pH Levels.

Hi Folks,
I'm a newbie to the pastime, so please, bear with me.

Setup:

Jewel 120L tank. (28G?)
Standard Filter. particulate filter cleaned/replaced every week. Others
as per recommended schedule (Activated filter changed once, others
untouched.)
Standard Lights - On for 5-6 hours a day.
2 Inches of gravel, washed and boiled.
Well-ish planted. Some grasses and a couple of Amazon Swords.
6 Inch Airstone, on for ~90 minutes a day.
Temperature - 78f.
Hard water area, pH from tap 7.1 - 7.2

Tank ran for 35 days to cycle it, with no fish.
NH3 - Nil.
NO2 - Nil.
NO3 - 5 ppm.

Tank is not in direct sunlight, but in a south facing room.
I have had 6 Zebra Danios for 3 days, tank is now in day 38.


Issue:

My tank pH seems to settle at about 7.5 - 7.7. I have treated it
previously with a pH down (Aquafin) solution - making it 7.2 or so, but
the next day, it will climb again. I don't think this is the end of the
world, but in the long run I want this to be a community tank, Danios,
Guppies, Tetras and a bottom feeder or two. I have been told that a pH
of in or around 7.0 is desirable for this.

I thought it was the Airstone (I had it on for over 12 Hours a day, but
have dropped it's use considerably).

Any idea why my pH is doing this, or am I just being a Donkey?

Any help at all appreciated.
Rob.

if the fish seem alright at 7.7 then I wouldn't worry about it
maybe check the tank for clacium sources but aside from that you should be
ok with most community species
may not get lots of breeding but from local shops they should be
acclimatised at least.
WHats the ph straight from your tap?



"Jaden" wrote in message
...
Hi Folks,
I'm a newbie to the pastime, so please, bear with me.

Setup:

Jewel 120L tank. (28G?)
Standard Filter. particulate filter cleaned/replaced every week. Others
as per recommended schedule (Activated filter changed once, others
untouched.)
Standard Lights - On for 5-6 hours a day.
2 Inches of gravel, washed and boiled.
Well-ish planted. Some grasses and a couple of Amazon Swords.
6 Inch Airstone, on for ~90 minutes a day.
Temperature - 78f.
Hard water area, pH from tap 7.1 - 7.2

Tank ran for 35 days to cycle it, with no fish.
NH3 - Nil.
NO2 - Nil.
NO3 - 5 ppm.

Tank is not in direct sunlight, but in a south facing room.
I have had 6 Zebra Danios for 3 days, tank is now in day 38.


Issue:

My tank pH seems to settle at about 7.5 - 7.7. I have treated it
previously with a pH down (Aquafin) solution - making it 7.2 or so, but
the next day, it will climb again. I don't think this is the end of the
world, but in the long run I want this to be a community tank, Danios,
Guppies, Tetras and a bottom feeder or two. I have been told that a pH
of in or around 7.0 is desirable for this.

I thought it was the Airstone (I had it on for over 12 Hours a day, but
have dropped it's use considerably).

Any idea why my pH is doing this, or am I just being a Donkey?

Any help at all appreciated.
Rob.

swarvegorilla wrote:
if the fish seem alright at 7.7 then I wouldn't worry about it
maybe check the tank for clacium sources but aside from that you should be
ok with most community species
may not get lots of breeding but from local shops they should be
acclimatised at least.

Thanks for the reply. I must check for calcium sources, that's a good
lead. There are two rocks bought from the pet shop, they are yellow in
colour, and they could very well be sandstone of a porous type. I
discarded these as they came from the shop, I may well revisit this
assumption.

The pH in the shop was 7.2, so I lowered mine before introducing fish.
It is climbing, but I read that it can take several applications to
stabilize pH using the adjust solution. If I get it stable at halfway
(7.4) I'd be happy. My main concern is for the fish I have now. I'm sure
even small fluctuations in pH are to be avoided if at all possible.

Fish seem very happy, quite active, and feed with gusto once a day. Do
Danios eat algae? Mine seems to have disappeared since I put fish into
the tank.

WHats the ph straight from your tap?


pH from tap 7.1 - 7.2. This is the bit that confuses me, there must be a
base material altering the pH in the tank.

Thanks again.

"swarvegorilla" wrote in
u:

maybe check the tank for clacium sources but aside from that you

Calcium is not directly related to basic water conditions, but carbonates
are. The most common carbonate in water is calcium carbonate, but it is
not the same as free calcium.

Calcium is not directly related to basic water conditions, but carbonates
are. The most common carbonate in water is calcium carbonate, but it is
not the same as free calcium.

As as matter of fact, I live in a very hard water area. I think I've
found my problem (such as it is). I'll buy an acid buffer this evening.

Thanks a million.

Rob.

Jaden wrote in :

As as matter of fact, I live in a very hard water area. I think I've
found my problem (such as it is). I'll buy an acid buffer this
evening.

Just be careful using it. Do not over dose. Try to drop your KH gradually
over the course of a week or so. Dose with Acid Buffer maybe three times a
day many hours apart. Too much carbon dioxide in the water will reverse the
oxygen affinity of hemoglobin and basically asphyxiate fish.

A better (and much cheaper) way of decreasing your KH (carbonate
hardness, which is what's driving your pH up) is to mix your tap water
with water with lower KH, such as water from a reverse osmosis (R/O)
unit. You can purchase a unit of your own (look online) or buy R/O
water at your supermarket. The former is much cheaper in cost/gallon
but requires more work. Either method will be cheaper than using acid,
unless you're formulating your own acid. The determining factor should
be how much water you'll go through in water changes. Keep in mind that
pH is a logarithmic scale.

Jaden wrote:
Calcium is not directly related to basic water conditions, but carbonates
are. The most common carbonate in water is calcium carbonate, but it is
not the same as free calcium.

As as matter of fact, I live in a very hard water area. I think I've
found my problem (such as it is). I'll buy an acid buffer this evening.

Thanks a million.

Rob.

good call
diluted R/O water could indeed be the go



wrote in message
oups.com...
A better (and much cheaper) way of decreasing your KH (carbonate
hardness, which is what's driving your pH up) is to mix your tap water
with water with lower KH, such as water from a reverse osmosis (R/O)
unit. You can purchase a unit of your own (look online) or buy R/O
water at your supermarket. The former is much cheaper in cost/gallon
but requires more work. Either method will be cheaper than using acid,
unless you're formulating your own acid. The determining factor should
be how much water you'll go through in water changes. Keep in mind that
pH is a logarithmic scale.

Jaden wrote:
Calcium is not directly related to basic water conditions, but
carbonates
are. The most common carbonate in water is calcium carbonate, but it
is
not the same as free calcium.

As as matter of fact, I live in a very hard water area. I think I've
found my problem (such as it is). I'll buy an acid buffer this evening.

Thanks a million.

Rob.

" wrote in
oups.com:

A better (and much cheaper) way of decreasing your KH (carbonate
hardness, which is what's driving your pH up) is to mix your tap water
with water with lower KH, such as water from a reverse osmosis (R/O)

R/O will also address your general hardness where Acid Buffer will only
affect your pH and carbonate hardness.

Keep in mind that some of the fish the original poster is keeping are hard
water fish (guppies) and while they may not be from environments as extreme
as the rift lakes of Africa, playing with the hardness and pH may still be
completely unnecessary to begin with. Many fish are adaptable enough to
survive in the conditions his natural tap water provides and for guppies it
is pretty well right in their ideal comfort zone.

Unless the original poster is planning to go Amazonian he may in fact be
reducing the comfort level of his fish by trying to lower his pH and
hardness.

"dc" wrote in message
...
"swarvegorilla" wrote in
u:

maybe check the tank for clacium sources but aside from that you

Calcium is not directly related to basic water conditions, but carbonates
are. The most common carbonate in water is calcium carbonate, but it is
not the same as free calcium.

Yea I know but shells, limestone, marble, concrete.... they all raise your
ph.... well if it low anyway.
or something
I tell ya the more I learn about kh and gh and ph and co2 levels the more I
wish I didn't know.
:-)
Losing sleep here over de-gassing and the like
I had to get into planted tanks to use up all the obscure test reagents in
me multi test cases.
best thing you can ever do with any test kits by the way is record the
results.
It all makes a lot more sense when you can flip thru results.
or maybe my memory is just shot.
either way tank journals make nice souveniers.