I was hoping it would do something like that, ammonium is less harmful to fish i assume?
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Seachem Neutral Regulator? Removes Ammonia???
- Thread starter BuffaloPolypteridae
- Start date
I was hoping it would do something like that, ammonium is less harmful to fish i assume?
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Don't bother trying to adjust your pH without testing your hardness, as that will give you an indication of how easy it will be to adjust your pH. High pH and low hardness isn't uncommon for tap water as water companies prefer the water not to be acidic as it can cause problems for plumbing, and if this is the case then a bit of driftwood, or peat, or alder, or IAL can easily bring the pH down (in fact if the hardness is very low you may need some sort of mineral buffer to stop it going too far in the other direction). If you have high pH and high hardness (quite likely if you're in limestone country) then wood/IAL etc is hardly going to make a difference to your pH (and the hardness/conductivity is more what matters to your fish anyway, so it wouldn't help even if it did), and in that case the only real option is to use RO or rain water, which can be mixed with tap water to get the desired level of hardness.
In habitat, soft water environments with low mineral content and low conductivity generally have a low pH (eg; blackwater streams). Likewise, hard water environments with high mineral content and high conductivity generally have high pH. Because of that, somewhere along the way the aquarium hobby decided that the pH was the be-all end-all water parameter to worry about, which isn't really true. In my aquarium, for example, with very low hardness (I use 100% rain water) the pH moves very easily as the water has little buffering ability. I have a large quantity of drift wood in the tank and crushed shell in the substrate. Without the shell the wood would quickly turn the water very acidic, to the point where nitrification would stop and it could be detrimental to my fish. With the shell, there is enough calcium added dissolved into the water to counter the wood and keep the pH stable around mid 7's. Most people would say my South American fish prefer a lower pH, but what they really mean is the fish need soft water with low mineral content. By adjusting the amount of calcium buffering the water I could maintain a pH of 6.5 or 7.8, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference to the fish either way as the hardness/TDS would still be very low.
tl-dr; if you're worried about your pH you should be testing hardness (GH/KH) too. If you don't want the hassle just gradually add wood/IAL/peat and see if the pH comes down naturally. If it does, great, if not you've probably got hard water and need to start catching rain water or using RO if you want to alter it.
In habitat, soft water environments with low mineral content and low conductivity generally have a low pH (eg; blackwater streams). Likewise, hard water environments with high mineral content and high conductivity generally have high pH. Because of that, somewhere along the way the aquarium hobby decided that the pH was the be-all end-all water parameter to worry about, which isn't really true. In my aquarium, for example, with very low hardness (I use 100% rain water) the pH moves very easily as the water has little buffering ability. I have a large quantity of drift wood in the tank and crushed shell in the substrate. Without the shell the wood would quickly turn the water very acidic, to the point where nitrification would stop and it could be detrimental to my fish. With the shell, there is enough calcium added dissolved into the water to counter the wood and keep the pH stable around mid 7's. Most people would say my South American fish prefer a lower pH, but what they really mean is the fish need soft water with low mineral content. By adjusting the amount of calcium buffering the water I could maintain a pH of 6.5 or 7.8, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference to the fish either way as the hardness/TDS would still be very low.
tl-dr; if you're worried about your pH you should be testing hardness (GH/KH) too. If you don't want the hassle just gradually add wood/IAL/peat and see if the pH comes down naturally. If it does, great, if not you've probably got hard water and need to start catching rain water or using RO if you want to alter it.
I do test for hardness and how it was explained to me by an experienced friend (he could be wrong idk) is that my readings were good to go for using that buffer. My water comes out at 8 ph, high GH and mid to high KH. Cant get exact numbers right now, but i usually test saturdays so i will post the params.
Thanks for the help man! Im going to have to look up efficient ways of collecting rain water. If i somehow sterilized the water from say a creek or lake erie would that work? Maybe with UV? I just dont think ill be able to collect enough rain water for my WC schedule for my 10 40 and 70 tanks!
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Thanks for the help man! Im going to have to look up efficient ways of collecting rain water. If i somehow sterilized the water from say a creek or lake erie would that work? Maybe with UV? I just dont think ill be able to collect enough rain water for my WC schedule for my 10 40 and 70 tanks!
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I've got no idea about using water from local lakes or creeks, but I think you're right that you would want to filter/sterilise it well. Probably more hassle than it is worth. At the end of the day if your fish are healthy you should keep doing what you've been doing. Collecting rain water is easy, it's the storage of it that costs money, especially if you have dry summers and lots of water to change!
True, my fish have been doing fine w/ the regimen of treatment i use, havent changed it up really. Once a week, i treat with the Ph stabilizer, along w/ the obvious dechlor. Then on my second (i do 2 30-40% twice a week) i use some accu clear to clear up the micro debris, dechlor and preventative dose of melafix (also keeps the tank smelling good lol). Good growth, no pH swings that i know of, i admit i dont understand the whole random pH swing, i have to look into what causes them more
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Lots of good info on this thread.
But before you go through all this trouble, I am wondering.. why are you worried about the pH being 7.0?
Most fish are very adaptable. Chances are that the fish at the store are in local tap water.
Some fish need softer water to breed and/or thrive, but that's a minority.
I'm just trying to save you some work.. what are you keeping and why do you think you need the pH to be 7.0 (or perhaps
need softer water).
If you do collect rainwater, don't collect it off the gutter downspouts. That can potentially introduce toxic metals.
But before you go through all this trouble, I am wondering.. why are you worried about the pH being 7.0?
Most fish are very adaptable. Chances are that the fish at the store are in local tap water.
Some fish need softer water to breed and/or thrive, but that's a minority.
I'm just trying to save you some work.. what are you keeping and why do you think you need the pH to be 7.0 (or perhaps
need softer water).
If you do collect rainwater, don't collect it off the gutter downspouts. That can potentially introduce toxic metals.
I like to because I was told it helps keep the pH from swinging.. how true that is I'm not sure, my tap comes out around 8 pH. Im probably just going to save this if and when I have a soft water fish, all my fish will do fine around the pH of the tap.
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