whiplash Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 I have been having lots of trouble with the ph in my tank.. An aqua one with the internal filter. Was doing weekly water changes.. thinking I was doing the right thing.... Was not until I tested the rain water that I was using (thinking that would be fine) and discovered that the ph of that was between 6.0 and 6.4. No wonder I still kept having problems! :oops: Have been told to use lime chips to help keep the ph steady (as well as adjusting the water used in the changes) Can someone please tell me how to use the lime chips... do they go in with the filter and noodles? Or somewhere else? and do they need to be washed first (or is that defeating the purpose?) Any ideas on how to correct the PH of the fresh water that I add when doing partial water changes. Thanks heaps! : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Is there a reason you are using rain water, I only use R/O - rain water if I am breeding fish that need no or very low minerals in the water. Is there somthing wrong with your tap water? Why is 6 or 6.4 Ph a problem ( assuming it is not from polutents or ammonia, nitrite or nitrate ) I keep my apistogramma cichlids at 5.5ph. Any way A (1) lime chip will be fine( depending on water contact , filter is a good place to have it ) and or 1teaspoon of baking soda per 100lt. What happens is the acid desolves the lime, when PH gets to 7 the cemical reation stops - as it go's acidic again so the cemical reaction starts again - basicly- this is why it keeps the ph steady. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiplash Posted November 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Hey there! I live in the country.... rain water is all I have! My water is always going cloudy! (greenish cloudy) Plants and fish seem to be coping ok. Am using Algie Fix to control it but it only seems to last for 3 days and its back again! Have added some more "vacum cleaners" (catfish and flying foxes) Plus putting a light cover over the tank to reduce the amount of light getting thru. The ph in the tank is between 6.6 and 6.4. Have been told it should be around 7 and the use of lime chip will help keep it steady. I am very envious of people with clear tank water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 have you tested for nitrate, if your rain water is picking it up, you will be feeding the single celled algae that makes your water green. may have to clean roof and gutters - or water tank may have to much muck in the bottom and need cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 If you are in the country you may find high nitrate levels in the water from fertiliser run-off etc from surrounding farms. This will promote the algae growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Rainwater is generally acid because it leaches the sulphur dioxide from the air as it falls. As stated it is good for some fish and I use it along with added peat to encourage some fish to spawn. The easiest thing to do would be to keep fish that like those conditions and stay away from fish that like hard alkaline water. Once you start chemically adjusting the water you will be at it forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 i agree with alan, dont mess with it if you can help it. i use bird grit in most of my filters because my kh (carbonate hardness, keeps your ph stable) is 0 out of the tap. there isnt often an set ph level 'your fish must be at or they will die'- thats a load of poop and altering normally only occurs for breeding. do you have some sort of filter on the taps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 I had a problem with green water and had to treat every few days I added a second filter and this cured it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 There are compounds available to cure it but they are hard on some fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiplash Posted November 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Looks like I might have to start going to town and collecting tap water..... or just buy some bright coloured fish that I can see thru the gloom! Im getting to the stage where I want to abandon fish keeping! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 dont despair whiplash. im sure most of us (including me) have at one time or another wanted to can it all due to problems we just cant seem to fix from sick fish, algae etc etc. you do have a unique set of problems because you are not on tap water, your water has no regulations on how clean its supposed to be etc. i wonder if there are some sort of filters that get all the real tiny stuff out of the water? i know they make UV sterilisers that go somewhere (no idea about fitting them) for people that have tanks as one of my friends has one and his water is great- perhaps its worth looking into that? how far out of town are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 A UV filter will fix the green water, but you should really find out what is causing it, for the green water (algae) to be there, there must be food for it in the water. It could be that that your water tank needs cleaning, or your filter, or you need to do more water changes. Basically there needs to be a balance in your tank, nutriants/light/C02 most common problem is dirty water ie to high nutriants, sometime if a tank is in a sunny spot too much light, about the only ways I have heard of too much c02 is from running a gas heater and increasing the c02 level in the room (and I'm not convinced this is true). I had a green water problem for a couple of months this was from loading up my substrate with fertiliser for my plants and it leaching out into the water, I had a pretty good idea at the time that this was going to happen when I set the tank up and just had to put up with it till the plant growth caught up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Rainwater should not contain nitrate or phosphate unless your roof has been arial topdressed with fertilizer. These are found in groundwater and from leachate and surface water from runoff. A well planted tank with established plant will normally strip the nutrient and discourage algae growth. Try a plant like Shinersia (mexican oakleaf) that grows very fast and is a good alternative to hornwort (that is only grown by thase that are naughty bad and wicked.) I have a turtle tank that is always green but is a very good source of green water for culturing daphnia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiplash Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Hi guys! Thanks for all the advice! My water supply comes directly off the roof and I make sure the gutters are clean! Tank is only a couple of years old and I peered into the bottom of it one day (for my own peace of mind!) and its pretty clean on the bottom (No skeletons!) Ive been drinking gallons of it and I havnt turned green! :bounce: Will try to get some more plants into the tank and keep at the partial water changes and see if that helps... and tell the fish to swim closer to the glass so I can see them! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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