PH advice for new ray kepper

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
FOX-P2;1945559; said:
First get an accurate meter and forget about the chemical tests.
Normally with pH below 5.5 you would get a false ammonia reading ( ammonium) . Your filter bacteria become biostatic at that low pH and do nothing, but with a zero reading your problem is probably low buffers. Do some water changes without the R/O water.
Also as mentioned, carbon needs to be replaced frequently as it reaches a saturation point. I think no carbon is better, instead make room for more bio filtration
Click to expand...


does that mean that my tank has no biological filtration at present?
 
Why don't you use your tap water and just use some treatment for chlorine/chloramine. Most my rays are in water with a ph of 8.5 and very hard. With the exception of my tigers which are in a ph of 7.5 and soft water. Also have had wildcaught discus in the same water. Do you have a test for kh. This will measure your buffering capacity of your water. Do one from tap and one from your mix
 
DI makes water unstable..... just use straight tap water.... seriously its best not to mess with the chemistry of your water.... the discus will aclimate to your tap water... just do it slowly
 
I absolutely agree with Nic and royalray. Stop using RO water as it has no buffering capacity. RO water has practically no KH, which will allow your pH to continue to drop. I believe you have a combination of ineffective filtration and poor buffering capacity. As the pH continues to drop, your BB colony will start to die off, making your filtration less effective. This is a double whammy. Not only do you loose the effectiveness of biological filtration, but NH4 and NO2 become more toxic at lower pH. Start doing WC's with tap water and treat it appropriately with Prime or a similar water conditioner. Make sure you treat the water with enough conditioner based on chlorine/chloromine levels out of the tap.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to measure the kh when i get home tonight from work. What percentage would you recommend I up the tap water by initially to slow pahse the RO out then? Currently @ 50/50. I do water changes of 50 ltrs each week.
 
no just use the water from your tap....
 
im saying just use the water out of your tap.... not R/O water... add some dechlor (prime etc..) and utilize the K.I.S.S method.... its better not to mess with your water chemistry
 
Miles;1946199; said:
Just Say No to R/O.
Click to expand...

thank you...... where ya been hiding?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom