Water Hardness and PH issue

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Reedmaster16

Reedmaster16

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 13, 2005
652
235
76
Ohio
I have a 36 gallon tank that I set up and have been cycling the past 2 weeks. In it I have my house tap water that each water change i treat with the recommended dose of seachem prime. Since I set the tank up initially and tested the PH I was aware that the PH was high because my water test kit showed that It was beyond the range the kit is able to test (PH above 8).

Since it is often recommended not to alter the PH of your tap water because it is difficult to maintain a consistent PH without fluctuation with chemicals I left it alone. Last night I went to my LFS and wanted to check my water quality so I had them test it for me. Everything was in line and looked ok but the PH of the water was incredibly high potentially above 9 (the tester didn't go higher).

My question is since the water (in all the faucets in the house is very hard too alkaline for fish) what options do I have to lower and stabilize the PH within my tank?

Dilute with RO water during water changes? And if so how much?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Reed
 
also is CO2 injection to the tank water a viable option? At my old place I didn't have this problem, I am kinda lost and looking for a cost efficient long term solution here. I do frequent water changes and never neglected the shared tank I primarily took care of in the past with roommates.
 
Have you tested your alkalinity (kh)? If it's fairly high, you're going to have a hell of a time bringing your ph down. As the high buffering capacity of your water will maintain the ph steady. Driftwood and peat moss are natural ways to bring the ph down. RO/DI water may be another solution.

Injecting co2 will lower the ph, but it won't affect the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water, so the effect of lowering the ph this way isn't that same if you used driftwood or peat.
 
Here's what a friend of mine does to reduce his ph:

My water changing equipment. High angle view looking down. Pond pump with hose attachment, Rena XP3 with peat in one chamber to reduce the pH, air pump with two air stones for aeration and three short lengths of tubing to flow water from one 32 gallon trash can to the other for water circulation between both cans. Two, 150 watt heaters are coming so I can leave it overnight and keep the temperature up to 85 degrees. I take the lids and set them on upside down so that the water drips back into the cans and not down the outside. Works great!
herbicidal-albums-our-155-gallon-planted-tank-picture4850-my-water-changing-equipment-high-angle.jpg
Click to expand...
 
thanks for the informative reply. Yes my water is also highly alkaline. So it sounds like RO is the best solution. How would you recommend using the RO water. Should I go buy the gallons at the store then, treat it with prime and do around a 30% or more water change in the tank, test it and go from there or is there a more precise formula of how much RO to use in relationship to my alkaline tap water.
Thanks
Reed
 
I have no idea if there's a formula for it. Best bet is going to be to just dilute it slowly and test the results, in seperate container outside of your aquarium. Buying gallons of RO water may prove to be costly and time consuming in the long run. You could also look into setting up an RO unit to a 55g barrell. That way you always have a fresh supply of RO water on hand. These units, for example, start at $130 and can produce 24 gallons a day.

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4395+12093&pcatid=12093

Another thing to keep in mind, is that RO water is completely stripped of all minerals, many of which are essential to fish health. You'll need to add some of these back before adding it to the aquarium. Here's more info:

Convenient liquid water conditioner simplifies mineralization of pure reverse osmosis water. Reverse osmosis or de-ionizing filtration effectively removes dissolved solids, including minerals necessary for aquarium fish health (osmoregulation). This proprietary blend of salts replenishes these important minerals lost during the production of purified RO/DI water. Seachem Replenish restores General Hardness (GH) using a balanced blend of both "soft" (sodium, potassium) and "hard" (calcium, magnesium) salts. Restoration of mineral content is essential since a complete lack of minerals will result in osmotic stress. 250 ml treats 500 gallons.
Click to expand...

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4395+21327&pcatid=21327
 
How are your fish looking? If they're doing fine I wouldn't do anything super drastic. Adding driftwood would probably help lower it, but if your fish are doing fine you might want to leave it. I had a low ph problem when a water heater went out in my dorm, and the second I started fiddling with the ph my fish started dying on me. Now I always keep some crushed coral in the filter to help buffer it out. The only thing that worries me with ro water is going to be the lack of minerals neccessary to fish, and how soft the water is going to be. If it's too soft the ph will go all over the place and stress your fish.
 
currently all have in the tank is 7 feeder fish and 2 feeder shrimp as I ensure that the tank has been cycled. They are alive but last week I had to remove my new red hi fin wolf fish due to him looking as if he was dying. Hes currently vacationing in a friends tank and appears to be doing ok. When troubleshooting what it was that was killing him everything checked out and appeared ok and the only element I could attribute his poor health to was the very high PH and alkalinity of the tap water I was treating and using in the tank.

I am currently trying to find the right ratio of tap to distilled so that the PH is in a more reasonable range (below 9, preferably below 8) and is able to stabilize.

My most recent tests have been 3 gallons of Prime treated tap to 7 gallons (PH 7) distilled mixed in a reservoir I made with a thermometer and an air pump and air stone in it. I let the water mix and stabilize for a day or 2 and it appears the PH is still relatively high despite the mixture. After work today I am going to continue to attempt to dilute the tap water mixture to see if I can find the proper ratio, but if it turns out to be to difficult/unstable I am thinking my action will be to use straight distilled mixed with some salts and a solution I purchased at LFS that adds back in the minerals and nutrients to the water. And see if I can stabilize and maintain consistent readings that way.
 
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