Ruby tetra are the best

[anewbie]

[For the naive they really do need blackwater - that is water that is very soft and acidic - this aquarium is below 30 tds and ph 5.5]:

This one shows off a ruby on the far left, a n. marilyn and below it a morse code tetra on the right:

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

How do you get your pH into the fives ?

 

[anewbie]

How do you get your pH into the fives ?

I don't know - i mean i use ro water and it just drops over time my discus tank measures around 4.5.

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

I don’t know . My water always seems to stay at its right about 8.0 pH . I’ve given up trying to manipulate it because it always goes back to 8.0 . If it drops over time then won’t it revert when you do a water change ? I use R/O too but that doesn’t help me . In the past I used a Tetra product called Blackwater Extract and that helped but I don’t see it on shelves anymore . Do you use peat in your filter or anything ?

 

[anewbie]

I don’t know . My water always seems to stay at its right about 8.0 pH . I’ve given up trying to manipulate it because it always goes back to 8.0 . If it drops over time then won’t it revert when you do a water change ? I use R/O too but that doesn’t help me . In the past I used a Tetra product called Blackwater Extract and that helped but I don’t see it on shelves anymore . Do you use peat in your filter or anything ?

What is the tds of the water you are using (after going through you ro system?)

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

What is the tds of the water you are using (after going through you ro system?)

It’s 3 PPM TDS now . It’s coming out of the tap at 130 PPM .

 

[anewbie]

It’s 3 PPM TDS now . It’s coming out of the tap at 130 PPM .

I know that some companies put additives in the water to raise the ph to protect pipes as older pipes will corrode if expose to acidic water - but i believe the ro system should remove it. If your ph is 8 after a taking ro water and putting a cappata leaf in it in a 1 quart container after a week then i would suspect a bad test kit or some additive from the water company that is composed of molecules too small for your ro system to remove.

You could try contacting the water company and see if they had a recommendation for removing the additive or if they know if the ro system should be removing it.



In general low ph fishes are mostly concern about kh and not the actual ph (i believe) still if you are concern you could buy something like phosphoric acid (food grade) to add to the water - in the early days i used it once for my first blackwater auqarium and then decided it was too much effort and have most of a gallon sitting under my desk unused. As it turned out it was also unecessary as most of my aquariums settle between 4.5 and 5.5

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

My city , if nothing else , takes great and particular care to have really good water and they have succeeded . A citywide program of water line replacement is nearly finished and another water treatment plant is nearing completion . I am completely confident in my tap water .
I could use leaves and tea to acidify my water but I’m not particularly interested in blackwater fish . I was just wondering how you do it .

 

[GaryE28 143]

It depends entirely on the minerals present. RO can drop very low as minerals are removed. In central Montreal when I was there, the treated soft river water is stored in huge limestone reservoirs where it hardens. I had pH 7.4 tap and could pour hydrochloric acid into a container of it to drive the pH to 5. Shortly after, it was 7.4 again. The mineral buffering was solid (and frustrating for me).

My city adds a product to drive the pH above 7 to protect the pipes, but it is gone quickly and the pH falls into the 6.6 range. But pH is unimportant for me. What matters is the mineral content, which stays low. Our source water is from a blackwater lake system. They filter out the tannins.

 

[anewbie]

My city , if nothing else , takes great and particular care to have really good water and they have succeeded . A citywide program of water line replacement is nearly finished and another water treatment plant is nearing completion . I am completely confident in my tap water .

Your comment make no sense - your city provides water for the people who live in the city not for fishes. It is nearly universal that something is added to the water to protect pipes in usa. But what is added is different from city to city. your comment just a naive view of city water.

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

Your comment make no sense - your city provides water for the people who live in the city not for fishes. It is nearly universal that something is added to the water to protect pipes in usa. But what is added is different from city to city. your comment just a naive view of city water.

You must live in a city that does not prioritize water treatment and infrastructure . Billings Montana is a model of that prioritization . Every single summer they dig up old lines and replace them and the entire city is now at over 90% completely new water lines in under 15 years . The water that my city provides is perfect for people and very good for everything else . I read the new city water quality report that comes out every six months and it’s great !
You have no idea whatsoever what good water we have here .

 

[CaptainBarnicles5 3]

You must live in a city that does not prioritize water treatment and infrastructure . Billings Montana is a model of that prioritization . Every single summer they dig up old lines and replace them and the entire city is now at over 90% completely new water lines in under 15 years . The water that my city provides is perfect for people and very good for everything else . I read the new city water quality report that comes out every six months and it’s great !
You have no idea whatsoever what good water we have here .

Can you please send them to the UK for a bit? Our water infrastructure is about as old as the Romans and we have leaks all over the place! I heard somewhere that at the current rate of repair, we'd eventually get done in about 400 years...

 

[anewbie]

You must live in a city that does not prioritize water treatment and infrastructure . Billings Montana is a model of that prioritization . Every single summer they dig up old lines and replace them and the entire city is now at over 90% completely new water lines in under 15 years . The water that my city provides is perfect for people and very good for everything else . I read the new city water quality report that comes out every six months and it’s great !
You have no idea whatsoever what good water we have here .

I'm sorry but you have no clue what you are talking about. The fact of the matter is that given species a from lake malwai and species two from amazon basin your water cannot be perfect for both fishes. If it is i challenge you to take your tap water and demonstrate.

Digging up old lines and replacing them doesn't mean crap as a statement. Why are they digging them up - what are they replacing them with and 1000 other little details. A quick google search turns up these tidbits on billings montana water:

Trace contaminants: certain chemical traces such as disinfection byproducts measure above strict health-advocacy benchmarks though they remain below legal limits.

Mineral Content: like much of the region local water carries mineral hardness from local soil and geogly which impacts taste and causes scale buildup.

Filtration: Many resident choose to use an extra carbon or ro reverse-osmosis home filter to improve taste.

Approx 38% of billings use pvc pip for municipal water - pvc pipes are known to leach cancer causing forever chemicals and at one point (though not under Trump) a warning was issued to cities to cease using pvc pipes. Worse the city continues to upgrade pipes with new pvc installs.


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Sounds like top notch water to me. I can assure you there are areas in oregon, washington and colorado with far better water though there are other areas of those states with far worse water.
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Back to the original comment if your water is tds 3 and ph 8 then it is likely your city has put in an additiive to raise the ph to protect pipes. I would have though the ro system would filter it out - the fact that your city puts in an additive is nothing new many cities do such and depending on the additive it can take a bit of work to drop the ph. The fact that you think your city has fantastic water does nothing to disprove that the city puts in an additive to raise the ph. If you will pay me $10,000 i will call the city and check for you since you are not willing to do so yourself.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford28 143]

I worked in the civil engineering field for a number of years before I got tired of working outside every day. I've seen the installation of water mains go from DIP (ductile iron pipe) to PVC in a few regions.
I find it hard to believe that Billings is going to PVC.
Water mains are required to be installed below the frost line. In Chicago that was a minimum of 5.5 feet deep. In Texas it was only 36 inches. I imagine the frost line in Billings, MT is pretty deep. That would be a lot of weight/pressure on PVC pipe if it was buried 7 or 8 feet deep.

 

[anewbie]

I worked in the civil engineering field for a number of years before I got tired of working outside every day. I've seen the installation of water mains go from DIP (ductile iron pipe) to PVC in a few regions.
I find it hard to believe that Billings is going to PVC.
Water mains are required to be installed below the frost line. In Chicago that was a minimum of 5.5 feet deep. In Texas it was only 36 inches. I imagine the frost line in Billings, MT is pretty deep. That would be a lot of weight/pressure on PVC pipe if it was buried 7 or 8 feet deep.

Rather then guess do some research which is what i did to respond to back in the fold landis claim.

Water Main Replacement near Pioneer Park to begin 6/22/2026

Starting Monday, June 22, 2026, our Distribution & Collection crew will begin water main pipe bursting in the Pioneer Park neighborhood in the following order:1. Ave F from 7th St W to Virginia Ln

www.billingsmtpublicworks.gov

dated june 2026

For those too lazy to read the think:
"Approximately 4,600 feet of cast iron water main in various sizes installed as early as 1917 will be replaced with the much more durable and corrosion-resistant 8-inch PVC pipe this summer. This means..."