ph and our fish

i'm sure most of us here keep South american fish and they are generally if not all soft water inclined now if you live in an area where the water is on the hard side how far should one go to get the water as close to the text book doctrine as possible.now i know peat moss and tanins from driftwood and other sources can be used but then when you do a water change the ph is going to be different so then will the fish not be more stressed with the constant fluctuations of weekly or daily water changes but then you get the chemical solutions but is that the way to go?

 

Hi Oscar freak,

I think it firstly depends on which S.american species you keep, how you prepare your water used for water changes and % water changed when doing water changes. Doing 10% changes daily will result in 70% w/c per week which is more than adequate in most cases, and the impact on water parameters at that low ratio is minimal. One could also pre-treat large quantities of water with peat etc. and thus have little to know effect on water parameters when doing w/c

On how close to get to doctrine? I dont know. Too many theories out there. I wouldnt fidget with chemicals to get it to whatever though. Its just too painstakin and risky

Marco

 

i'm going to confess now that i'v never been one to fuss over the scientific part of fishkeeping(a sin i know) but we live we learn we grow but in that same breath iv never had to much to worry about in that iv never had a fish die for no apparent reason or anything that could be related to bad water quality(i'm kinda hectic about water changes)so now as im ''growing"' i'm trying to take it up a level with the planted tank and rarer species and getting the water "perfect" or as close to as possible.i'm after a south american leaf fish.i dont see them on the BL but i heard they maybe are?