PH Problem

[TURBOFROG]

I just moved into a new house and check the PH in the water and it is 7.6, then I checked the PH in my tank and its 6.0 how can I increase my PH level and keep it consistently with my tap water at home.

Thanks

Brian

[Chicago Discus]

I just moved into a new house and check the PH in the water and it is 7.6, then I checked the PH in my tank and its 6.0 how can I increase my PH level and keep it consistently with my tap water at home.

Thanks

Brian

age the water

[TURBOFROG]

Thanks, but how do I age water?

Brian

[Chicago Discus]

Thanks, but how do I age water?

Brian

go to menards, home depot or Lowes and get a 55 gallon Brute plastic waste container rinsed it out and fill the container with tap water place at least a 200 w. heater set to the temperature of the tank in the container with a good air flow from a few airstones and let the water age for a minimum of twelve hours then you should be fine to start water change. if you are using chicago city water I use the same water and thats my routine......Josie

[TURBOFROG]

Thanks!! I'll try that out for sure but, my other question is why is the Ph so different from tank to tap?

[Chicago Discus]

Thanks!! I'll try that out for sure but, my other question is why is the Ph so different from tank to tap?

My guess is that you need to clean the tank

[TURBOFROG]

I do 50% water changes once a week.......... is there something more I should be doing?

[DiscusDrew]

This is not a problem caused by not aging, you are seeing a PH crash as a result of a chemical process in the aquarium, I would up the water changes and clean the crap out of that tank because something isnt right it would seem. Do you have a substrate that has not been thoroughly cleaned? Acidic compounds are forming in your tank, and its no bueno. Clean it, do multiple water changes, then I would maybe look into aging your water if necessary, historically when you age your water the ph rises, or stays constant depending on your water supply.

[Poco]

It depends on the number and size of fish, feeding regime etc. If you are feeding high protein diet i.e. beef heart mix then you will be better off doing more wc to keep nitrates under 5ppm.

[Orange Crush]

It depends on the number and size of fish, feeding regime etc. If you are feeding high protein diet i.e. beef heart mix then you will be better off doing more wc to keep nitrates under 5ppm.
50% once a week is not enough for discus no matter what the variables are.

[Chicago Discus]

I do 50% water changes once a week.......... is there something more I should be doing?

Ok well that's the problem with your PH you need to start doing more water changes but you still need to age that Chicago water. Just start aging right away and do at least 25% water changes for the first week daily, after that you can get away with 3 or 4 times a week at 50% but start aging your water our waters PH rises pretty high after aging and you really don't want that going on in the tank......Josie

[DiscusDrew]

Out of curiosity, how much of a Ph swing do you get Josie? Im always envious of those that dont get the drastic change that a lot of us up north seem to get. Mine comes out at 7.6 and caps at 8.2 after aging.

[jimg]

what is your kh?

[Chicago Discus]

Out of curiosity, how much of a Ph swing do you get Josie? Im always envious of those that dont get the drastic change that a lot of us up north seem to get. Mine comes out at 7.6 and caps at 8.2 after aging.


That's exactly what are water does

[TURBOFROG]

This is 150 gallon tank with really no substrate in it. I have a few big river rocks in it and a piece of driftwood. There are about 10 4-5 inch discus and a bunch of cory's and clown loach's. Never really had a problem until I moved.

[DiscusDrew]

I know for me aging my water has made a MASSIVE difference in the comfort level of the fish, in fact breeding was not even a possibility until I did so. Now they are happy as can be, and we dont even have the worst Ph change of anyone, .4-.6 isnt unreasonable but obviously in my opinion the discus notice this Ph change without question. This isnt whats causing your Ph drop but it could be contributing to problems overall. Being able to do quick and often water changes with consistent water is critical to discus health, stabilizing your water will prove to make a difference im sure. To get your Ph back to that of the water you really need to clean out the tank real good, including your filter obviously, and then perform daily water changes. Until you are aging your water I would take it easy with the water changes, do them daily but only 25% or so. Then once your aging your water try to do a few big 75% changes.

Jim were you asking about my Kh? Wasnt sure if you were speaking to the OP or what.

[jimg]

Jim were you asking about my Kh? Wasnt sure if you were speaking to the OP or what. hey drew, no I was asking the op. he needs to know the kh

[DiscusDrew]

btw when you get some time we need to have some talks my friend ;) I think after I get this breeding thing down a little more I want to start dabbling into wilds and I would love your input. The goal with these guys will just be beauty, not breeding and such like my domestics. The S/O wants one of my tanks back into the living room and out of the fish room, was thinking Id use that as my excuse to get into wilds ;)

Sorry OP not hijacking haha

[TURBOFROG]

What is kh and how can I check it out?

[JenTN]

Carbonate hardness, api has a test kit.

[jimg]

What is kh and how can I check it out? yes api or I prefer nutrafin gh/kh test kit, amazon and many other suppliers carry them, check sponsors here first. kh is the buffering capacity of water. the more kh the longer it takes the acids to use it up and the better the ph will stay stable. along with ph, it's more import to learn and know the gh and kh of your water
take days/hrs and look/study online about gh/kh, many articles about it. it is the most important thing to know about fishkeeping

[DiscusDrew]

True story, if your Kh is low it could very well be responsible for your Ph crashing relatively quickly. In my case, its damn near impossible to change my Ph, my Kh is incredibly high so the water has a very strong buffering capacity, which makes it very easy to keep the water consistent.

[TURBOFROG]

OK......so got the API tester strips and its showing the KH at pretty much 0.

[DiscusDrew]

Well thats kinda strange but feasable, that would explain the ease of your water ph changing. I generally vear in the opposite direction of buffers and as such it is then critical that you do water changes on pretty much a daily basis.

[TURBOFROG]

So I should just do 50% water changes daily...............

[TURBOFROG]

Ok so I figure I'll do 25% changes this week to get them use to it. Then ill start with 50% daily. Any ideas?

[jimg]

Ok so I figure I'll do 25% changes this week to get them use to it. Then ill start with 50% daily. Any ideas? good idea. if needed you can also add a little crushed coral in bags/stocking socks to keep kh up

[MuckyFish]

I had a similar water issue both, gh and kh <1, I have added crushed coral to the hob filter for my tank and the kh is now at 2-3 and gh at 5-6. It is a slow a process though, taken a month or more to get to that situation.

Also I let the crushed coral, sit in a small amount of water for a week and then add that water to the tank during a water change as I use tap.

[shawnhu]

good idea. if needed you can also add a little crushed coral in bags/stocking socks to keep kh up

Jim is spot on with the treatment for your ph crash. I also live in an area where kh and gh is non-existent.

Keep in mind though that these fish originates from waters with extremely low ph to begin with.

[Elliots]

These ideas are probably useless but here goes. Do you move your rocks and clean under them when you clean your tank? What kind of rocks do you have because they can effect your pH. What kind of driftwood do you have? Maybe your driftwood is leaching chemicals into your tank? (Tannins?) You can probably check your driftwood by putting it in a seperate tank, a hospital or quarrantine tank if you have, and see if the pH changes for a few days. If no other tank use anything but try not to use you aging container. If you need to clean a garbage can and use that for a few days. Maybe a doubled plastic bag could work.

[TheDrake]

Trying to tweak the pH is not a fun game, for you or your fish. Swings can be far worse than than stable but sub-ideal values. But in principle, one can add sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise the KH and stabilize pH. In my experience, one teaspoon of baking soda will give 4 degrees (72 ppm) carbonate hardness to 13 gallons, but will also raise the pH significantly. Allow the pH some time to equilibrate, and adjust the dose to give the desired pH and pH stability.

[DerekFF]

Doesnt sound like dirty tank to me. Sounds more aging/kh related

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