Tap water PH 8, aquarium ph 7, will 50 percent water changes be bad?

[duanes]

wow duanes! you really know how to give a VERY detailed answer

Although fish keeping is a combination art, and science, there are no short, or simple answers in either field, but especially in science, its in all the details.
Before I retired from my job as chemist/microbiologist, I had to write plenty of scientific reports, even a simple one was minimally 10 pages, my answer above in comparison, is quite brief.

 

[HarleyK]

today I saw my fish gasping for air while doing a perfect temperature water chsnge

How are you refilling the tank? Tap water has pretty much no dissolved oxygen. If you fill your tank with the end of the hose below the water line that can indeed be gasping for air….try to aerate the water as it goes in, splashing is a good thing!

pH exists in a log scale, which means a 1:1 mix of pH 7 + pH 8 water yields pH 7.3. That is not a fluctuation you need to worry about.

I hope this helps
HarleyK

 

[Hmontoya93]

Wow great responses thank you!
My process was draining 50 percent of the water, I have a 20 gallon container, but it in my tub, turn on bathtub and pump the water into the tank, a little over an hour to fill the whole thing, I check periodically and turn up the temp as needed to maintain the 83 degrees. Also add 1/2 prime dosage for the whole tank at the beginning and closer to the end the rest. Do changes every 7 days

 

[Hmontoya93]

It took a longer time, but I tried filling a 30 gallon container let it sit for 5 minutes then pump into tank and repeat 4 times for a 30 percent water change. And fish did great so far with no gasping maybe aging the water the mystery? The container is one of those clear Home Depot ones, I have used them before as QT without issue

only fish I have lost are my wild caught datnoids and silver dollars, which I assume are more sensitive to changes. I just want the tank to stabilize so I can add nice fish again , tank seems empty with only 4 fish in it

I have 6 + tanks all under 125 gallon, never had an issue before like this, might invest in a 100 gallon water tank to hold water, wife will not be happy lol

 

[HarleyK]

Aerating water as it runs in.