question about ph after water change

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nfored

nfored

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2008
2,597
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68
Missouri
So i now buffering keeps pH from crashing, but can one do about it raising. I never knew there was a problem every time i test pH its 7.8, but i always tested hours after the water change if not the next day.

well today I tested right after the water change, and my ph was some where between 8.2 and 8.4. This is what i would think of has a bing swing in pH and might be harmful to my fish.

I will test again after work, but i bet it will be back to 7.8. So my question is, should i worry about this shift? If i need to worry would i be good getting some pH down so i can try and match the new water to the old?


Thank all of you for your help on this an all my other issues.
 
seachem has acouple different buffers that you use during water changes, they make a 7.0 buffer, 7.6, 8.4, etc, the buffer will lower it or raise it to whatever specific ph
 
seachem's buffers are junk. I used Neutral Regulator on both water above and bellow 7.0 and have doesed all they way up to 5x. Guess what not only did it not put it at 7.0, when it was high it didnt change at all, and when it was low it took almost 2x dose to go up .2

I wasn't really worried about the 8.2 to 7.8 in 24 hours, I was worried about the 7.8 to 8.2 in less then 5 minutes.
 
A minimum of 50% at a time.
 
So as i suspected, pH is right back to 7.8, ammonia back to 0 from .25 after the water change nitrate is 10, and nitrite is 0 as always.

I knew i was getting ammonia spikes of .25 after my water changes due to high levels of ammonia in the tap. But I always treat with prime, and the ammonia is gone before prime wears off.

I am very happy to be keeping nitrAte between 10 - 20 between water changes, can anyone else comment, should I not worry, or do i need to do four 25 % water changes per week and not two 50%.
 
How's your bio load ? larger bio load (fish stocking) = high beneficial bacteria, higher beneficial bacteria will consume all the trace elements in the water and causing it to lose buffer. Also, high bio load = high nitrates (waste) and nitrates are acidic therefore will reduce PH (lower PH = Acidic, Higher PH = Alkaline).
 
flamenco-t;2266951; said:
How's your bio load ? larger bio load (fish stocking) = high beneficial bacteria, higher beneficial bacteria will consume all the trace elements in the water and causing it to lose buffer. Also, high bio load = high nitrates (waste) and nitrates are acidic therefore will reduce PH (lower PH = Acidic, Higher PH = Alkaline).
Click to expand...

High bioload this is on my 55 gallon, I a don't worry about buffering, I have very very hard, and I have coral in the tank. I could do 50% wc twice a week with pure RO water with no risk to buffering. I say this as I just recently switched back to tap from RO, and the coral did its job.

However the question on this is not about pH lowering its about the pH spike durning water changes. I think that 0.6 increase is a little on the high side in a 5 minute period, I think the safe range is 0.4 in 24 hours.
 
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