PH problem NEED h2O NERDS! Please help

[fishman646]

Ok this may be a quick fix and I may seem retarded but my guess is more or likely this is going to be a hard thing to pin point! I ask for everyone's BEST advice so we can figure this out! OK here is the problem I am having!

I am on a well, my water is <10ppm nitrate 0 nitrite 0 ammonia and 2TDS coming out at 6.8ph. I do my water changes with this 6.8 water and in all of my tanks it reaches 8.2 -8.4 overnight! This is a huge pH swing! I am very confused and my fish do not like it! I know the problem stems from the water since all my tanks are different setups but PH is always in the 8.2 - 8.4 range! I then do my large water changes and it drops the ph to about 7.2 and all my fish become happy. This goes to show my water is about 6.8 from the tap. What in the world is causing this and how do I fix it? I do have a small 100gpd R.O. system which is for my reef only and that is not an option since I will be changing about 2000gallons per week freshwater! Please Chime in as it will be greatly appreciated! For whoever comes up with a cheap "if there is one" solution and it fixes all my problems I will have a award lol.!! This really is frustrating and I need to figure it out asap!

Thanks for the help MFK!!!

 

[CLDarnell]

I am not a member of the Saltwater Geek Squad so I can't play...but I do have a question. Aren't SW reefs supposed to have high ph levels?

 

[fishman646]

This is on my freshwater tanks! My reef is at 8.3 all the time!


Also may I add my cold water comes out of the tap at 6.8
hot water at 7.4

I will let a bucket with airstone sit over night and see what happens! I cant keep swinging my ph like this!

 

[Juxtaroberto]

That was gonna be my suggestion, to age the water until the pH stabilizes. It could be that your water has a lot of CO2, and when it's exposed to air the CO2 is outgassed, raising the pH.

As for hotter water having higher pH, maybe this is something in the pipes? The hot water can dissolve substances more easily, raising the pH, maybe.

 

[fishman646]

That was gonna be my suggestion, to age the water until the pH stabilizes. It could be that your water has a lot of CO2, and when it's exposed to air the CO2 is outgassed, raising the pH.

As for hotter water having higher pH, maybe this is something in the pipes? The hot water can dissolve substances more easily, raising the pH, maybe.

Yeah thats what I am thinking but you never know! It seems weird! can you imagine having to age 2000 gallons there has to be another way?

 

[Dechoretz]

most likely it is that your ph from tap is 8.2ish due to Chloramine type additives. over a day or so or with tap treatment goes down to natural ph of source (prob. 6-8 for you) When you test if you are agitating the small sample size if will read lower ph due to the early release of chloramines, but the rest of the water add isnt aged or agitated as much so it is more like 8.2. if you want stable 6.8-7 try adding the tx before the water

 

[CLDarnell]

Interesting, I think you and JR are on the right path. One thing you could do if this is the case is to first pump your water into a tank and let it "free fall" to the bottom. Basically, we want as much aeration and agitation as possible. This will help get oxygen into the water and release CO2. Then you could pull water from your aeration tank into your tank/pond. You could even add a agitator or large bubbler inside your aeration tank.

You could test this simply by filling say a 55 gallon drum with the hose near the bottom. Let the water cover the hose and fill to the top with the outlet submerged. Then test your water. Do it again, but blast the water towards the bottom. Shake the hose around and create as much turbulence as possible. Let it settle for a moment, then test again. Most likely there won't be a huge difference, but hopefully you'll see a slight one.

By the way, how big of a water heater do you have?

 

[fishman646]

most likely it is that your ph from tap is 8.2ish due to Chloramine type additives. over a day or so or with tap treatment goes down to natural ph of source (prob. 6-8 for you) When you test if you are agitating the small sample size if will read lower ph due to the early release of chloramines, but the rest of the water add isnt aged or agitated as much so it is more like 8.2. if you want stable 6.8-7 try adding the tx before the water

I am on a well no additives so how is this possible....ALso I heavily bubbled 1 gallon of water for 1 hour it was 6.8 before now it is 8.2 like you have said. Is there any way to get it to 8.2 before entering the tank quickly? This is very strange must be co2 rich!

 

[CLDarnell]

I heavily bubbled 1 gallon of water for 1 hour it was 6.8 before now it is 8.2

Nevermind my post, in a sense you have already tested it.

The only other thing I can think of is to try testing a mist and see what happens. A capped piece of pvc pipe with a series of tiny holes drilled in the side would make a good mister.

 

[fishman646]

Interesting, I think you and JR are on the right path. One thing you could do if this is the case is to first pump your water into a tank and let it "free fall" to the bottom. Basically, we want as much aeration and agitation as possible. This will help get oxygen into the water and release CO2. Then you could pull water from your aeration tank into your tank/pond. You could even add a agitator or large bubbler inside your aeration tank.

You could test this simply by filling say a 55 gallon drum with the hose near the bottom. Let the water cover the hose and fill to the top with the outlet submerged. Then test your water. Do it again, but blast the water towards the bottom. Shake the hose around and create as much turbulence as possible. Let it settle for a moment, then test again. Most likely there won't be a huge difference, but hopefully you'll see a slight one.

By the way, how big of a water heater do you have?

You are onto something! I might have to come up with some crazy agitator that the water runs through first then into the tank. I do not mind a ph of 8.2 with rays as even the best breeders have proved 8.2 to be fine! As long as ph stays stable im good! I cant age hundreds of gallons of water then add it just wont happen. My water heater is 50 gallons but I am able to mix the hot cold and get about 350-400 gallons of 73-75 degree water which only changes tank temp 1-2 degrees !