pH issue

[pcfriedrich]

The pH of my tap water is naturally alkaline (7.4-7.8 pH), but the pH in both of my New World Cichlid tanks is measuring 8.4. I have all acid-loving South American Cichlids (Tapajos and Oscars) in one, and more neutral loving Central American (JD, RD, and Convicts) in the other.

Question 1: I have Seachem Neutral Regulator and Seachem Discus Buffer on the way (to be delivered Monday). Is there anything I could or should do between now and then to neutralize the pH in those tanks?

Question 2: When the products come, how gradually should I lower the pH to the desired target (6.4 for SA Cichlids, and 7.0 for CA Cichlids). I imagine a sudden swing from 8.4 to 6.4 would not be advisable.

 

[jwh]

1. You probably have something in your tank that is leaching and increasing the pH of the water. Do you have rock, substrate or ceramic rings in your tank/ filtration system?

2. If you can resolve 1 above you won't need to add anything, if your fish are tank bred they are have probably been raised in higher pH water, and/or would have acclimatized to your current water parameters, and should be ok, unless you want to breed. it's always easier to match fish to water than the other way around. Reduce gradually over a couple of weeks if you decide to go this route.

 

[Kostas G]

Altering the pH with chemicals is not good for your fish and useless to them. If you really want to bring the parameters closer to what they like most, you need a Reverse Osmosis to bring the TDS down. Once you have it around 50μS, the pH will come down on its own. But it's the low TDS water that they like more than an exact pH.

I also agree that something is leaching in your tank. A rock or not too neutral sand.

 

[pcfriedrich]

The Bigger (135 gallon), South American tank has sand composed of silica and quartz, Mexican Beach Pebbles, and some granite pieces. I assume one or more of those is the culprit. The Smaller (75 gallon) tank is more obvious. It has sand mixed with crushed coral and that really porous rock you see with holes in it (added the crushed coral because the water in the last town I lived in was acidic)... The funny thing is, there is no overlap, but the pH of both tanks is the same.


Someone told me years ago that the actual pH doesn't matter, fish can adapt to anything (within reason). They said that its drastic shifts in pH that can affect a fish's health. I kind of forgot about that until now. Just got these tanks going for the first time in a couple of years, and I'm getting a little overzealous.

I'm planning on picking up some driftwood in the near future, so that should help lower the pH naturally (I'd be happy with what's coming out of my tap, 7.4).

Returning the pH adjusting chemicals, looking for driftwood. Hard to believe I forgot consistency was more important than a target pH.

 

[pcfriedrich]

LOL! Just doing some research to see which materials might be effecting the pH in my larger tank. This is one response I found about granite and pH in a gardening forum:

"When we take igneous building materials for granite, we end up between a rock and a hard place. We have to wait for opinion to recrystallize and exert a metamorphic effect on engineering practices and hope that the construction conglomerates in Flint don't throw sand in our eyes in the meantime. The moral of our story is this - if geology has been slated for discussion, be gneiss and clean up all the schist first. Don't chalk it up to bad practices."

The subject was "decomposed granite". The granite stones do "decompose" over the years. The crystals or whatever that holds the particles together erodes in the fish tank, and gradually (very, very gradually) the granite is turning into sand. As far as I can find out, the silica/quartz sand should not affect pH.

 

[pcfriedrich]

What about adding peat moss to my HOB filters, in addition to the driftwood to stabilize my pH at a lower level?

 

[pcfriedrich]

Just ordered 7 pieces of Malaysian driftwood. They have, what seem to be, pretty reasonable prices on Amazon. Hopefully this will gradually and naturally buffer my tank closer to a neutral and stable pH.