ph swing..

[giar]

I believe I know your problem. 99% sure.

If your tap water comes in acidic and rises over time with aeration (gas exchange) then it is VERY likely that your tap water is high in CO2. This is fairly normal, especially with well water.

In water CO2 forms carbonic acid. This lowers the pH. It's a little different than dealing with other acids as if doesn't consume alkalinity, but will still lower pH. This means that after the CO2 gases off, the pH will come back up.

Your fish are breathing heavy because they are dealing with water high in CO2 and likely low in oxygen. Again, this is typical when you pump water from the ground. We pump 100,000 gallons of water from our well every day at work. It all has to run through a degassing tower or else it would kill our fish.

I would heavily aerate the water before or while adding it. This is easy with a small tank as you can let a bucket sit out for a couple of hours or just add an airstone to it for maybe 10 minutes. With a larger tank I'd add an airstone in the tank and keep it running as high as possible. I would also try to increase how much the new water mixes with air by spraying it into the tank or by dispensing it from higher up, creating lots of bubbles as it plunges into the tank.

You could also try to make some sort of an airlift that the water must flow through on its way to the tank.

Feel free to ask more about this if you're curious. Again, this sounds like a textbook case of dissolved gases. You should also aerate to prevent supersaturation of nitrogen. It's a silent killer for fish. Also common in water pumped from the ground.

thank you so much that makes a lot sense now..
just now, i tested my tank ph again, and it reads 7.1.. for aeration and surface agitation i use 2 big ass airstone with big pump, and also i added wave maker so i hope that is enough..

 

[giar]

I think you can fix this by aging your water. My water behaves similar to yours. Out of the tap it is 7.6 and then rises to 8.4 if left sitting.

I got several 55 gallon plastic drums (have to be food grade) that I fill with the hose, let the water heat up with a 300W heater (will take the water from ~60 degrees to 80 degrees in less than ten hours) and keep a 200gph powerhead running in it. I then use this water for water changes once it's been sitting about a day or so.

ok so u said u run 200gph powerhead running in the container, any specific purpose? i thougjt we can just leave it in a container, close it and let it sit for 1-2days?.. do you think running a filter in that container is also necessary? thanks a lot for the input tho..

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

ok so u said u run 200gph powerhead running in the container, any specific purpose? i thougjt we can just leave it in a container, close it and let it sit for 1-2days?.. do you think running a filter in that container is also necessary? thanks a lot for the input tho..

You just need water movement. It doesn't have to be a powerhead, it can just be an air stone. Otherwise, the water will go stagnant. Also, you can't seal the container. It has to be open so it can gas off the co2 (this is why it holds co2 inside your pipes). Lastly, don't dechlorinate the water until you put it into the tank. Use it just like you do when you do a water change from the tap, treat the whole tank and add the aged water.

 

[giar]

You just need water movement. It doesn't have to be a powerhead, it can just be an air stone. Otherwise, the water will go stagnant. Also, you can't seal the container. It has to be open so it can gas off the co2 (this is why it holds co2 inside your pipes). Lastly, don't dechlorinate the water until you put it into the tank. Use it just like you do when you do a water change from the tap, treat the whole tank and add the aged water.

cool thank you so much.. now time to invest some money on big water container..

i actually have nitrates problem from my tap..around 40ppm itself fom the tap.. i am thinking to add the plants to the container so it absorbs the nitrates there first before the water gets into my tank,, because i dont like the look of plants in my tank, so i try to avoid it..do u have a better solution ? thank you

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

cool thank you so much.. now time to invest some money on big water container..

i actually have nitrates problem from my tap..around 40ppm itself fom the tap.. i am thinking to add the plants to the container so it absorbs the nitrates there first before the water gets into my tank,, because i dont like the look of plants in my tank, so i try to avoid it..do u have a better solution ? thank you

Wtf, you have 40ppm out of the tap. If that's the case then I think you need an RO system. I think that's the only way your going to get the water suitable.

As for aging barrels, I got my 55 gallon barrels for $10 each on Craigslist. They have to be plastic and they have to be food grade. Mine were used for corn syrup. You will have to cut the top off and wash any excess product out really well before you use it. My barrels had about 2" of corn syrup left in the bottom of them.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Wtf, you have 40ppm out of the tap.

Most tap water from West Coast US has 40ppm Nitrate LOL, throught out the year back where RO system is still a myth, our fish just adapt and thrive to in 40ppm Nitrate condition Didn't I said about my Tesselata lived in 160ppm Nitrate condition for year without any issue? I think I did lol. Also, most LFS Nitrate level above 80ppm though. I did went around collected most of my LFS within 25 miles radius and ALL of them above 80ppm and that condition stay all year long. FOR ME Nitrate below 80ppm is a safe level for my live stocks. Also, a lot of folks don't have that kind of money to invest in a household RO water system that capable filter water more than 200 gallons per day

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Are you on well water?

 

[Big Jay]

The PH of aquarium water drops naturally over time. It's part of the tank bacteria cycle. One way to fix this is to do smaller more frequent water changes. When you replace a large amount of water like that you're essentially loading a lot of basic water into the tank water that's become acidic since the last water change.