Temp Fluctuations Vs. Ph Fluctuations

[zoogy]

I've learned that the pH of my local water right out of the tap is 8.6 and after 24 hours it's CO2 has gassed off and the pH has lowered to 7.6ish or there abouts. So I was thinking to myself that I should set aside 3 gallons of water the day before my weekly water changes so the pH change won't freak the fish out because I've read that fish don't like pH changes. Then my husband reminds me that the water will be too cold if it sits out for a day. So now I'm tryinng to decided if a temp change is more harmful to my fish than a pH change , or maybe since it's only 10-15% it doesn't really matter either way.

What do you guys think? Is this a silly concern?

 

[Curiosity101]

If you're doing a 10-15% change then the max fluctuation in pH should be 0.1-0.2 above 7.6

TBH to me this really doesn't seem enough to concern yourself with unless you have particularly sensitive species in the tank.

Equally a 'cool' water change of 10-15% wont normally change the temp of the water that much (normally only a degree or two) and often people use cool water changes to induce spawning.

Edit: Oh and just for the record, as CO2 gasses off it actually results in a higher pH if anything as CO2 on solution is actually acidic. But that doesn't change the point that I can't see the pH causing a real problem so long as it holds steady at 7.6 in the tank the rest of the time.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Dont worry about the pH. When you do a water change then getting a rough temp match is far more important.

 

[zoogy]

Edit: Oh and just for the record, as CO2 gasses off it actually results in a higher pH if anything as CO2 on solution is actually acidic. But that doesn't change the point that I can't see the pH causing a real problem so long as it holds steady at 7.6 in the tank the rest of the time.

Oh guess I still have loads to learn. Any idea what would make pH drop so much in 1 day?

So, maybe I'll check the pH in my tank before and after a wc and find out how much it changes. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Aqua Tom]

Edit: Oh and just for the record, as CO2 gasses off it actually results in a higher pH if anything as CO2 on solution is actually acidic. But that doesn't change the point that I can't see the pH causing a real problem so long as it holds steady at 7.6 in the tank the rest of the time.

Oh guess I still have loads to learn. Any idea what would make pH drop so much in 1 day?

So, maybe I'll check the pH in my tank before and after a wc and find out how much it changes. Thanks for the advice!

Here is a good idea. pour a glass of tapwater, test it, then leave the glass sitting somwhere for 24-48 hours then test again. If it changes in line with your tank, then it is the tapwater that is lowering ph. If it stays the same then it is your tankwater.

I would bet it is your tank. So lets eliminate a few choices.

What substrate do you have?

What decorations do you have?

Is it planted?


~Tom~

 

[waterdrop]

Certainly agree with the others that direct fill from the tap is fine (treating for chloramines/chlorine and roughly temperature matching is more and more helpful as the percentage water change goes up) - even for pretty large changes, pH differences shouldn't be a problem if they are not caused by a hardness difference. It's big changes in mineral content (as measured by the various hardness measures) that can be really bad for fish.

Interestingly, one advantage gained by airing tap water long enough to allow the CO2 to gas off is that it will help avoid one of the types of algae called black brush algae. I guess if your community still used chlorine (and never chloramines) and you knew you'd had some troubles with black brush algae (bba) then airing your water might be an attractive reason not to quick fill.

~~waterdrop~~