Blackwater conditions and Cichla....
- Thread starter jcardona1
- Start date
Scatocephalus;3459088; said:
I wanted to ask you so how high is your ph? I am going to give your mix a try as well it sound good. I also have access to unlimted oak leaves.
High City Rida;3459094; said:I wanted to ask you so how high is your ph? I am going to give your mix a try as well it sound good. I also have access to unlimted oak leaves.
High City Rida;3459094; said:
I need to get a new pH tester that uses digital technology as opposed to the reagent type. When the water is full of tanins it discolors the reagent test making it very difficult to tell exactly what the pH is at.
A couple of key points...
Running water through an RO/DI unit will not significantly change the pH unless your pH is very high to begin with. It should come out at approximately 7.0 (pure water)... perhaps a tad lower. It will not come out at 4.0 or anything crazy like that.
With that said, water that has passed through an RO unit is very amendable to changes in the pH level as the RO process removes all buffers that stabilize the pH. That's why it is dangerous to use nothing but pure RO water. Levels can fluctuate wildly and erraticaly. Adding the 'peat brew' to RO water should cause the pH to drop very quickly. What I am curious about, and need to test, is if the peat has the capability to buffer and stabilize the pH at a sepcific level and how much 'peat brew' is required to drop a certain amount of water to a specific pH level and if it stays stable.
I currently have a 75 GPD RO unit that I have hooked up to the tank so that it is constantly adding/replacing water in the tank via a continuous drip. I avoid pH swings because I am basically doing a constant water change. The downside to this is if I add anything to the water it is diluted or changed out pretty quickly.
If you look on E-Bay you can get a new 75-100 GPD RO unit for about $100-$125 dollars. Not much more that what you'd pay for a single Cichla
I've had mine for about 5 years and it has been worth every penny!
quick qn, so the the fish benefit from the softness and lowered pH?
i'm thinking about it, but my cubans need me to mantain a constant pH of at least 7, and my water is at 7.5. i have pH buffering substrate...adding the leaves would then just be counter productive wouldn't it?
i'm thinking about it, but my cubans need me to mantain a constant pH of at least 7, and my water is at 7.5. i have pH buffering substrate...adding the leaves would then just be counter productive wouldn't it?
xander;3460604; said:quick qn, so the the fish benefit from the softness and lowered pH?
i'm thinking about it, but my cubans need me to mantain a constant pH of at least 7, and my water is at 7.5. i have pH buffering substrate...adding the leaves would then just be counter productive wouldn't it?
Cichla benefit from the softer, lower pH water but it is not necessary.
I certainly wouldn't do it with with Cubans in the tank.
That's the problem with mixing fish from different areas.
Hi my friends!!! I didn´t read all posts in this topic yet, but some places here in Brazil like Rio Negro, the water is dark...looks like a coke river lol....in this river the temensis sometimes is almost black....I think that the kelberis...orinos, temensis they can live nicely in these water color but Im not an expert...the azul I think that dont like dark water. Every time we go fishing, to find the azul we must go to really clear water !
