Ph Lowering

[james_dinneen]

Hi all
 
I live in a hardwater area and my pH is generally above 8. The tank has been up and running for 5 weeks now but have ahd a few deaths in the last 2 weeks most recent had puffy eyes. I do a 25% water change each week and treat the water and add a bit of bacteria also. I am due a filter change this week though. Is there a way to drop the pH short of adding acid
 
Thanks

 

[Ninjouzata]

You should never change your filter media as it contains the bacteria that keeps your tank cycled.
Have you been testing your water?

 

[james_dinneen]

I have. 0 ammonia and nitrite.<20 nitrate. It says on the box to chnage it every month. Do i not do that so?

 

[Ninjouzata]

They write that to get more money out of you.
Have a read of THIS to understand what I'm talking about with the bacteria.
 
For dropping the pH I am not sure what you can do unfortunately.
You could get fish that prefer that pH, or check with your LFS and see if they mess with theirs. If they don't then the fish there should be fine in your tank.

 

[sawickib]

Hi all
 
I live in a hardwater area and my pH is generally above 8. The tank has been up and running for 5 weeks now but have ahd a few deaths in the last 2 weeks most recent had puffy eyes. I do a 25% water change each week and treat the water and add a bit of bacteria also. I am due a filter change this week though. Is there a way to drop the pH short of adding acid
 
Thanks

It may be one of your decorations lowering the pH and for filter change what size tank and how many filter cartridges do you have? I know with my 75 gallon i have 4 cartridges I clean two,, one in each filter and rinse off the old ones with aquarium water I just repeat this every time.

 

[Ryan10]

Driftwood and blackwater extract help lower ph. 

 

[DrRob]

Personally, leave the pH alone. I strongly suspect that it's got nothing to do with your problems. It may not be perfect, but it's not terrible unless you have sensitive fish species. Messing with it and causing fluctuations is far more likely to cause you trouble if you do go down the line of messing with the water.
 
On what you've described, I'd go with it being a new, unstable, filter. Agreed, don't mess with filters. Clean them in tank water if they slow down, and replace the small amounts of floss bits you get in some of them, but otherwise, don't mess with them.

 

[Ch4rlie]

I'd personally not bother with changing ph levels as DrRob says. Not that bad to be honest and there are quite a few species that will be perfectly fine in higher range of ph, rainbowfish for example.
 
Trying to lower ph with additions of ph altering chemicals is probably cause more trouble than its worth.
As well as being possibly costly having to keep adding that stuff and fluctuations is more than likely to occur.
 
Filter manufacturers do state on the boxes to change media every so often, thats IMHO just a marketing gimmick to buy more of their filter products.
Many members of this forum keep their filter media for many years without ever changing them, an occasional gentle clean of filter sponge in old tank water will basically be all you need to do.
FYI do NOT clean filter media under tap water, this will more than likely kill off your beneficial bacteria you need to process ammonia and nitrite.

 

[james_dinneen]

Right I have a juwel Bio filter system. I haven't changed the filters yet so guess I won't bother.

 

[Chad]

When it comes to filter media and changing it if we do or don't depends on the filter.
 
For example filters like those made by Tetra for the Whisper line should be changed and they contain the carbon and work as the particulate filters. These filters have a sponge or other surface that act as the biological filter. One gets changed, and most certainly should, while the other is never changed and only cleaned by rinsing it with tank water or otherwise dechlorinated water.
 
The photo below is a good example of what I am talking about. The green thing that looks like a scrubber is the bacterial media, it's never changed, the white thing with the green clip on top is the particulate filter with carbon inside. This is frequently changed. The carbon gets used up and the filter pad itself gets clogged. If this is the sort of set up you have then by all means change the filter just be careful which part gets changed.
 
 

As for pH I do agree that it's best to leave it be if you can, unless dealing with species that must have it at a certain level. The reason for this is that it's a challenging process and one that must be maintained through testing and additives.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

As somebody who does change the pH and TDS of water in a couple of my tank, I can tell you it is neither simple nor inexpensive to do. I use an ro/di unit, catappa leaves, alder cones, and muriatic acid. In order to manage the tanks I use a digitial monitor for Condusctivity/TDS, Temp. and pH. If you do not have to change your pH in order to keep or spawn specific fish, I would suggest you not try doing so.

 

[DogFish212463]

For pH - I've always been told to leave it at the level of the local water supply/your water supply. I did my testing came up with a 7.4, went to my LFS they tested and came up with a 7.4. Changing it in your tank could stress any new fish you have coming in and could cause fluctuations in your tank which could lead to some pretty big issues.