Safe Number Of Water Changes?

[UNV_Rasta]

really informative posts there bignose. thanks!

 

[Squidward]

Hi,

Surely the ph, osmotic shock issues are more correctly deal with on a case by case basis.

Consider:
Bettas and some gouramis live in small puddles and shallow ditches, so yes,if it did rain, the make up of their water parameters would change drastically by a sudden storm.
And this is reflected in the fact that bettas are often kept in appalling conditions, but they survive. Their bodies are designed to deal with this.

On the other hand, if you take the Rift Lakes which are massive bodies of water. Even a huge storm would probably have a negligable effect on the composition of the water.
And all people who keep Rift Valley Cichlids go to great lengths to give their fish ideal water parameters, more so than people who keep general tropicals.

Or people who keep Discus (wild caught). These come from the "black waters" of the Amazon, a massive body of water and are notorious for being intollerant of anything but pristine conditions to which they are used to.

My 2p worth anyway.

 

[ripil]

wow i never knew i could know so much about water! i hate science. would coral sand not keep the ph at a reasonably steady level? or am i four years too late to join in? lol

 

[nanoMama86]

I wonder how passing a current thru water would change it's composition? I lost a canister filter last night it was shocking the ever loving crap out the water. The fish looked frozen.

 

[drobbyb]

Very informative. I thought my head would be spinning after reading that post, but Bignose did a great job of blue collaring (explaining so the rest of us non pro science types can understand) it for us. That makes perfect sense and lines up with what I have observed in my own experience.

 

[OldMan47]

That is quite a resurrection nanomama. I doubt that a mere 5 years is a record, but it is noteworthy.

 

[drobbyb]

pH shock is often misunderstood, so dragging up this thread again is still profitable.

 

[Tizer]

how considerate ^^

 

[lloyd]

im just typing a reply to this thread so its easier for me to find in the future if i need it. its been very informative

 

[OldMan47]

OK here we go. There is no such thing as pH shock. I am sure that many of you will simply disagree with that but it is true. Why would I take such an extreme position? The answer is simple, there is almost no evidence to support the idea that fish care at all about their pH values. On the other hand there is plenty of evidence supporting the idea that fish can react adversely to major changes in dissolved solids. As it happens, many changes in tap water pH relate loosely to differences in mineral content. That means that if you have low TDS water and show a low pH, chances are that high TDS water with a high pH will give you troubles. The problem is that people try to correct their water base on pH. In reality the low pH water has a fixed amount of TDS and anything you add to "correct" that condition means that you end up with an even higher TDS. It is not that you are doing the wrong thing but instead that you are treating a symptom instead of the underlying problem. The underlying problem is that you have too much mineral content in your water and adding any ameliorative chemical to the water ends up with an even higher mineral content. That is definitely not what you desired.