Moving into my new house tomorrow and the fish tanks will be first on the list. Had a guy come to test the water for a water softener that will be put in but not till tues. The ph right now is 20 from what he said. I need to get this down to 7-8ph, have a 150 gal being my biggest. Fish are pretty hardy, how long do I wait after putting ph decreaser in the water till it's safe?
Well water
- Thread starter specialized002
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SMS;4018028; said:
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yes, get a high PH test........ I am on well water too and my PH always runs a little high. I can't use the low range PH test kit.
Well the highest pH goes is 14 i don't think it would be possible to get the pH of water that high considering calcium bicarbonate probably only has a pH of 10 ish you'd never be able to get it past 9.SMS;4018028; said:
He is probably talking about your general hardness (hardness) or carbonate hardness(alkalinity) Carbonate hardness will affect your pH general hardness will not.
Zander_The_RBP;4018065; said:
Agreed. If it was from a utilitly they test for general hardness and related ph. It was probaly a strip test also and not a proper reagent test.
I wouldn't mess with it much just use what you have and let everything acclimate. It is very tough to start chasing your ph and the fluctuation can do more harm then good. Also what kind of softener are you getting, is it salt based?
i think it was a general hardness test as well. It was done in a tube with some chemicals. I will be getting a kinetico salt softener. So my ph is roughly 9? With the dechlorinator will that help to acclimate the water to proper conditions or what should I do?
i doubt you have anything over a 8.2 ph. I would make sure that you can tap into your water before the softener for your tanks. I am running 8.0-8.2 out of my well with hardness levels off the chart. You should see my car when I wash it, the whole thing is just white. Your fish aren't as touchy as everybody thinks. Keep things consistent and you will be fine, I haven't had anything I couldn't keep because of my water. The salt based softeners actually replace your hardness with sodium, so you aren't really changing the water as far as the fish know, you are taking out dissolved minerals and replacing them with sodium.