Will Imagitarium Sand change my ph?

[RainGamma]

plus it's very expensive

I would not waste your money on this. I did my 70g tank with black Flourite on the advice of members on another forum; it turned out to be quite rough (not in my hand, but obviously this is no way to tell) and within a couple of weeks I had to remove the cories due to barbel degeneration and one panda even lost about 1/3 of its lower jaw. They all recovered in another tank with play sand, and today, some 8 years after this occurred, I still have the cories including the panda with part of its mouth missing, comical to look at but it obviously is able to eat or it wouldn't still be with me.

The other thing is that Flourite does not improve plant growth any more than inert sand with plant additives. After two years, I tore the tank down and dumped the Flourite in the back garden. Complete waste of money. The same plants have in the subsequent 6 years grown just as well with sand and substrate tabs/liquid supplement.

There is nothing detrimental with play sand. It is extremely safe for all fish, plants grow well in it, it looks natural, and it is inert. On top of all that, it is the least expensive sand substrate you can get. Other inert aquarium sands are OK, but much more expensive.

okay so let's say this doesn't work is there anything else I could use instead of play sand?

 

[RainGamma]

Happy to report that the ph is at 7. It’s been a day I’m going to give it one more day

 

[RainGamma]

If you filled the tank with water yesterday the pH could well be different today just because of the water. It is common for freshly run water and water that has been allowed to stand to have a different pH. This is why I suggested testing a tub of water run at the same time to compare with water that has the sand in it.

This is what I got I might be reading it wrong. So I will do a second test later

PH: 7.0/7.5

Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: ( not sure if I spelt it right) 0.5

 

[RainGamma]

I think I did the kh test wrong so I will do it again later

 

[RainGamma]

Okay I think I did it correct maybe wrong some people said that the strip test isn’t accurate but I will get the ones with the tube soon. So this is what I got.

PH:7.0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0.5
KH: 120/ 6.7 (they told me to divide I got that when I did)
GH: 180/ 10 (that’s what I got after dividing it)


I’m pretty sure that the ph and kh are accurate not sure about the GH hard to read.

 

[RainGamma]

@Back in the fold I think you were correct. It didn’t change my ph but I will continue to monitor for a week or so. My fish look healthy and are active.

 

[RainGamma]

Looked online and the stuff I read seems to be suitable for Cory catfish and my Betta! I’m happy it turned out this way. Feel free to close this any mod.

 

[Essjay]

KH: 120/ 6.7 (they told me to divide I got that when I did)
GH: 180/ 10 (that’s what I got after dividing it)

So that you know what this means, the first figure is the GH or KH in ppm, the second figure in the level in dH. Some fish profiles use one unit, some use the other.

 

[Byron]

Okay I think I did it correct maybe wrong some people said that the strip test isn’t accurate but I will get the ones with the tube soon. So this is what I got.

PH:7.0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0.5
KH: 120/ 6.7 (they told me to divide I got that when I did)
GH: 180/ 10 (that’s what I got after dividing it)

I’m pretty sure that the ph and kh are accurate not sure about the GH hard to read.

Are these numbers from a test of the tap water on its own, or water in an aquarium?

You should test the tap water on its own. When testing p|H of tap water, allow a glass of water to sit 24 hours before testing. Dissolved CO2 can affect the result, and this allows any CO2 to dissipate out. GH and KH can be tested immediately. This is just the tap water on its own, no sand or anything.

The test of the effect of the sand on pH must be done separately. I take it the sand is in the aquarium now, so test the aquarium water for pH and repeat this over a few days. Always test at the same time of day each day for consistency.

Given the GH and KH you do not want anything that raises pH, given the softer water fish mentioned. So it is important to get all this sorted out.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I don't have Flourite sand, but Flourite clay in black and one tank in "dark" which is a dark brown. They also sell a brick red color; Other than a ton of rinsing before using and having about 3" of substrate for my plants - I don't have anything good or bad to say about it. It's never damaged my cory's mouth but I will keep an eye out for that happening, I don't notice it being hugely softer than gravel but perhaps a little smaller and rounded more than regular gravel. I can't tell somebody if it's worth the money because I've never used anything else and it is pricey. My plants have grown astronomically - even without any fertilizer I have to cut them back every week or so they grow that fast. I don't think the fish seem to care.

 

[RainGamma]

Are these numbers from a test of the tap water on its own, or water in an aquarium?

You should test the tap water on its own. When testing p|H of tap water, allow a glass of water to sit 24 hours before testing. Dissolved CO2 can affect the result, and this allows any CO2 to dissipate out. GH and KH can be tested immediately. This is just the tap water on its own, no sand or anything.

The test of the effect of the sand on pH must be done separately. I take it the sand is in the aquarium now, so test the aquarium water for pH and repeat this over a few days. Always test at the same time of day each day for consistency.

Given the GH and KH you do not want anything that raises pH, given the softer water fish mentioned. So it is important to get all this sorted out.

Water in Aquarium

 

[Byron]

Water in Aquarium

You should test the tap water on its own to see what you are starting with. Follow the detail in post #39 when testing pH of tap water.

 

[RainGamma]

You should test the tap water on its own to see what you are starting with. Follow the detail in post #39 when testing pH of tap water.

Okay I will

 

[RainGamma]

You should test the tap water on its own to see what you are starting with. Follow the detail in post #39 when testing pH of tap water.

I checked it tap water ph is the same

 

[Essjay]

Did you test tap water that had been freshly run AND tap water that had been allowed to stand for 24 hours? They probably are not the same, mine certainly changes on standing.