Hi there,

Now that my fish and tank seem ok again (I hope I didn't just jinx myself ) I think I should ask a basic question that I have had. I have 2 small fantails (1.5-2 in) in a 12 gal eclipse tank with standard eclipse biowheel, filter, etc and an added bubble wand. The tank has been running for 2+ years.

My problem is that my tap water pH is very high, >8.5. My tank pH is 7.6-7.8 and this was brought up from an original pH of 7.2 by adding a bag of crushed coral which lays on top of the filter cartridge as was suggested here. Since I have such an extreme difference between tank and tap pH I am afraid to do anymore than a 25% water change at one time (I usually do two 25% changes with gravel vacuuming/week and the params stay at amm: 0-0.25, nitrite:0, nitrate 5-20). The question is, why is there such a big difference and is there anything I should or can do to get the pH's to be more in line with each other? I have heard that I should stay away from most pH adjusting products.

Any ideas?

Thanks, sea

Apparently, if you add enough baking soda it will raise OR lower pH to a standard level, from memory something like 7.6.

Experiment with a bucket of water out of your tap, add a teaspoon of baking soda and then test the pH. Keep adding the baking soda until you see a lower reading.

This way you could treat each bucket of water before you add it to the tank and if necessary do larger water changes. It will also stabilise the pH in your tank so it doesn't fluctuate.

Thanks, I'll give baking soda a try and see how it goes. Is it supposed to work better than crushed coral?

ALso do you understand why the ph would decrease so much when it gets into the tank?

--sea

Much depends on your kH or buffer. If the tank is well buffered, there should not be much difference. (there may be and that may need to be investigated further). For the time being, what is your kH reading?

The nitrogen cycle, itself, will lower the pH of a tank. The first type of beneficial bacteria will create nitrites from ammonia - but the way it does this is by stripping hydrogen ions from the ammonia. These ions will accumulate in the water, lowering your pH. Natural wood and other organic decorations or even debris as it accumulates in your gravel will bind up the minerals and carbonates that bind the excess hydrogen ions - so they tend to stick around, making the pH lower. Plants will release oxygen in the day, raising the pH, but at night, they release CO2 - lowering the pH. Fish and the beneficial bacteria in your tank use oxygen all day and night - releaseing CO2 as a by product which will lower your pH. In most tanks, there is a little bit more influence to inch the pH lower than there is to inch it higher - so typically the pH will tend to creep downwards if there is not sufficiant buffer (kH) in a tank, and/or if the tank is not serviced and the water changed on a regular basis.

Do not be afraid to change out the water. I mix up my chemical balance of my water before I put it in. I use RO water - with NO kH, NO gH, and 7.0 pH. I have to add buffer and minerals for my fish's health. I measure it all in before I add the new water to the tank. I have a "recipe" all figured out. You can too....

Wow, I am amazed by your knowledge of this stuff - thanks for sharing!

Let's see my kH had been low (<80 I think) a while back. It was suggested that I add a nylon stocking filled with crushed coral to the top of my filter cartridge. When I did this the kH went up to 120+. This was a couple months ago. I haven't checked it in a while though. Since I changed to the API drops for checking the params instead of the test strips I no longer have a test for kH. Is there one you can recommend?

When the buffer was 120+ there was still a big pH change between tap and tank. My tap is just really high at >8.5 - maybe it has a lot of CO2? The tank is really clean; I vacuum and change water 2X/week and there is really no debris to be found so I don't think it is that. At this point I do not have live plants. I would love to add live anacharis (I used to have it when my snails were rooming with my gf but they moved to their own place!) but have been afraid of bringing in possible parasites on the plants. Hmm, since I am currently treating with Parasite Clear (preventitive giventhat I have a relatively new fish) would now be a good time to add the live plants? Could the PC kill any possible parasites that may come in on the plants? Just a thought!

Anyway back to the topic on hand - if you have any specific "recipes" that you can suggest I start with I would be happy to try. I guess I should start by getting a kH test though.

--sea

Ok..dumb question: what is "RO" Water? I've been reading about that lately ..
Also, what is the best PH for goldies when the water temp is about 78 degrees?

Woohoo! This one I can answer! RO water is Reverse Osmosis water - filtered in a reverse osmosis system. It removes chlorine, chemicals, minerals, - pretty much everything. Most bottled water is reverse osmosis water.

I've talked to a couple reverse osmosis water companies. They are telling me that RO water is so pure that there is no pH - that pH is not a factor of it's chemistry and pH readings are false and mean nothing. The water takes on the pH reading of the air or moisture in the container that the RO water is in.

If this is the case, do the fish adjust to the RO water right away, or do you have to do small water changes with the RO water to get them used to it?

I'm seriously considering renting an RO system, if it would make my life easier.