How to get and maintain a certain pH level

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
it will be going in a sump dont know if that will be better. also just found some stuff last night the link is down below. it will be more expansive but it is for cichlid. as far as the suppler i know one of them if 7.8 i do not know what the other one is. they are not in the same city as me. i dont need 7.8 that's what would like but i will not go crazy trying to get it. if i try some of the common things and they dont work i will just stop and use my tap with nutthing. i wont chase it but would like to just try and bring it up and see what happens. $40 is worth a shot to me






Yes I know this product but I never used it because not needed it. I want to keep freshwater hobby as simple as possible. I even find these instructions complicated on that page about how to use it:

"Use 6 g (one level teaspoon) for each 40 to 80 L (10 to 20 US gallons) of water each day until desired pH is attained and maintained. Thereafter, use as required to maintain pH, usually no more than once every two to three weeks. For precise dosing, use the Seachem Digital Spoon Scale. TIPS: It is best to dissolve the buffer in freshwater before use. Use when setting up an aquarium or making water changes (preferably after the addition of Seachem's Cichlid Lake SaltTM) and between water changes as needed to maintain pH. Seachem's Malawi/Victoria BufferTM is formulated to maintain a pH between 7.8 and 8.4, depending on the amount used. To attain a lower pH than 7.8, you may use Seachem's Acid BufferTM in combination with Malawi/Victoria BufferTM. To attain a higher pH than 8.4, use Tanganyika BufferTM"

To me this is complicated because it is time consuming. I would need to prepare the water to the same ph as my tank in advance before changing water and not to mention the water that evaporates with time. If your tank has a lid then its great but if not then there will be lots of water evaporation and when water evaporates, the chemicals added stays in the water resulting in high ph and you ll need to add RO or distilled water to make up for that evaporation. If you are up for this challenge then yes sure go ahead.

Personally, I would never risk my 1000 dollars fish by adding chemicals to attain ph I want. I would go for some other route like crushed coral or something which is guaranteed to offer me a stable ph at least. But my best option is to let the water as it is. Add fish and enjoy watching them and since you already have high quality premium foods they would show very vibrant colors for sure.
 
Letting water sit for a day will not give you an accurate reading.
pH needs to be tested very shortly after being sampled.
well i bought a very accurate PH meter and my water is coming out of my tap at 7.62 after sitting for a day i went to 7.85. the PH will change as the water gasses off most of the time it will go up but it can go down. goliad farms water goes up about 1.5 in the PH scale when they aerate there water.looks like i dont need crush coral and shows how hard the API test kit is to read
 
With pH, as water off gases, pH often rises, but in a tank (depending on things like stocking level, over feeding, not vacuuming enough, or nitrate buildup, etc, etc) pH might often excessively drop, metabolism by products creating acids, and be influenced by tap water buffering capacity (or lack thereof).
The reason I like getting immediate ball park pH numbers, is it gives me a bench mark number to shoot for, for doing water changes.
If pH drops dramatically, (a slight drop is normal) it might show my water change regime, and amount changed, may not be enough to maintain the kind of equilibrium I want.
Or depending on whether or not substrate is inert, (or not), may also determine pH drops, or rises.
For certain fish species kept only for display purposes, changes in pH are normal, and benign, but for other more delicate species, a change in pH may effect long term (or sometimes short term) health, or spawning.
Although with many of my fish, there general health may not have been influenced,
but for my spawning goals, gender determination, and or for seasonal changes that influence spawning, pH changes are sometime important.
 
Set up your tank. Add substrate and filters and lights and decorations and heaters and everything and run it. Filters on, power heads on, air stones on (if any) and let it run for a week and see what ph readings you get.
 
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