Okay just got back from the LFS (not a chain) and they said that I should quartine my tetras and my angels in a 10 to slowly get thier KH and PH up and then take my show tank and do a 75% to 80% water change on my show tank to pretty much start over. My current readings are KH<1 degree Ph<5.0 GH=10 degrees. Our town tap is so good that all you need is a Amquel condition and PH buffer to start it and the PH is 8.0 with a Kh at 3 degrees straight out of the tap. I want my tank PH steady at 6.6 for my angels. Is this the best way to fix my problem or do you have any other suggestions?
low ph/no carbonate HELP!
- Thread starter amy08142004
- Start date
what is causing the drop in the tank now?
Thorough gravel vacs and frequent, large volume water changes should keep you steady without starting "all over".
How often do you change water? vac gravel? Clean filters....?
You can use crushed coral or shells as a calcium generator which will solve both of the problems. Bakin soda works (it is a bi carbonate) to bring kh up--in turn offering stability of the pH.
We have what we call worm rock or holey rock around here-does the same thing. it is the white--calcium rich--rock you see in so many african tanks. That prings pH up as well.
Thorough gravel vacs and frequent, large volume water changes should keep you steady without starting "all over".
How often do you change water? vac gravel? Clean filters....?
You can use crushed coral or shells as a calcium generator which will solve both of the problems. Bakin soda works (it is a bi carbonate) to bring kh up--in turn offering stability of the pH.
We have what we call worm rock or holey rock around here-does the same thing. it is the white--calcium rich--rock you see in so many african tanks. That prings pH up as well.
I honestly don't know what made it drop. I saw it start a few days ago and removed my drift wood with no stop in the drop. I have been trying new types of food. And that could have done it. So it would be okay to do a large water change with the fish still in there, what about the ph shock, or will it be more like a ph swing since it has only been dropping for a few days?
Also perform a weekly 20% water change (vacumn rocks at same time), change my carbon every 4 weeks and brush out my filter tubes. But it is a fairly new tank only about 2 months old so I haven't had to do much with the cleaning of the tubes yet, just the water changes, and gravel cleaning. Also, I don't have any alge blooms in there yet either but my GH, NH3/NH4 and NO2 read at good levels on a daily basis.
tai95 said:
i agree a stable PH with well acclimatised fish is much better than water with its PH all over the place to try and emulate nature.
Quiet honestly I want to put in a Discus at a later stage in my tank development which is why I am so concerned with getting my Ph to a 6.6. Sorry I misspoke above the ph straight out of the tap is at a 7.0 not a 8.0 but my main problem is that there is no GH, and with the addition of driftwood to my tank, which is a must for angels and discus, there is evey less than no GH. Because of this my ph keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and I am really looking for a way to level it off fast. My current fishes are in 5.2 ph shock. I put in the crushed shells and the PH buffer last night. New reading last night had the ph still sitting at 5.4 but the GH was at least 2 degrees in stead of less than 1 degree. Thanks for the help. If you have any more suggestions they would be greatly appericated.
amy08142004 said:
Discus and angels usually don't make good tank mates. Discus are very shy fish that will never show their true beauty if kept with fast more agrresive fish. Also the angels will out compete the discus for food and the discus could actually starve. I'm not sure where you heard that discus and angels need driftwood. It may make the tank look nicer, but it's not needed for the health/survival of either species. Like I said before a constant PH is better for the fish than a constantly changing PH. Even for Discus they have been captive breed for a long time and will do fine in most tap water as long as it's constant.
Just an FYI- both my angels and discus live and spawn in pH 7. Also, "KH doesn't affect fish directly, so there is no need to match fish species to a particular KH."
Changing tap water params is a slippery slope, especially when trying to lower it. If you insist on doing so, I strongly suggest you go the ro route rather than adding all sorts of stuff to tap water.
I suggest you read up on water chemistry and altering params here http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html
Changing tap water params is a slippery slope, especially when trying to lower it. If you insist on doing so, I strongly suggest you go the ro route rather than adding all sorts of stuff to tap water.
I suggest you read up on water chemistry and altering params here http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html
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