how come my ph doesn't drop?

[anti-generic]

i age my water in a plastic barrel with 2 air pumps for 2 days
but the ph doesnt drop much from tap water...!

do i need to age it more?
or do i need to add something more than just sera aquatan?
or is there something seriously wrong with sydney water?

any help is greatly appreciated
thanks
Eric

[D.J]

You have the same problem as I am Eric, no matter what I do to bring my Ph down wheter in my tank or in my storage, always no go.
Finaly I bought my self a Seachem Discus buffer, I am on a trial right now, and what I mean by that is I have not put it in my tank just as yet.
What I've done is put it in to my 40l storage container, and keeping an eye on it for a couple of days.
The ph dropped to about 6.8 as soon as I put it in, which is good, unlike peat which will bring down the Kh value, this product seems ok, so that's the reason why I am monitoring it ATM.

First day Kh value hold at 3 degrees, if it does hold for a good couple of days then I will use that water to do my water change, as I do my w/c every 2nd day.

If it does not hold Kh val for 2 days, then I would not use it, as I would rather have a high Ph than having a Ph crash every now and then as the Kh is low, that's imo anyway.

Donald.

[weird]

I have heard that it can take longer than 2 days, if heaps of chemicals have been added to the water. Out of curiosity try jet blasting the water out of the tap using something like a hose gun, see if this speeds up the process. Be curious if it helps. Also try aging for a little bit longer, say 3 days and compare.

[anti-generic]

thanks for the advice

and please keep me posted on the seachem buffer

[weird]

Keep away from buffers. Especially the seachem buffer. I have tried the seachem buffer and never got consistent results, and it swings far too much in the acid direction, and not by a little either ... dangerous stuff (and believe it or not it encourages you to trial the product directly on your tank not a storage bin...shoot I would have lost precious buddies if I did, I got a ph reading below 4)... hey you can have my bottle ... I am never using it again.

When I was at Deds (dreamers) place, he mentioned peat bombing which sounded like a far more practical idea. I believe that was using garden peat.

I am currently using peat granules in my filters, with the granuales, use a really small amount as it is concentrated. I tried using the garden variety, but did not get much change, as I think you have to use quite a bit more of this.

I like the idea of peat bombing, research up on this abit more, maybe dreamer can help here more.

[anti-generic]

thanks weird
for ur advice

when u mentioned garden peat is that a different type than the aquarium ones
and do u have to go to plant shops to get them?

[weird]

You can pick up peat moss from Bunnings. But I would consider the sera or fluval peat granuals. Ladyred has mentioned using peat moss successfully I believe. She may be able to elaborate.

Dreamer explained the peat bombing process to me but I have not further researched it as I am just using primed tap water from a jet stream source aged 24 hours, so here goes my basic understanding.

My understanding is that you prepare your water with a storage bin, one that has a valve at the bottom(not absolutely nescessary). You can pick these up at bunnings outside in the yard. Inside the bin you have a large amount of peat moss contained within a cannister media pouch (buy from almost any LFS). Now the time you let your water age is something I am not sure about and not yet experimented with.

Anyway the peat will lower and soften your water. Your water will be a little yellow or brown, some say it is actually a nice colour.... I agree.

I would further explore this method, and I believe some experienced members here might actaully be able to systemize this process further from their experience. I have played with buffers for 12 months (money , time and stress wasted) and have been shocked to see breeders in Australia not use them (and also not use reverse osmosis units.), just tap water or aged tap water , but always with prime added.

I have googled this abit, and the consensus although experience here may disagree, that because alot of the discus are no longer wild caught, they can not only tolerate but easily breed at a ph of 7.8. I would concentrate more on keeping a consistent ph, than a lower ph.

[kalebjarrod]

from what i understand of horticulture the peat from ireland and new zealand which are highly prized are crap for peat bombing

were the canadian peat rocks, but us horty's wouldn't use it if you paid us

different types of peat, different uses

go for the tired and ture methods till someone can prove otherwize

i'll do a test myself soon, only problem is my water ain't that bad to start with! maybe i should send a bag or two to proteus or flukes

the water in that end of the country SUCKS

[anti-generic]

thanks guys

im wondering about adding JBL Aquatrop J
it says its a Peat and Iodine concentrate

http://www.jbl.de/uk/aqua/uk_20050.html
would it do anything to the ph?
has anyone used it?

[flukes]

Sera peat is the most concentrated i know of.

Have you guys tested your kh?? It might not drop at all if you have enough of a buffer.

[Proteus]

are you aerating the water when aging it???

during the process of degassing pH should fall...

simply letting it sit there doesnt do enough

[Escher]

It seems it is never enough or tooooo much. :shock: After 3-4 days of heavy aeration and double the ageing stuff, my pH went down to about 5.00!
Strange things! :!:

[Proteus]

Thats Sydney water for you, just one airstone is fine... I dont leave mine more than 2-3 days prior to going in the tank

[anti-generic]

atm
i use 1 and a half times the amount of aquatan
and i use 2 air pumps

i use 1 air stone and i just leave the other open to make bigger bubbles

24hrs now
the ph indicator looks almost identical to tap water

[flukes]

If your finding large ph swings you might want too add some bi carb soda too raise your kh, but beware this normally increases the ph slightly.

[anti-generic]

i dont think there are any ph swings.
the ph is just not going down when im aging it

48 hrs now
the ph indicator doesnt look abit greener than tap water

flukes
how much is the sera peat granuals u were talking about b4?

i went to my LFS today and they were selling JBL peat granuals in bags for $56
a 2kg bag

to me that sounds pretty expensive
or are they usually that price?

thanks
eric

[dreamer]

my water stay pretty much around 7.5 no matter whether i aged or not :D as long as my discus happy .. im happy ... cant be bothered trying to lower the pH ... im just lazy :lol: :lol:

[anti-generic]

dreamer
the probelm i'm having with my tank is that the water in tank it self is low in ph

but when im aging the water in my plastic barrel
i cant get it to match the ph in my tank

im just scared of a ph clash
resulting in shock

but i got peat today.
figured my fish is worth the money

to people who have successfully used peat b4...
do u have to wash it b4 u put it into the water?
i find that there is alot of brown dust
and is the bag of peat suppose to sink or float?

[kalebjarrod]

you must also understand that Discus will live quite well in higher pH (7ishes)

they just do much BETTER in lower pH

people have been know to drop thier pH to 3 and 4 to rid tanks of problems

DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME, it just shows you that pH of 7.somthing to 8 is not goning to kill your fish if they are used to it

my tank sits at 7.2 all day and all night

even after aging, the trick is to not scare the crap out of your fish with a quick pH change :wink:

[D.J]

to people who have successfully used peat b4... do u have to wash it b4 u put it into the water? i find that there is alot of brown dust and is the bag of peat suppose to sink or float?

I've used peat before and yes you do have to wash it before you put it in the tank, and for the first couple of days the bag will float until it gets it's density then it'll slowly start to sink.
Just watch your Kh regularly when you use peat as it will soften your water.
There was an article about peat in this forum, here is the link to it:
http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=853

Regards,
Donald.

[anti-generic]

thanks
Donald