local water quality

[tttnjfttt]

Hey everyone,

last night i discovered the tap water has a pH of over 8.8 (thats as high as my test kit goes). In my tank, the water ph was around 7.8 (amonia = 0, nitrites = 0, nitrates =?), which i started one week ago. I tripple checked all the results, and added some water conditioner to the tap water to ensure that the declorinator wasn't changing the pH.

As of right now, i'm assuming the water company did something to the water within the past week to create such a massive difference. Is there something I should be using in my tank to help control the pH, especially when I do water changes or set up a quarantine tank to keep new fish (or sick fish) in? Should i possibly use bottled water (the type you can buy from the machines at the grocery store)? I have one 20 gal tank, and a 5 gal which i was going to use as a quarantine tank.

thanks,
Nicole

 

[Nik_boyd]

There are several ways to control your PH, but only one (the expensive hard one, RO) is 100% sure of working.

I'm from the UK, and recently I've been told that water companies add extra chemicals to water on a friday, ready for the extra use during the weekend, and these chemicals don't clear until about tuesday. I don't know if this is the same in the US, but you could contact your water company and they should be able to tell you

As far as lowering your PH, there are 3 main ways that I know of to do it.

1. chemical treatments, there are several chemicals on the market, I haven't used any myself so can't recomend, but have read lots of posts about people having problems with these. Often the PH can revert to its original level after a while, which of course could mean dead fish, depending on what you keep, so best avoided if you can

2. If you are using an external cannister filter (you might be able to do this with internals, but I'm not sure) you can add a special peat compoud in with your filter media, which I believe will do a much better job of keeping water at a lower PH. You'd need to do some research but and LFS should be able to help you out

3. RO, or Reverse Osmosis, this is a unit that clears water of all minerals, and you then have to add chemicals to it to condition water as you want. Brilliant in that you can produce and chemical balance of water that you want...but...RO units have to be connected to mains water, have to run all the time (the membrane used in them are sensetive and will be damaged if they dry out) are very wasteful and expensive to run (most RO units use about 4 gallons of water for every 1 that they output). Despite this, if you live in an area with 'bad' water, they can be very useful.

finally, you could use bottled water, but its expensive, and often has a very low buffer, meaning that its generally less stable, and small changes in chemistry could greatly affect your tank. And think of it this way...20 gallons of the stuff to start up, and then buying at least 4 gallons a week for water changes...in the long run if its possible, I personally think you would be better off with RO, and would have one myself if I didn't rent property

I hope that helps a bit. I've not really tried messing around with water chemistry yet, being fairly new myself, but I understand it can be quite difficult, so make sure you research whatever method you choose.

Nik

 

[Fiori]

What items for decor do you have in your tank? If your pH from the tap is so high and so different from that in your tank, I would suspect that there is something in there that is causing the pH in the tank to drop e.g. bog wood, peat.

OR - Have you tested the GH and KH to check the buffering capacity of the water? This is the mineral salts content of the water. If these are low, the pH is more likely to drop, as the minerals get used up and the subsequent chemical reactions cause the water to acidify (there are people more expert on this than me here - maybe one of them will be able to clarify on this).

Before thinking about alternative sources of water, it is worth checking the pH of the water from the lfs where you buy your fish. If it is the same as yours then the fish will already be aclimated to that pH and should settle in fine in your tank. It is always better to avoid messing about with your pH, as this can cause wild fluctuations which can be fatal to your fish. Far better to have a stable pH and usually the fish will adapt fine.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Thanks for the help. RO definately won't work because the tank is in my bedroom and no where near a water valve. As for decorations, i have gravel, some fake plants, a few plastic, one is more cloth like, i forget exactly what it is, a terra cotta pot, and a castle which i bought a while ago, so no clue what it is made of. I don't have a KH test kit, and the GH was 53.7 or 3 degrees (i lost the book, but here is where i got the explanation of how to read my kit http/www.aquariumpharm.com/testkits/gh-kh.html) so the water is fairly soft. Will the LFS be able to test KH for me, or will they want to sell me a kit?

wiht the GH that low, will my water just naturally lower the pH over time, so just do small frequent water changes?

nicole

 

[reg2k2]

With GH that low, I would guess KH is as well...they're usu. within range of each other...not a given, so do get your numbers.

My pH measures 8.0 from the tap. As is, my tank measures 7.0.
I use crushed coral in the filter; if left on its own, it would dwindle to 6.0 and beyond (KH=0).

 

[Fiori]

My pH measures 7 from the tap but my local water is so soft, it went down to below 5 (which was as far as my test kit went), within 2 months. I now add crushed coral as well and tend to keep fish that prefer acidic conditions, just because its easier for me.

Any decent lfs should be able to check your water for you, but they may make a small charge. I recommend that you invest in a test kit for yourself - I have found mine invaluable.

 

[rdd1952]

If that is the norm for the tap water, I would try to keep water changes to about 10 to 15 percent, just what you need to take out to do a good gravel vac. On the 5 gallon, you could easily use bottled water. A gallon would do 20% (actually more than that considering the displacement of gravel, decor, etc.). As already adviced, I would try to stay away from chemicals unless as a last resort. Try bogwood/driftwood. They will generally lower pH and look great.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Maybe should I wait and see what the pH does in a month or so since other people wiht soft water had their pH really drop? the tank has only danios in it, which are pretty sturdy fish. Last night, the guy at the LFS was VERY unknowledgable, so i honestly didn't ask him about KH testing. Unfortunately, I can't say what the pH was in my last tank, I probably hadn't checked it since the tank cycled, which was like last June.

Nicole

 

[Fiori]

To be honest, when I found my pH had dropped so much, it was'nt because my fish seemed to be suffering. Quite the contrary - my platies were having fry everywhere. but I was concerned in case it went any lower and so took some gradual action.

I don't see any problem monitoring things for a month - your danios are sturdy fish as you say. Best to invest in a liquid test kit though, so you can stay on top of things and check your water regularly over the month.