Newbie requiring advice.

[Aqua Andy]

Hi,

I bought my first aquarium last Saturday. It is a humble 8 UK gallon tank. I have since set up the tank, filled it with water, added conditioning and cycling products as advised that came with the aquarium and added three live plants. I'd like to create an Amazon biotope. I was concerned that living in a hard water area that my water supply's ph would be to high to support the fish I would like to keep (Tetra's and catfish). I purchased a ph test kit and a 6.5 buffer. I tested the water in my tank and it highlighted an alkaline ph. I added the instructed amount of ph buffer to the water in my tank and re-tested the ph a couple of hours later. The result improved a little and reduced the ph to about neutral. I then added some more of the ph buffer hoping to reduce the ph further still but the ph buffer I added this time did not disolve and has settled on the gravel and plants giving a snow like effect.

This is where I need the advice.

Will the excess ph buffer eventually dissolve?

If not what should I do. Empty and clean the tank and start from scratch?

I have used more than the recommend amount of the 6.5 ph buffer but the ph of my tank water has only been reduced to about ph 7 neutral. Why?

Thanks for reading my post. Any advice will be grately appreciated as I want to be confident that my aquarium is a safe and optimum enviroment for the fish i intend to add.

Aqua Andy

 

[SarahBravo]

Okay, firstly to get rid of the powder, as you have no fish in the tank yet, get a net or a long chop stick or something and stir the powder about so it rises into the water, and do a water change to try and get rid of it. You may need to do this a couple of times.

I have very high PH water and tried to lower it chemically to keep tetras - didn't work at all. PH went up and down like a yo-yo and i'd have had to be dosing the ph6.5 stuff almost every day. I just put a bag of aquariam peat in a bag in my filter, and hey, ph is 6.5, tetras are luvvin' it! the water is tea coloured, but that kinda adds to the feel of the tank. Monitor the ph every week and change half the peat in the bag when it starts to go up.

Chemical PH changers are notoriously unstable and unpredicable, and from what I've read on here no one recommends their use as they can cause quick ph changes which can seriously damage your fish. Peat, on the other hand, is stable, cheap, natural and provides a blackwater environment perfect for tetras etc.

 

[Aqua Andy]

Thanks for the advice.

After stiring up the water how much should I change at a time?

Would it be an idea to start from scratch?

Would it help to use filered tap water?

I have a a fluval 1 plus inside tank filter. Do I put the peat in the filter where the filter element is?

Can I buy the peat from a pet shop?

Should I replace the peat when I clean the filter element?

 

[jmkgreen]

Hi Andy,

I too am setting up a tank in the UK. Get some of your tapwater into a jar and after 24 hrs test it's pH. Mine's around 7.3-7.6.

After I'd filled my tank last Saturday tank went up to pH 8.4 which is really too high. I was thinking of chemically lowering it but after testing the water and consulting friends and shop assistants they strongly advised against it. They recommended PWC to lower the tank close to the tap pH. This has finally worked over a few days - unfortunately during cycle but that doesn't appear to be too affected.

I would based on this definitely go for natural ways to adjust pH. The main problem is that the water contains pH buffers which stablise the level. Unless you get the buffer right for the pH level, no amount of chemical will do the trick for more than a few hours, and your fish will die from shock changes. Google for aquarium pH and read some of the articles rather than the products

Hope this helps.

- James

 

[basia]

Adding bogwood will help lower your pH, particularly in a small tank. You can buy peat granules in the lfs, fluval make some but they are quite expensive.
Good luck