ph difference between sink and aqurium

R

rly

AC Members
Oct 10, 2004
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Hi all im new here and nervous but have a couple questions.My tank is a 55gal.with 4gold swords,1lyrtailgoldsword,2zebradanios,1blackveilangel,2small catfish of some sort,all is well as far as i can tell.I change 50 water every week or sometime every other today i cheked ph in tank water then tap water tank water was 7.0 while tap was 8.5or9.0 seems like a big change what do you think.I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY PROBLEMS oops not yelling
Thanks for any responses
ron
 
Hello, you have a mixed community set up, and so I would suggest that your tank water at pH 7.0 is ideal. However, the tap water pH is very high. The pH scale is logarithmic and so you have to remember that although it may not sound like pH 8.5 or 9.0 is much higher, pH 8.0 is 10 times more alkaline than pH 7.0, and pH 9.0 is 100 times more alkaline than pH 7.0. This is clearly a massive difference for the fish. I would suggest that you use a product such as API Proper pH 7.0 before adding the water to the tank. This buffer is also a dechlorinator, so can carry out a dual function.

Good luck, and hope this helps.
 
Kh numbers ??????

Ph 7.0 in a non co2 injected tank would worry me personally. atmoshperic co2 levels put your Kh at next to nothing with ph that low. Also what are your Po4 levels from tap and tank. Phosphate buffers may be in use by your water company, and just like the Ph controlling powders you get from the LFS, They will allow your numbers to fluctuate.
Dave
 
Do not waste your money and stress your fish by using commecial buffers, which as daveedka said, add no stability to the tank at all, quite the opposite.

The pH fresh from the tap is meaningless. Between dissolved gases and short-term buffers (quite similar to if not identical to the so-called "aquarium buffers") you learn nothing from reading tap water pH on freshly drawn water.

A KH reading from the tap and tank would be useful.
 
kh/gh

HI thanks for the responses.
I took readings of kh and gh from tap and aquarium gh tap 4aq.5 kh tap is 2as is aq tap water has set overnight again i have seen no signs of stress from my fish but am trying to establish a long term proper procedure to care for my friends.
 
a Kh of 2 dKH is borderline on low, but IMO not cause for alarm unless you see it drop between water change periods. Kh is consumed by natural processes, But water changes compensate for the consummed Kh. So if it stays steady from water change to water change I wouldn't mess with it at all (mainly because routine maintenance is easier than messing with changing parrameter) if you see a drop, then you will need to do something to compensate to avoid crashes. The best slow, steady way to compensate for Kh consumption is crushed coral in your filter. But as said if you don't see a Fluctuation, and your maintenance is good, you will probably be fine.
Dave
 
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