questions on pH

marl_nyc said:
Hello again... would like to hear your opinions on the diffferent ways (and the most effective way) you can lower the pH value in your aquarium.

I have a 55 gal planted tank with a small bioload that I am setting up to put in discus. As of Monday before I did a WC my water params where:
ph 7
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
dKH 0
Iron .2
C02 10
GH 3
and water temp was at 82.5

Today i checked my pH and it is at 6.8

3 weeks ago I added peat nuggets to my cannister filter and I have seen a gradual decline in the ph value from 7.4 to 6.8 in almost 3 weeks of having the peat nuggets.

Now to get to my question...
The desired pH i want to acheive is between 6.2 and 6.4
Should I just stick with the peat nuggets and do partial WC every week and hopefully see the pH drop to that level or...
Should I combine it with the other products that I have seen in the LFS
ie. Blackwater extract, ph reducer, discus buffer etc.

Will adding any of these products contribute to the lowering of my pH or will they do more harm than good to my existing set up of live plants and fish/shrimp?

Thanks for reading this and any input will be greatly appreciated.
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I'm sorry this was a typo...my dKh is at 2 deg I retested it today
 
NeonJulie said:
Possibly, but it's a large tank, with a smaller sized bioload, and it's planted, so it's possible the plants are taking in the nitrates...

To the original poster, assuming you have already cycled the tank and the current residents are fairing well, if you're planning on adding fish with a currently small bioload, you might want to start overfeeding gradually so that your bioload will grow to accommodate the new fish.

(I know people freak out about overfeeding - and if your tank is fully stocked, it's a no-no. But there's only two ways to grow the colony because it's only as large as the food/waste produced - either by putting the fish in and doing water changes if required, or by gradually increasing the feeding / adding crushed food, until you're feeding the amount you would if the fish are in there for a few weeks.)

Anyway, it's something to think about. Probably in a planted 55g you wouldn't see much of a problem - guess it depends on how small the current bioload is...
Click to expand...

I rechecekd my water maintenance log and I had a readin of 20 ppm on the nitrates a day after I added the plants to the tanks. And since then it has been at zero. But then again I use the nitrate/nitrite test strips are those reliable enough or they off to some degree? All my other tests are done with the liquid test kit from Red Sea.

And thanks for the advice on over feeding! I will start doing that in small increments.

The biolad in my tank as of today 7/17/08 is:
6 panda corys
4 neon tetras
2 bolivian rams
11 amano shrimp
6 red cherry shrimp
23 olive nerite snails
plants:
cabomba
mundo grass
annubias nana
rotala
bacopa
amazon swords
java fern
java moss
corkscrew val (not doing so good)
 
katschamne said:
Check your tap water to see where they are at.
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I checked my tap water and the pH was at 7, KH was soft 1 drop of the indicator and the end result was acheived

So to sum it up...does this mean that I do not have to worry about lowering my pH? I should stick to the current paramaters that I have and I won't be having a problem with the discus I will purchase in the future with the aforementioned water parameters. Just as long as I do frequent water changes?
 
jpappy789 said:
Never trust test strips. Go liquid.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jpappy! Did not know this it seemed easier and was marketed as so at my LFS. Oh well I will go out and get a liquid test kit as soon as I can. one question how often should you conduct tests on your tank? I usually do tests before i do a WC and 24 hours after the WC. Is that ok or should it be more often?
 
marl_nyc said:
Thanks Jpappy! Did not know this it seemed easier and was marketed as so at my LFS. Oh well I will go out and get a liquid test kit as soon as I can. one question how often should you conduct tests on your tank? I usually do tests before i do a WC and 24 hours after the WC. Is that ok or should it be more often?
Click to expand...
Go for the API FW master kit. Should only be about $25. I test frequently during cycles obviously and then start to do less and less after that. I only usually test if I mildly suspect something funny is going on, or if I haven't for a while and I just want to "check up"
 
does your water run thru a water softener?

dkH of 3-4 is considered best (minimum ) for stability in an aquarium.

with yours you may need to pay close attention to water parameters. particularly ph with a low kH you may see a fast swing in pH.
a stable pH is much better than an unstable pH we are l;ooking for really a stable kH.

BTW adding CO2 creates a temporary acidic condition that lowers pH. the kH is still stable and once CO2 is turned off the pH will swing to a normal reading.
drop checkers are used in planted tanks with CO2 injection as a way to guesstimate the CO2 level in the tank. using a stable 3-4 kH water sample with an indicator in it..(changes color as CO2 rises)
 
star_rider said:
does your water run thru a water softener?

dkH of 3-4 is considered best (minimum ) for stability in an aquarium.

with yours you may need to pay close attention to water parameters. particularly ph with a low kH you may see a fast swing in pH.
a stable pH is much better than an unstable pH we are l;ooking for really a stable kH.

BTW adding CO2 creates a temporary acidic condition that lowers pH. the kH is still stable and once CO2 is turned off the pH will swing to a normal reading.
drop checkers are used in planted tanks with CO2 injection as a way to guesstimate the CO2 level in the tank. using a stable 3-4 kH water sample with an indicator in it..(changes color as CO2 rises)
Click to expand...


So my question is how do I go about stabilizing my kH in my tank without harming my plants and fish?
 
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