Hi all and firstly a very happy blessed and prosperous 2010 to you all. Got around to test my ph for the first time this year and i was shockt to find it between 5.5 - 6 The setup is very basic +/- 270 L ground: a mix of clay and river-sand (Granite and table mountain sandstone) Light 4X 38W cool white + 1 X 38W plant tube Temp is 28c filter still the hated ViaAqua 902 internal Bio Co2 feed through filter outlet the tap water comes with PH7.5 out of the tap My question now i think i should raise the PH to about 7 but don't want to use any chemicals because they, in my experience just give a short lived PH peek and than its back to "normal" Should i worry at all??:wondering: Plants grow like crazy and fish (mainly Tetra and L catfish) seem fine. Any suggestions pls
You probably find your fish have acclimatised to that PH range but that doesnt necessarily mean its ideal for them. I would do some online research for the optimal PH ranges for all your fish and then look at adding some coral gravel or coral shards to your tank or filter to raise the PH (very effective in the long term as I am using it in my tank). Hope this helps
Co2 is reducing your ph. Co2 + H20 = Carbonic acid ie ph down. Nothing wrong with a ph that low, you already have softwater fish in Tetras and Locariids
Hi Kiazer Thanks As you said the fish gotten used to it but its not ideal. I thought of putting some marble gravel in the tank but coral shards should be even better. By how much does that lift your PH, don't want a malawi setup:bigsmile:
Hi You have soft water and will always battle to keep the ph up. Best thing to do is add some shells in the filter which will raise your kh a bit. This in turn will prevent your ph from dropping too quickly. Alternatively, if you use a water preparation drum, add some baking soda to this water before adding to your tank, assuming you do a weekly water change. You can find calculators on the web to tell you how many teaspoons of baking soda to add. This is what I do. My tap water is also 7.5 even 8 but I battle to keep my tank's ph above 6. Out the tap my kh is 1.7 degrees and I add 4 teaspoons of baking soda to a 240l drum of water which raises the kh to 3.3 degrees. I then use this water to do a 50% weekly water change. If I skip a week and measure my ph it is always below 6...
I've got a 1cm layer of coral on top of pool filter sand, two pieces of mopani driftwood and about ten plants and my PH is sitting at 7.6 at 26C.. bearing in mind I want it on the higher side due to my Sailfins. You could try a bit less than what i've got cause as a previous post said some of your fish enjoy softer water. Main thing is to avoid fluctuations.... although i'm not 100% clued up on the bicarbonate addition method it does sound to me like it could result in fluctuations in PH which could "shock" your fish. I stand to correction about this tho
If your tank water is 3kh and you prepare water in a drum to be at 3kh I don't see how there could be fluctuations. kh won't change in your tank. ph will.
without getting into a chemistry argument about pH and kH and if bicarb is effective long term or not I just want to point out that adding coral to your tank once off is alot easier than adding bicarb of soda to your water every week.... It has been said that 1kg of crushed coral per 40 liters of water will result in a controlled pH of 7.6.
Hi Laure Hoped you would have a look at the post. I feared that the bicarb method end up in to much work, i think i take your and Kiazers advise and put some coral split (Marble split??) in the filter. @ Laure Have for the past 3or 4 weeks for the first time some Hair like Algea( Fadenalgen, sorry don't know the english term JET:blink1 Rather tough slimy blue green bastards. Did not change anything except got some fert from a friend AQUATIC REMEDIES PLANT FOOD and put in twice so far one tee spoon (recomendet is 10ml/150L) Any ideas, tips how i get rid of that stuff again????
Hi Guido! What Tetras and L Cats do you have?? Depending on which ones you have, I really wouldn't worry about the pH unless it drops further below 5.5, and if it does, maybe go buy some of the Profs Discus! haha! My Tap water seems to fluctuate! Its usually around the 6.8 to 7 range, sometimes 7.2, but just before Christmas, it had a strong Chlorine smell, and was up to 7.8 to 8! This is a bit confusing, as its Chloromine here rather than Chlorine, and I was under the impression that it didn't smell?? I had to set up a holding tank (which turned into a more permanent planted tank) to hold all my fish whilst my main tank gets repaired. I set it up, and got everything running, and the pH was 7.2! This compared to the main tank that had been running around 6.6 for a year, but when I came to empty it, the pH was at 6.2! I was a little worried I'd loose a lot of fish when I transfered them over to the other, but they seemed fine! Only lost one neon (think he had a bowel problem? Swelled up whenever he ate certain foods and tended to have to swim downwards to stop him floating!) Anyhow, unless you keep very sensitive fish, then I don't think that you will have a prob with the pH at that level! Just one more question, how often do you do water changes?? I have found that these can help to regulate the pH when done regularly, but if not done for a longer interval, the pH will drop, thanks to our nice soft water in Cape Town. As for the algea, I suspect thats more of a light and CO2 problem, but I'll let the experts comment on that one! I struggle with algae too! Wouldn't suprise me if Cape Town water supply has had a Black Beard Algae outbreak in the dams, and is coming in thru the tap water!? Regards Big G!
Hi Big G Thanks for your reply. Sorry but i just can't warm up to discus:bigsmile:. Maybe it is that i'm just not used to that soft water jet when it comes to fish keeping. As i mentioned the fish seem all fine and yes i do a weekly waterchange. I dont think the algae are bearded algae. If i'm correct they are short and mat forming, while my ones are 10cm and more and sit on the leave edge. How do I get rid of the F@@‘#*g things
What Percentage Water change do you do?? I do around 25% once a week, or if I am unable one week, I do about 40% the next time. The algae you describe is just like what I have, only mines now spread across the entire upper surface of the leaves. As far as I knew, that was BBA, but maybe I'm miss informed?? Would explain why adding CO2 hasn't affected it if it is indeed not BBA?? As I say, I'm no expert when it comes to Algae! As for Discus, I used to hate them, now I'd love to set up a tank, but just can't afford the Discus outlay of caash! too much all at once! Let me know if you resolve your algae issue? I'd be keen to sort mine! Regards Big G!
Hi big G about 20% weekly. I think what we have to do is sit here and wait till Laure answers to the thread:blink1: or we should put something with Algae in the heading:bigsmile:
If I google "fadenalgen" I get mixed results, but most of the pictures look like Cladophora. It is really tough to get rid of and is not caused by anything you add to the water. It was probably introduced with some plants. As it turns out, it loves conditions good for plant growth. So when you started adding the fertilizer, it also took off! Best thing to do is to keep pulling it out manually and after hassling it enough it should cease to flourish. No fish is known to eat it...