What I'm not understanding about the coral method described on your write up is.. it steadly, slowly, raises the PH level... So you use it as a buffer to keep your PH levels at your Tap Water's PH level? but it doesn't work to raise it and keep it at say 7.0(with weekly water changes) does it? Wouldn't each time that you did a water change, the PH level would drop dramatically?
Newbie Here With A Low Ph Level Question
- Thread starter Tim80002
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What I'm not understanding about the coral method described on your write up is.. it steadly, slowly, raises the PH level... So you use it as a buffer to keep your PH levels at your Tap Water's PH level? but it doesn't work to raise it and keep it at say 7.0(with weekly water changes) does it? Wouldn't each time that you did a water change, the PH level would drop dramatically?
drobbyb
Bowhead
Yes, we aren't aiming at raising your pH by more than .5 We are preventing a serious crash that will occur in water that has no buffering capacity. You in turn keep fish that thrive in these conditions such as tetras, New World cichlids and fish from the Congo jungle like congo tetras and kribensis.
Stability is more important than the actual number. The fish mentioned thrive in an acidic environment and can easily be acclimated to a pH of 6. As long as the pH is maintained without crashing, you would be just fine.
A crash is inevitable with soft water like yours and mine. We need to prevent it.
You are right to assume that a waterchange would cause a dramatic shift in hardness and pH, but that's why we only let it get to .5
Stability is more important than the actual number. The fish mentioned thrive in an acidic environment and can easily be acclimated to a pH of 6. As long as the pH is maintained without crashing, you would be just fine.
A crash is inevitable with soft water like yours and mine. We need to prevent it.
You are right to assume that a waterchange would cause a dramatic shift in hardness and pH, but that's why we only let it get to .5
ok, thanks for clearing that up...
If I did go with the bottled water idea, the only information on the bottle is that it is spring water with Total Dissolved Mineral Salts of 114ppm and Total Fluoride Ions of .18ppm.. are these things toxic to fish?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
If you are going to get into it at this level you are going to want to pick up a GH/KH test kit in order to get out of the starting gate. It would be better to be comparing results taken with the same test on your tap water, tank water and distilled bottled candidates. As it is, reading numbers from the bottles leaves out the rules they may have followed (it could be that guidelines require they test once a year but allow their actual water to vary a lot from what it was at that time, things like that that can cause very confusing results.)
I can tell you as someone who has looked at these issues a lot that going down any route involving constantly obtaining bottled water (of any type) carries a high risk of just not being sustainable. In my opinion just too high. The reasons are numerous. Assuming it holds up that your tap pH is really that low on a continuing basis, the route of adding minerals to it (to give it KH (called buffering) and to raise its pH somewhat) by maintaining a small mesh bag of crushed coral (really both crushed shells and coral) in your filter will be a much better choice of approach.
TetraTest, API and Salifert I believe make KH and GH kits.
~~waterdrop~~
I can tell you as someone who has looked at these issues a lot that going down any route involving constantly obtaining bottled water (of any type) carries a high risk of just not being sustainable. In my opinion just too high. The reasons are numerous. Assuming it holds up that your tap pH is really that low on a continuing basis, the route of adding minerals to it (to give it KH (called buffering) and to raise its pH somewhat) by maintaining a small mesh bag of crushed coral (really both crushed shells and coral) in your filter will be a much better choice of approach.
TetraTest, API and Salifert I believe make KH and GH kits.
~~waterdrop~~
Ok you're right about the bottled water, it does sound like a pain... I will Pick up a GH & KH test kit later today to test my water... It's to bad my water has to be such a low PH level, must be why most of the fish stores around here closed lol.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
In some places you can get into a rather nice conversation with the lab people at the local water authority, I know that has happened for me. You can not only converse about whether they see that kind of pH all the time but also about what other kind of levels they see. You have to scribble down things they mention rather exactly as they may use different units and may discuss things that are important for people but not fish, but often you can determine things like whether they use chlorine or chloramine, whether they sometimes need to overdose the chlorine product due to bacterial blooms, whether their water source somehow contributes to the chemistry of the water and if so, how. Sometimes they will tell you something that is a major contributor to why the mineral content or lack of it is the way it is.
~~waterdrop~~
~~waterdrop~~
Your mineral content of 119 ppm is relatively soft water at a mineral equivalent to a GH of about 6 degrees or maybe a bit less. Since not all of the minerals are calcium and magnesium salts, the actual GH will be less. My water reads about 10 or 11 degrees using a GH kit but has a mineral content that would ratio out to closer to 18 degrees using the same simple conversion. TDS is not a substitute for GH or KH but will tell you the water has enough mineral content to be OK for the softer water fish like South American cichlids.
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