A little testing, found the answer to my pH adjustment w/o chemicals

[jt325i]

I went to the store & bought 3 gallons of reverse osmosis water which has a perfect pH of 7.0. (Needed the jugs for water storage) My tap water is 7.6, rather alkaline. I found after testing water from my Brita filter it was about pH 6.0! Since I only am doing 1.5 gallon changes in my 6 gallon tank every couple weeks I will simply do 50% tap, 50% Brita once I use up the RO water. I tested a 50/50 mixture of this & got a pH of 6.8, about what I want since I will eventually be adding Tetras. Since the water changes are gradual & small the pH changes will occur over time. The Brita may also help reduce the GH a bit from regular straight tap water.

[Macromatt]

I don't believe using the britta filter is good for your fish. I'm not sure where I remember hearing it from, but I believe the way tapwater purifiers work is by exchanging ions, and the ions that remain in the water are harmful for fish. I'd ask Orion or RTR for more clarification, but i do know one isn't supposed to use tapwater purifiers for fish.


Matt

[jt325i]

Originally posted by Macromatt
I don't believe using the britta filter is good for your fish. I'm not sure where I remember hearing it from, but I believe the way tapwater purifiers work is by exchanging ions, and the ions that remain in the water are harmful for fish. I'd ask Orion or RTR for more clarification, but i do know one isn't supposed to use tapwater purifiers for fish.


Matt

I'm going to look into that..... but if mixing with half tap water (which is what I'm going to do) I wouldn't think the difference could be that signifcant. Ironically enough on their site they have this one in the FAQ:

"Can I give pets BRITA water?
BRITA is great for most pets. Since fish can be especially sensitive to trace elements in their water, we recommend using water from a BRITA On Tap Faucet Filter and any neutralizer recommended by your pet store."

[PumaWard]

Since fish can be especially sensitive to trace elements in their water,

If fish were sensitive to trace elements (I am guessing they mean minierals found in tap) then they couldn't live most places.

As far as 7.6 being alkaline... anything in the 7's is probably considered "slightly" alkaline, and is perfectly fine for probalbly all captive breed fish and strong wild-caught fish like cardinal tetras. 8-9 is more the extreme and is reserved mainly for fish from the rift lakes in Africa. Anything 6.0 or under is the other extreme for acidity, and is reserved mainly for wild caught discus, rams, and others fish like chocolate gourami. However, almost all fish that require these conditions can slowly be weened of it, so to speek, and conditions for normal tap water conditions.

ANY pH between 6-8 is perfectly fine for tropical fish. If you just use your tap water, your pH won't jump around either (a pH which swings a lot is detrimental to fishes health).