pH unstable?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Alright, so after some testing on GH and KH here are my results.

KH:
3 drops to go from light blue to light yellow. I don't know if I am shooting for dark yellow or distinguishably yellow? I am guessing it is in the 50-70ppm range...

GH:
4 drops to get to very light green, 5 to get to a darker green. I see 3-6 drops is in the 50-100ppm range for this as well. I really don't know how dark the colors I am shooting for are suppose to be. We have always been told our water is "hard", but I don't know that that matches up with these numbers.

What does this tell you guys? I am new to testing the hardness of the water.
 
First off, it is not the responsibility of a water company to "get pH straight". It is a water company's responsibility to provide safe drinking water. Although many providers adjust for pH, it is very expensive and almost impossible to maintain, if the water the company is provided fluctuates because of nature. Maintaining stable pH when the incoming water is not stable, might raise your water bill to $1000 per month, most water companies treat many millions of gallons per day. Mine does 200 million every 24 hours on a slow day.
Sounds like seasonal or other factors change the buffering capacity of your incoming water. You could add baking soda as a buffer, but if you do you will need to test the alkalinity of your tap water to determine whether it is needed on that particular day. You do not say water your water change routine is. If you don't do frequent water changes, and the water used has a low buffering capacity pH can drop like a rock turning water to acid. Very frequent water changes, and adding baking soda could change that. I do 30% every other day to maintain stable pH and alkalinity, this may be your only only recourse.
 
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Reactions: BMac91 and Woefulrelic
That is understable. I typically do water changes once per week 50-75%. Currently I only have the small tetra tank up as all my others went down for one reason or another. Hence I am trying to work out all the issues I am having before trying to get my big tank back up and running. Lost a few hundred dollars worth of fish when all this started and would like that not to happen again!

If I did 30% every other day, would I still want to buffer the water and how much of a big deal would it be on vacation, etc when they would have to go a week without WC.

Has anyone used the API PH 7? Is it a decent solution or will it cause issues in the long run?
 
BMac91 said:
That is understable. I typically do water changes once per week 50-75%. Currently I only have the small tetra tank up as all my others went down for one reason or another. Hence I am trying to work out all the issues I am having before trying to get my big tank back up and running. Lost a few hundred dollars worth of fish when all this started and would like that not to happen again!

If I did 30% every other day, would I still want to buffer the water and how much of a big deal would it be on vacation, etc when they would have to go a week without WC.

Has anyone used the API PH 7? Is it a decent solution or will it cause issues in the long run?
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The only chemicals I've used on my tank to alter pH have been from seachem. It worked well.
 
Stephen Hiatt said:
With the seachem you get the same amount of powder but it can treat over twice the amount of water.
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Do you actually dissolve it before you put the water back in the tank or do you pour straight into the tank? I usually change water by draining tank to the yard and filling with python, it says ideally I would add during water change by dissolving, so I wasn't sure.

I am trying to come up with a way to store water instead and let it naturally level out, I would rather not add chemicals, but at the same time effectively storing 100 gallons of water isn't happening easily.
 
BMac91 said:
Do you actually dissolve it before you put the water back in the tank or do you pour straight into the tank? I usually change water by draining tank to the yard and filling with python, it says ideally I would add during water change by dissolving, so I wasn't sure.

I am trying to come up with a way to store water instead and let it naturally level out, I would rather not add chemicals, but at the same time effectively storing 100 gallons of water isn't happening easily.
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How big is the tank? I would just add some every 5-10 gallons since you can't store water.
 
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