It's been a long time since I posted, but I wanted the general opinion on buffering tap water with an 8.0 ph. I have multiple tanks and I do routine water changes, (20% once a week). My community tank consists of barbs and tetras. A ph of 7.0 would be the desired range for the tank. My concern is, with routine water changes, how drastically am I going to effect the ph? If I lower the ph in .2 increments each day, and somehow manage to get 7.0 on my test results, then what's going to happen when I do the water change and add tap water with 8.0ph? Is it even worth the extra effort? My water always tests with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrate so low it barely registers a color change, and the ph stays constant at 8.0. Sudden shifts in the ph are my conern. Do you think the fish that prefer a lower ph range adapt to a higher ph and do ok? Or is the fishes health at risk? I can't seem to keep Gouramis.
To Buffer, Or Not To Buffer?
- Thread starter lighthouse39183
- Start date
When it comes to PH, steady is best. Your fish will be fine in 8.0 pH. It would be harder on them if you were constantly altering it between buffering and water changes.
Tetras and barbs would certainly prefer more acidic water, but if you're going to start messing with it then you probably should be testing the KH and GH, pH only tells you so much. I'm not quite sure where you're going with your "buffering" though, are you currently using something to buffer the hardness and raise it up to 8.0 or is that how it comes out of the tap and you want to "buffer" it down?
I have a test kit ordered for the GH and KH. The water comes out of the tap at 8.0 ph. I don't add anything to alter the ph at present. The tank water remains 8.0 from one weekly water change to the next. I just didn't know if I should consider getting an R/O unit and then buffering to the correct ph. The tiger barbs, platinum green barbs, and black skirt tetras seem to do well in the 8.0 ph. Their colors are vibrant and they appear healthy and happy. My real concern was if the ph being too high was causing harm to the fish. I've tried to keep a few gourami and an angel fish or two and they never survive. I guess I'll just have to stick with the ones I know will make it. Thank you all for the advice.
Angels do prefer softer water but if you slowly acclimate them to that ph they should be fine.
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It would depend on the type of angels and the water they're kept/bred in. I wouldn't bother with RO unless you're serious about keeping wilds or altums. If you test your hardness you'll be able to get an idea of how much buffering capacity your water has and how easily you can make it softer. You might be able to use peat and/or wood.
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Thank you. I hope to get the test in the mail today. I had considered peat but figured with the water changes it would have a hard time doing it's job. I have an empty tank so maybe I'll set it up as an experiment, (minus the fish). I'm going to research more and see just how difficult it is to get the water down to 7.0 and keep it there. Once I can get it down to 7.0, I can do water changes once a week and see how they effect the ph. If I can keep it from shifting too much, considering all that it takes to get it there and keep it there, maybe I will start to lower my community tanks ph. My cichlid tank will be ok at 8.0ph.
