acidic tap water..help...

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i took a sampling of my tap water, left it almost 12 hours now and the ph reading goes from 6.2 this morning to 6.6 this evening..

also any suggestions how do i do ph transition for my fish? well literally i can just sit that 285 gal for a while till i get my fish used to lower ph in my 55.. another week or two wont hurt them much in the 55 i guess
 
It is said that tap water is saturated with co2, co2 turns in to carbonic acid which lowers the ph. The ph of the water is not that important. For anecdotal evidence, this ph did not kill my fish, although other species might not have fared so well. Suffice to say, a ph change isn't going to instantly kill your fish. As long as it's stable, your good. What's going to be more important is hardness. You say your using drinking water, which is going to be pretty soft. Softer than your tap most likely. As far as your tap nitrates, de-Nitrate from seachem is literally just rebaged matrix. You said that you aren't worried about ammonia and Nitrite because you use whatever products, I assure you that this is the wrong mentality to have. There is no product that will remove those for you. If you don't know how to drip acclimate fish, I suggest looking it up. Lastly, congrats on the big tank, and congrats on being one of the few people who actually follow through with accommodating the fish they have.

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Beetlebug515 said:
It is said that tap water is saturated with co2, co2 turns in to carbonic acid which lowers the ph. The ph of the water is not that important. For anecdotal evidence, this ph did not kill my fish, although other species might not have fared so well. Suffice to say, a ph change isn't going to instantly kill your fish. As long as it's stable, your good. What's going to be more important is hardness. You say your using drinking water, which is going to be pretty soft. Softer than your tap most likely. As far as your tap nitrates, de-Nitrate from seachem is literally just rebaged matrix. You said that you aren't worried about ammonia and Nitrite because you use whatever products, I assure you that this is the wrong mentality to have. There is no product that will remove those for you. If you don't know how to drip acclimate fish, I suggest looking it up. Lastly, congrats on the big tank, and congrats on being one of the few people who actually follow through with accommodating the fish they have.

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thanks for your inputs ! :)

as for denitrate, i believe it is only for low flowrate filter? im using fx6 tho hence i use matrix.. i also have prepared seachem purigen to keep things under control hopefully..

what i meant by not cocnerned by nitrites and ammonia, these past months i have been having it under control.. nitrites have been 0, ammonia once in a while pops up because sometimes i kinda over feed it but it is also got treated fast.

as for your saying instant ph wont kill my fish.. so do you think it is ok to put my fishes who are already used with 7.5ish ph to a new tank with about 6.5ish ph?? or do i need make some transition first? if yes, what do i need to do?

looking forward for your response.. thanks!! :)
 
giar said:
as for denitrate, i believe it is only for low flowrate filter? im using fx6 tho hence i use matrix.. i
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It's literally the same thing as matrix. They're both just pumice. It's all marketing.
Purigen isn't going to "keep things under control". It removes dissolved organics in the water, but not enough to make a difference in your ammonia levels. If your system still has ammonia spikes, you should add more bio media. You should transition your fish by drip acclimating as was stated in previous posts.
 
Try letting a measured amount of tap water sit, and add a few tablespoons of baking soda, then within an hour take a pH reading. Add or subtract the amount of baking soda depending on the change in your pH readings. Baking soda does not harm fish if correctly used, and actually helps to buffer alkalinity (absorbs the acid of fish urine).
I also believe the suggestion of daily small water changes is great advice, this will not alter chemistry drastically, and take no time at all.
And as stated your oscar will not be affected adversely by pH 6 water.
I always believe it is best to match your fish to tap water, not the other way around.
 
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