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Post by baisley101 on Apr 2, 2009 12:40:24 GMT -6
What kind of additives do you all use to keep PH, and trace elements in balance?
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Post by jon carman on Apr 2, 2009 13:12:55 GMT -6
To be honest- I don't use anything. Every now and then I might use a little Epsom salt or baking soda but if I do its just a little. I add a little rock salt, but what I've been successful with more than matching the PH or hardness of the lake is keeping things consistent. My ph is 7.6-7.8 out of tap and my water is hard so mainly all I do is a little dechlorinator and 1tbs of salt per 10g and 1tbs of epsom salt per 10g. There isn't a set rule, just what works for you.
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angel
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Post by angel on Apr 2, 2009 13:21:40 GMT -6
I don't bother with the Ph. If a fish doesn't do well with the ph of the water here I don't buy the fish. It's a nightmare to try to keep Ph adjusted. Especially if you're trying to make it more acidic. There's always working with sensitive fish over time to get them acclimated to the water conditions, but for me there are plenty of fish that will like our hard, high-ph water so I just get them.
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Post by baisley101 on Apr 2, 2009 16:11:46 GMT -6
THanks guys. I had rather not have to buy supplements all the time. My small saltwater tank is a pain to keep the water right.
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tmom
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Post by tmom on Apr 2, 2009 17:07:08 GMT -6
I use a few drops of Prime water changes. My water out of the tap is soft and acidic, so in one shrimp tank I have some crushed coral in with the gravel just to help out the snails otherwise their shell just erodes away. That's weird how other people in Nashville have hard water when mine is so soft.
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angel
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Post by angel on Apr 2, 2009 17:11:20 GMT -6
It is! Do you have a water softener tho? Or does your water treatment plant use one?
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Post by rogerhopper on Apr 2, 2009 17:31:42 GMT -6
I think it is better to let the fish get used to your PH than to bounce it up and down. A higher or lower constant PH is better than change. Changing PH and hardness will kill most fish or at least keep them extremely stressed. If I want higher PH I will add a little copper to my tank under the gravel. It will raise it and keep it buffered up.
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tmom
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Post by tmom on Apr 2, 2009 20:15:55 GMT -6
No water softner, no idea where I get our water from. I'm in Old Hickory. I don't mess with pH, I don't keep cichlids, I keep shrimp. I would only keep things that like my water, so I have Amazon type fish. My shrimp would all die if copper got in the water, they are very sensitive to water quality.
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Post by jon carman on Apr 3, 2009 9:35:14 GMT -6
tmom- what is your ph out of the tap? I live in old hickory- but I live in the Wilson County part and my water is 7.6 out of tap. My water is from west wison utility district which could make a differance. Cichlids as long as they are not wild usually will aclimate to lower to neutral PH. The only thing you would need to raise it would be baking soda.
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Post by titansfever83 on Apr 5, 2009 21:42:41 GMT -6
PH buffers will not work right unless you are using RO water. By adding PH buffers to regular tap water, they will only work momentarily then the minerals in your tap water will slowly adjust back to the original PH out of the tap. Adding certain substrates can adjust PH upwards as already mentioned. Like Roger said, better to let the fish adjust to your tap water as long as your water stays consistent. Though one fish I have always wanted and cannot keep because it requires EXTREMELY LOW PH 4.5-5.5 and Hardness levels 00-20 ppm, my water=PH 7.6 and GH 120 ppm  Satanoperca DaemonIf I ever buy a RO system, I will definitely have one tank dedicated to these!!! |
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angel
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Post by angel on Apr 5, 2009 22:09:23 GMT -6
Our water is so cichlid-friendly I would never get a tetra, but the foster fish I got there were neons and other tetras. The former owner said she used rain water because her water was so wrong for them and I wasn't into catching a bunch of rainwater and having it sit stagnant. However there's a natural spring here and getting some water from the spring helped. Still way hard, but the ph is way better. And it's free water! Africans can still use it because the salt, shells and aragonite adjust the water for them just fine and no water conditioners are needed because there's no chlorine etc. Nice all the way around!
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Post by jon carman on Apr 5, 2009 22:16:06 GMT -6
Question, how long does it take to adjust down, If you do weekly/biweekly water changes it should be good right? Mine stays a consistent 7.6-7.8 and is hard straight out of the tap. I use very little epsom salt, and normal aquarium salt, but when I first started keeping Africans I thought I was going to be Mr. Rift Lake and put too much baking soda in and my PH went sky high and I lost some fish, so I got off the arm and hammer kick.
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angel
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Post by angel on Apr 5, 2009 22:26:42 GMT -6
My ph is 8.5 in the African tanks and they seem to do great in it. How high is sky high?
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angel
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Post by angel on Apr 5, 2009 22:38:24 GMT -6
And speaking of free, now how do we build something that will supplement the energy cost to run tanks and peripherals? Is there a way to rig a solar panel to run lights in the day? How about hydro power? We have moving water all the time--any way to harness that and use it to run the filters? I know of no one who wouldn't like to save on the electric bill, with the rates being higher and all. How about wind?
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Post by titansfever83 on Apr 5, 2009 22:53:13 GMT -6
Question, how long does it take to adjust down, If you do weekly/biweekly water changes it should be good right? |
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Aug 14, 2013 6:59:33 GMT -6
Aug 14, 2013 6:59:33 GMT -6