50% Water Changes

[Squirrelbuddies]

Quick question regarding weekly 50% water changes -- my tapwater pH is 7.4 and the pH of my planted tanks is 6.4. Will this be an issue for the fish? I've only been changing 25% of the water each week as I've been concerned that adding so much water with a much higher pH will have an adverse effect on the fish.

However, the EI article recommends 50% water changes to reset the tank. So, I'm not sure what to do here. Maybe I just worry too much?!

 

[Discomafia]

What fish do you have? This may be a problem with sensitive fish, and also depends on how long your tank has been set up...

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

The tank has been set up for nearly a year - although it's only been planted for a month.

I have the following fish:

boesmani rainbows
praecox rainbows
pearl gouramis
upside catfish

 

[Bloo]

Apart from the gourami, I keep and have kept the others. I do regular weekly 50% changes with no ill effects whatsoever.

Edit to say: my tap pH can be as high as 8.4 and the tank they go into has a pH of 7.4.

 

[pseud]

I've never experienced any stress to fish by a rapid change in pH.... and I've made some pretty radical changes to the pH (adding bicarb to increase it, CaCO3, 50%+ water changes)... it leads me to believe that so long as you aren't changing the pH from EXTREMES (like from 8 to 5 or something crazy) the fish are gonna be fine.

The only stress I've experienced from large water changes is screwing up the temperature and causing a dramatic drop. I really think I put my fish into shock. They made it through though, thankfully.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

Thank you all for the replies. I feel much better about this now. Like I mentioned above, sometimes I think I worry too much!