unclenedsfishfactory.com

Boston water and pH
My wife and I found your store a few years back, and even though it is a bit of a drive for us (from Arlington) we love coming to visit.
Thanks

I was hoping to pick your brain about a problem I've been having with my tanks for the past several years. pH.

The water here in Arlington comes out of the tap at an absurd 8.8 to 9.0 or so. It is also fairly soft, KH and GH test kits put it around 50ppm (3 drops)
this normal (but not good for fish) in most MWRA water
.

My main problem is that I keep tanks with drift wood (a 20g long and a standard 75g) and the pH in those tanks can dip as low as 7.0 if left long enough. For the majority of this year they seemed somewhat stable around 7.2.

But what I fear is happening is that my tanks are in a constant state of pH flux with each water change - I add high pH water, it slowly dips over a week or two, and then jumps back up when I do my next change. This was apparent when I recently had to increase my water changes to battle a case of ich (was stupid and didnt quarantine a new fish) and due to that the tank pH has jumped up to 7.8.
any pH between about 6.5 to 9.0 is safe
(or at least survivable)
for most fish
but of course, different fish have different ideal pH preferences

the main thing to avoid
is
drastic, rapid pH changes

in my experience going from 7 to 8 is not bad
going from 7 to 6 is not bad...
but
going from 6 to 8 is not good
and going from 9 down to 5 is horrible

for that reason
I do not sell a lot of ' pH down ' products
... I have seen fish burn to death with one squirt of acid in a small tank

Anyway, I know there are chemical products out there but consensus seems to be that you should avoid them if possible. I'm hoping since I share my tap with a major part of the Boston area that this might be a problem you've encountered and can help me deal with.
at the store, we are lucky to have very stable water
and can almost always do a 90% change without shocking the fish...
in most places other than Millis
it is best to do smaller, more frequent water changes
(say 25% once a week, rather than 80% once a month)

another option
(for example, in a discus aquarium)
it may be a good idea to barrel the water for 24 hours
(as one would if preparing saltwater for a reef aquarium)

over a day
water sitting in a barrell (or stirring with an air pump or power head)
may find it's own stable pH and be useable

also while in the barrel
the water could be heated
or you could add peat to lower pH
or buffers to raise pH
...or whatever changes you wanted

it is always a good idea
to check the chemistry
of both the old aquarium water
and the new water you want to add

in general
pH 7 water
will go to pH 8
after a 50% change with pH 9 water
...this not too drastic a change for most fish
but it is something to avoid

just as
temperature 70 degree water
will go to 80 degrees
after a 50% change with 90 degree water

in any event
ALWAYS use a dechlorinator
WHENEVER adding new water

Thanks for any help or insight. Love the shop!

dave

that's pretty much what I do at my house:

For some of my tanks I pre-treat the water - mixing it for a day or so with appropriate buffers and a heater in a nice 40g barrel, then make my water change.

In some of my other tanks, I've found that if I just keep the water changes a reasonable size and fairly frequent (every 2 weeks) the water doesn't change to much.
In tanks that don't have fish that are especially sensitive in terms of hardness, I keep a piece of cuttlebone in the filter, or some crushed coral, or a piece of "texas holey rock" (limestone) in the tank -- this doesn't provide a huge pH increase but does help add a slow dissolving alkalinity buffer (which helps avoid pH drop between water changes).

My water isn't quite as high as MWRA water out of the tap, but its even softer - the pH would easily drop below 6 if I didn't do the above steps.

Hi,

I almost had a heart attack when I moved back to Chelsea several years ago and tested my water. A few tanks were already setup w/ rare and some delicate West African Cichlids. Similiar-P.H. 8.5-8.8 and hardness as low as 20-30ppm.
I added several chemicals for P.H./Hardness (up/down- up/down)and did a lot of worrying for nothing. Ned and Rich are right-Keep it simple and stable.
The past few years, I've only used a chemical to treat chlorine /ammonia in my tap water. I usually change 20-25% at a time. However, I've done larger 50% changes w/ no problems. I may let the tap water sit for 1/2 hour after being treated. Then try and add water back to tank in increments. If I took out 20 gals, I put 5 gals. back, wait 15-30 mins add another 5 gals. etc.
The bottom line is, I really have not had any problems due to my tap water. I've had soft water West Africans Cichlids breed in my tanks, Ancistrus etc. Also a couple hard water East Africans. With the East Africans, I did use crushed coral substrate, shells and rocks (ie. texas holey,lace). I've been keeping fish a long time and get lazy (2 seperate things). You may want to be a little more cautious then myself. Testing water, keeping something like crushed coral in your power filter etc.

I've found the most important things are still the basics. Healthy fish to start with. NO OVER CROWDING OR OVER FEEDING. fairly frequent water changes Oh, and live plants really help.