Water Chemistry - ph and hardness

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Danh

Piranha
MFK Member
May 31, 2006
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My tap water is fairly low, very close to 6 with almost zero hardness. In the past I've lost some of my more fragile fish. A friend of mine was in a similar boat with his fish and tap water closer to 7. He's suggesting I buffer with some crushed coral in the sump.

I understand the benefits he's suggesting and I am fairly certain I want to do it but I'm concerned with 50% water changes with 6.0 ph tap water and would like to know if it will be necessary for me to buffer my water changes. At my new house, that will be difficult, but doable.

Thoughts?
 
That's what I was thinking. I will cause a ph fluctuation with water changes while trying to add some hardness to avoid ph crash....

So what should I do??
 
I would suggest maybe changing stock, and try species that thrive in soft water just a thought.:)
 
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With that low of a Ph you dont by chance have a water softener hooked up?
With a ph of 6 you wont have a nitrogen cycle in the tank but at 6 ph the ammonia will not be toxic. However though if you ever did anything to raise the ph it would turn the ammonia toxic, so heads up with that.
 
catfishacr said:
With that low of a Ph you dont by chance have a water softener hooked up?
With a ph of 6 you wont have a nitrogen cycle in the tank but at 6 ph the ammonia will not be toxic. However though if you ever did anything to raise the ph it would turn the ammonia toxic, so heads up with that.
Click to expand...

I talked with the owner at the lfs I've gone to for years. I live over an hour away, but he's pretty surprised that I've my Ph is that low. Maybe I should try another test.....

Ammonia is NOT toxic at that ph, or it's LESS toxic?? My water also has chloramines. I treat with Prime.

Interested question about the softener.. I'm not really sure.
 
I'm not really sure about a softener - I've only been in the house for 6 months and just got my tank set up so I just started testing it.
 
I'm with tlindsey on this. It's always easier to match fish to your domestic water supply, than matching water to your fish. Of course you can buffer your water to increase ph, hardness etc, but will have to it every time you do a water change, and if you do frequent waterchanges it becomes a real pain
My 2c worth....
 
I responded to that. The fish I keep like acidic, soft water. It's the stability of that combination that I'm concerned with here. I feel like that's why I've lost some of my more fragile fish in the past.

I feel like adding SOME coral to the sump will add some hardness and raise the ph just a little bit, but won't be enough to cause much of an issue with a change.. but some hardness may help stabilize the ph to avoid crashes.

Or maybe I don't understand this well enough.
 
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