's where the pH starts dropping. I've never kept it in the aging barrel but it might raise the pH there which I wouldn't think would be helpful.
Does anyone keep it in the aging barrel also?

[mmorris]

I tried crushed coral for quite some time but with my water change regime and the amount of buffer I needed to add, the coral didn't seem to dissolve fast enough. I use sodium bicarbonate now (baking soda).

[kaceyo]

I tried crushed coral for quite some time but with my water change regime and the amount of buffer I needed to add, the coral didn't seem to dissolve fast enough. I use sodium bicarbonate now (baking soda).

I have been doing the same. I don't use HOB filters anymore so it became a hastle to use crushed oyster shell, which I had been using. Because my pH is high, I can't add much. I need only 1/4 tsp baking soda in my 50gal barrel to keep the fish from being bothered by pH variation during wc's.