Alkalinity problems?

The declorinator as I call it is actually "pH 7.0 Seachem Neutral
Regulator".

"Racf" wrote in message
...
Stan here, using my original handle again.

If the tap water filter is a Deionizer (DI) then you should
re-constitute the water maybe a little. If it just a carbon filter then
sure it removes metals and chlorine, but the salts and most minerals go
right through it. Electrolytes are key to fresh water fish. They are in
water unless great pain is taken to remove them, like RO/DI.

Tap water should be OK.

Of course there are always exceptions for weird fish, but they are
exceptions. New fish from the store will need some extra protection and
special acclimation to your tank. The key is the TDS/conductivity of
the source and target water. Get a conductivity meter or a TDS meter
(which is really the same thing in the range us humans could afford).
Do not worry about the pH unless your gonna inject CO2 and all that
baloney.

Products you need:

Amquel
NovaAqua
PolyAqua

There are all Kordon products. Sure there are many others on the
market, but they were first and some believe the best. You will use the
Amquel the most followed by the other two when dealing with transferring
fish. The Poly is the most extreme fish care. It puts a slime coat on
a fish like nothing else you will ever see.

I imagine your declorinator will be OK, but its probably not
Amquel.....and it takes care of Chlorine, chloramine, and free ammonia.

Anyway, acclimate new fish via the drip method. Slowly match up the TDS
readings between the source water (fish bag) to your tank. Slow slow
slow. No more than a TDS change of 50 per 1/2 hour......

Of course you want to make sure the fish you buy are not already jacked.
Since you have a reef tank I guess you probably into this stuff pretty
much except fresh water varies big time, while salt water really is salt
water....

Again, do not worry about the pH....although once in a blue moon you may
want to peek.

PS. Take your TDS meter to the fish store and measure the tank your
fish is coming out of. They many times add something to the bagged
water like a bag buddy or a squirt of something else.

You can phase out the Nova after your tank is running a while and fish
are in good shape.



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"Vincent Femia" wrote in message
et...
Stan,
Thanks for that info. Actually I probably should create a new thread
for
this. So I apologize in advance. I use a product by Aquarium Pharm.
called
tap water filter. It claims to remove chlorine and other metals from
the
water. I use this water on my FOWLR (fish only with live rock) salt
tank.
So far I have no complaints with it. I recently setup a 29 gallon
freshwater
tank and it is becoming a planted tank. So I ask my LFS if I would
need to
add anything to the water, since with the sal****er tank I add the sea
salt
mix. He said that I would need to replace the electrolytes in the
fresh
water since I was removing some of the trace elements as well as bad
stuff
in the water. I don't recall the product he recommended but do you
believe
that he is trying to sell me something else or is there merit in his
recommendation? At this point I still use tap water and treat it with
a
dechlorinator. I've been too lazy to actually use the "filtered"
water. What
do you think?

Thanks,
Vinny

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Yes....sometimes. For Apistos just straight RO. For breeding
Angels
just straight RO. For Angel grow-out, I gradually adapt them back
to my
tap water...very hard and pH of 8.2. Growing Discus: I mix in
Calcium
Sulfate, Sea Salt, and Epsom salts and sometimes a bit of baking
soda.
If I were breeding them, it would be straight RO.

The Apisto and Angel breeder tanks stay around a TDS of 40 - 80. I
change 1/2 my water every week. I dose some plant supplements that
add
some minerals.


"Vincent Femia" wrote in message
t...
Stan,
Do you use any additives to the RO water?
Thanks
Vinny

"Stan" wrote in message
...
I have. I bought an RO unit so I could manage my environments
better.
Since getting into RO and after buying a conductivity meter I
focus
a
lot less on pH and a lot more on the conductivity.

At sears in the water treatment department, they sell a Hanna
TDS
meter
for about $20. Its says TDS, but really its conductivity. That
meter
will be a good investment.

For a while I bought RO water from the grocery store for a 20
gallon
long Apisto tank. I paid about $180 for a 80 gallon per day RO
unit.
It produces about 60 gpd at my city waters temp. For me, it was
a
great
thing, but I have a basement with plenty of room for all the
gear
and
storage containers.

Once you understand your water conditions you can decide if it
meets
your needs or if you need to alter your choice of fish types.



"D&M" wrote in message
...
Just curious if anyone has ever had a problem with high
alkalinity? My
tester only reads up to 240ppm, and it's way past that, which
accounts
for
my high pH, but besides high pH, has anyone ever had any other
problems?
I've heard of problems with plants and some fish, most was
directed
toward
the pH levels involved, but that was about it.

Cheers