How to lower tap water PH - water change?

Hi

The new (to me) tank is going well and seems as if the media survived as it appears to be cycled. No ammonia or nitrites building up 12 days in. Noticed the nitrates were high-ish (25) so did a water change on the weekend.

It would seem that my PH is creeping up and even a little jump after water change. I added driftwood yesterday and already see a slight drop today.

I noticed when rinsing the test vial the colour went darker, so decided to test my tap water PH. Around 9.5

How (if at all) do you guys drop the tap water PH to desired levels before adding to the tank?

PS: I have a drum and xtra heater where I let the new water "age" for a day and use Tetra AquaSafe to address Chlorine so would prefer to treat there beforehand.

 

Tapwater in the Cape is treated to increase the pH as it's incredibly soft, it usually levels down again within 48 hours.

 

@Messier87 what you are seeing perfectly normal. You are adding buffers back when doing a WC so the pH will climb. Hendre is right, just gas it for a day or two to stabilize it. Don't worry about getting it down in the aging barrel artificially, no need.

 

Yes - years ago on my previous tank I recall soft water out of the tap. Never had issues with PH back then.
I used a Tetra PH test and not strips to test the tap water - so probably fairly accurate.

Bellville - northern side

 

and

Are you saying I should leave it in the drum for 48hrs plus and it will come down? Do I need to air it in there or will just standing still with a heater be sufficient?

 

That's super weird. I'm also in Bellville and having the exact opposite ph issue with my tap water getting more and more acidic!

 

Yes you air the water in the barrel till you need it.

 

Remember that a cheap pH pen or liquid test isn't accurate in our soft water.

 

Just some advice that I think will be beneficial. Don't try and get your pH down with our water here, we battle more to keep it stable as it tends to go down fast once your tank is been running for a while and is stocked, then we come with a wc and fluctuate it rapidly. Fish don't like those rapid changes.

It's been said a lot of times but will mention it again, pick up some shells next time you're as the beach, the nice sun and wind blasted ones that has been scuffed clean. Break some up(more surface area) and rinse, put them your filter. They will "melt" as needed to keep the pH from going down so quickly, keeping things more stable for our wet pets.

The only time we need to intervene is while breeding and you are having bad or no egg fertilization. If you do start to modify the water for this purpose it isn't done by changing the pH directly with chemicals as this renders the water unstable.

 

Thanks for the advice - will let the water stand 2 days and take PH before and after and see where it ends up.

 

Just an update on this as I saw another question regarding PH.

CPT water out the tap has high PH by me, but as suggested above I fill a barrel a day or two before water change. Then adding dechlorinator and air it while also getting temperature up to more or less my tank's temp. PH get sorted over time to similar PH than tank and temp shock on fish is also non-existent so this works well.

Thanks.