Water Hardness
- Thread starter Desi
- Start date
pH should be kept stable, that's the priority.
what are your present tap water and tank water readings, what makes you think you need to adjust hardness and pH?
I see that you have driftwood in your African tank - are you aware that this might be reducing the pH and hardness (KH)?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_chemistry.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
what are your present tap water and tank water readings, what makes you think you need to adjust hardness and pH?
I see that you have driftwood in your African tank - are you aware that this might be reducing the pH and hardness (KH)?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_chemistry.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gh_kh_ph.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php
hmmm....I seem to be repeating this bit of advice - but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes
My 55 was dropping its PH by one point a week - so I got a bag of coral sand from the LFS (a couple of bucks), put a handfull in an old sock, then put the sock in the pre-filter chamber. PH is now stable at 7.3 - rock solid.
If you put the coral sand directly into the tank it's easy to over-do it, and a pain to reverse - use the sock method for greater control
one handfull of sand worked fine for my 55
My 55 was dropping its PH by one point a week - so I got a bag of coral sand from the LFS (a couple of bucks), put a handfull in an old sock, then put the sock in the pre-filter chamber. PH is now stable at 7.3 - rock solid.
If you put the coral sand directly into the tank it's easy to over-do it, and a pain to reverse - use the sock method for greater control
one handfull of sand worked fine for my 55
...but what are you doing about what's causing the pH to drop by one point a week? Purple mate, you are making the basic error of treating a symptom instead of the cause. Over time, if you have not sorted out the problem in your tank, the buffering capability of the coral sand will be used up and your tank will crash.
...all things are relative but 7.8 is NOT high, it's close the lowest parameter for Rift Lake tanks.
...all things are relative but 7.8 is NOT high, it's close the lowest parameter for Rift Lake tanks.
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lol - you rotten lot.....
Taffy - the only thing i can think of that's throwing off my gh/kh is the sand substrate that's years old (came with the tank)
I have other pretty much identical set-ups without this drop effect
but surely to sort out the gh/kh balance i'd have to add something to the water - and probably every time i do a water change too
this way it's "always there" - and once it's exhausted it's simple enough to replenish.....unlikely to miss the tank sliding downwards - i check it every week cos i know it's dodgy (digital stick - easy)
natures bi-carb mate - lol
as you said yourself - stability is the goal
Taffy - the only thing i can think of that's throwing off my gh/kh is the sand substrate that's years old (came with the tank)
I have other pretty much identical set-ups without this drop effect
but surely to sort out the gh/kh balance i'd have to add something to the water - and probably every time i do a water change too
this way it's "always there" - and once it's exhausted it's simple enough to replenish.....unlikely to miss the tank sliding downwards - i check it every week cos i know it's dodgy (digital stick - easy)
natures bi-carb mate - lol
as you said yourself - stability is the goal
I dunno, do you have GH/KH balance problem or a pH problem? Silicate sand should be inert, unless there's something rotting in the sand - do you stir it every month or so?
If something is chewing up your buffer (KH) in just one tank, then this should show up in your KH tests as well as the pH tests. If the pH is falling because the KH is falling then you need to find out what's causing the KH to be used up rather than just adding more buffer - like I said, sort out the cause rather than treat the symptom.
Maybe the filters need a complete clean out, maybe a partial tear down would reveal the culprit? You don't have any new bogwood do you or recently recharged the CO2?
If something is chewing up your buffer (KH) in just one tank, then this should show up in your KH tests as well as the pH tests. If the pH is falling because the KH is falling then you need to find out what's causing the KH to be used up rather than just adding more buffer - like I said, sort out the cause rather than treat the symptom.
Maybe the filters need a complete clean out, maybe a partial tear down would reveal the culprit? You don't have any new bogwood do you or recently recharged the CO2?
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... Hey Purple dont you go getting ideas old man cos the answer is NO.