Water problems

[parker313]

I've tested my water a few times over the past week. My ammonia is from .1 to .2 with NitrItes at 0. This is a tank that has been established for over 2 months now. NitrAtes are a tad high, at 40. Hardness has been consistent at 120. In the past week, I have done 2 water changes of 10% to try and lower nitrates.

My real problems though are the total alkalinity/buffering capacity and the pH. They are both off the chart - and my pH test maxes out at 8.4. When I first tested a week ago, they were both perfect at 180 and 6.8.

We have REALLY high pH here and the lfs said to treat it with pH6.5 b/c that's what they do so that's what the fish are used to. So I did that when first setting my tank up, but haven't used it since then b/c I've read in several places that fish do better with constant pH instead of up and down.

I have the fish in my signature in this tank. They all seem happy and healthy, but I'm worried aobut the high alkalinity and pH hurting them long term

 

[kgrehm]

IF you are really worried about the ph, I would try and do some water changes to try and bring it down. If it does continue you can try and go to your lps and get a thing called complete 7.0 i believe. It works quite well. Another popular thing is ph up and ph down, although i wouldnt play around with that to much.

 

[parker313]

The problem is that our tap water has very high pH, so frequent water changes aren't going to help that. I *do* have the pH6.5 stuff, but my question was based on the fact that I'd heard the chemicals are worse b/c they cause too much fluctuation. Now, if my tap water pH was about 7.5 or even 8.0, I wouldn't be concerned, but what's in my tank now is over 8.4

 

[silver]

Well, so what we can conclude is that your PH is at 8.4 or maybe higher. You can't really say at least because you don't know for sure.....right??

8.4, honestly, is going to be fine for your fish......really it is!!!!

Anybody know of a way she could REALLY tell how high PH is.......any tests out there that go up to 9.0 Because testing with something that actually goes up to 9 is the only REAL substantial way you are going to know exactly what your PH is!!!

One more thing I believe is a must for you............first off, do you have any shells in your tank......coral, crushed or other?? If so.....remove it because all of those will bring your PH up from what it is from the tap. Now, you need to go get a big old hunk of Bogwood or Malasian Driftwood from your nearest LFS and I PROMISE you that this will lower your PH by almost a point.....so if you are up there close to 9.0 then this will bring it down naturally to maybe around 8.0. This is trully the best answer rather than using chemicals. If in 4 weeks your PH hasn't dropped after introducing a large piece of that wood and removing any seashells/salt containing elements, WHICH I would find VERY surprising.....then I suppose chemical treatment would be the way to go!!

HTH!!!

 

[luxum]

Anybody know of a way she could REALLY tell how high PH is.......any tests out there that go up to 9.0

Yes, there are high range Ph tests on the market, they seem to go to 8.8 which is pretty close. If you need to lower your Ph, the best way is to do it by dilution. Dilute your tapwater with distilled or RO water until you find the ratio that gives you the properties you are looking for. The chemical additives don't work well to lower Ph, because of the water's buffers. The buffers stabilize the Ph and most hard, high Ph water is very well buffered, so the chemical causes the Ph to fall rapidly, but then it bounces back up. Difficult stuff to work with to say the least, and fish do not appreciate it when the Ph does that.

Disclaimer - that was a laymen's explanation!

I would not be buying fish from a place that uses (or instructs you to use) additive chemicals to control water properties, personally. Unless it was the only game in town.

 

[parker313]

They're not the only game in town, but are the only lfs and I like to support local businesses rather than the chains.

OK - yes, my pH is AT LEAST 8.4 - and the color is neon pink, much darker and brighter than the 8.4 marker, so it leads me to believe it's significantly higher.

The explanation of the pH and buffering and why chemicals don't work makes complete sense. I don't have any shells in the tank. I'll try the driftwood and see what that does. If that doesn't work, I'll try the dilution.

Thanks very much At least I've got nice hardy fish that can withstand higher pH!