sand help

[spates 33]

hi all

i have three rays in a 200 gal setupi just went out and boght some sand for them and washed it and put it in the tank i was told that it was safe for them but to days later i did a ph test and my ph was normally at 6.5 to 7.0 now that i put the sand inm the tank its at 7.6 to 8.0 so i did some reseach on the sand i boght and it has a natral ph buffering wicth is raisisng my watter ph up pretty hi dose anny one have anny ideas on what i can do to bring my water back to the 6.5 to 7.0 rang


thanks

 

[JohnG]

Your rays should be ok with the higher PH, only thing I would worry about is if it fluctuates during water changes. Not sure if there is anything you could do except remove the sand and get some that is PH neutral. You could try to use PH downers on it but thats just asking for trouble.

 

[spates 33]

so it wont afect the rays with a higher ph then so if i leave them in the water til i can get some new sand they will be ok then i should be able to get some more sand in the next few weeks

 

[Just Toby]

Yeah, leave it well alone, and either replace later or just keep an eye on it, it may reduce it's buffering over time as you change water.

 

[JohnG]

I have some rays in 8-8.4 PH water, it doesn't bother them one bit. The only thing you need to be worried about is if your PH is fluctuating, as long as its staying consistent then the rays should be fine.

When you do a water change be sure to test it, if your tap comes in at 6.5 and your tanks at 8 that seems like it might start making your PH bounce around which would be bad for your rays. I am just guessing on the water change effecting your PH, it might not, I haven't buffered PH before.

 

[Just Toby]

John g nailed it, he is 100% correct.

 

[spates 33]

hey thanks guys my ph that i do a water change with is at 7.6 to 7.0 i do a weekly water change in less some thing made the water bad other wise it is once a week

 

[grapedinox]

my rays too are at between 8-8.5 just depends on what the tap is at. Your better to leave it alone. Won't affect the rays unless there are major flux in ph

 

[spates 33]

i allways thoght that rays like there water acidicy am i rong???? or is ph not as inportant as i thought as long as it is steady then it is ok with the high ph keep the rays from breeding or with they breed with the ph high????

 

[grapedinox]

I have now successfully bred retic rays 4 times in my water since august of last year.