Floater Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I will try and make this as straight forward as I can. Firstly I desire a PH of between 6 and 6.5 I am getting a 450L tank soon, in order to fill it I'm going to use tap water from my home (hose) which has a PH of 8+ also hard water. Water changes are going to be made with water that has a PH between 6 and 6.5 (rain water also very soft.). I understand that driftwood works are a PH buffer. I have some large pieces of driftwood which I have soaked in my tap water, which I now realise was a mistake (I think?). My original plan was to fill the tank with tap water, plant the plants, and do water changes as per usual and the PH will drop as I would be replacing the water with more acidic water. Then once the desired PH was achieved I was going to add fish. If I understand this correctly because I have soaked my driftwood (to get it to sink) in a PH of 8+ it will act as a buffer and hold the PH at 8+. If the above is correct. I need to find a way to set the buffer of the driftwood to a PH between 6 and 6.5. My idea to achieve this would be to use a product like "PH down" or "proper PH 6.5" I understand that "proper PH 6.5" has a buffering component in it. Would I be better off to use "PH down" until the desired PH is achieved? Would that cause my driftwood to be "overwritten" with the new buffer value of 6-6.5? Answer to my questions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I understand that driftwood works are a PH buffer. Nope. Has either no effect or slightly softens and acidifies the water. I put coral and bird grit in my filters to keep the PH from dropping too much with my rainwater. Otherwise it drops off the bottom of the scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I have a smaller tank (60L). I do a weekly water change of about 40% with my rain water and the PH doesn't go below 7. If it's not the driftwood buffering the water I have no idea what is... there is just daltons aquatic mix, gravel and driftwood and plants in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Measure the KH of your tap water as well, if the KH is high even with a PH of 8 then it will drop quite fast when fish start pooing and peeing in it.. That is the reason why people buffer the rain water with various things to increase the KH of it and help keep things more stable.. Also why do you need a ph of between 6 and 6.5? Sometimes chasing ph levels can cause more hassle and problems than it is actually worth.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I was thinking that the PH of the water in my current tank might be effecting my blue rams cause them to flash, as they have been doing it since I had them which is like 8 months +. They haven't gotten any worse so I'm kind of grasping at straws as to the cause of the flashing, as a disease would surely have shown some external signs by now... they're colourful and eat well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 So your rams are currently living in a tank with a ph of 8? That maybe causing them some irritation but they should be fine.. How often are they flashing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Peat granules lower the ph, as does driftwood, as does CO2. Do not use chemicals to alter your water permanently. I agree with Ryan. Test your carbonate hardness, and why chase a ph? majority of fish can live quite happily at a ph of 6-8, so long as its stable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 So your rams are currently living in a tank with a ph of 8? That maybe causing them some irritation but they should be fine.. How often are they flashing? The tank they're currently living in has a PH of 7ish. They flash 2-3 times in a 30minute period of watching usually. From what you guys have said I think I'll just see how it goes without fiddling with the PH. But I'm still wondering why my rams flash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Possibly flukes? I'd try a very mild dose of formalin, just stay on the safe side of the doseage and watch em close. I agree with the others, dont chase the PH, it causes more issues than its worth, a piece of stocking with Hauraki gold peat in yr filter will make the water nice and soft with plenty of tannins for your rams. As stated check the KH and let us know the results. IMO you should join the Dunedin club, Norman is da man and has been keeping fish for longer than I have been out of nappies (at least a year & 1/2 :lol: ) Stable PH is most important! HTH Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Possibly flukes? I'd try a very mild dose of formalin, just stay on the safe side of the doseage and watch em close. I agree with the others, dont chase the PH, it causes more issues than its worth, a piece of stocking with Hauraki gold peat in yr filter will make the water nice and soft with plenty of tannins for your rams. As stated check the KH and let us know the results. IMO you should join the Dunedin club, Norman is da man and has been keeping fish for longer than I have been out of nappies (at least a year & 1/2 :lol: ) Stable PH is most important! HTH Owen Currently trying prazi for the flukes, they get their last dose today. The flashing does seem to have reduced slightly since I started with prazi. Or it could just be my imagination. Question about the peat. What does it look like? Is it dirt? Granules? Just trying to figure out how fine it is. I'll get my sisters KH test kit and use it this afternoon. **EDIT** Does peat stablise the PH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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