PH question

[leanne31]

Hi everyone Ive noticed the ph in my water ager barrel keeps on rising but i dont know why yesterday i tested it and it was in the high 7s I bought some ph down and added it to the barrel and got it down to around 7 I checked again this morning and it was way up high again whats causing this and is there anything I can do thanks

Leanne

[pitchblack]

did you wash the barrell out???? mabey something in the plastic but not sure...

[leanne31]

I washed it out twice but Ive been using it for over a month now also and I also give it a rinse once a week as it accumalates white powdery stuff that sits on the bottom dont know what that is.

Leanne

[Kaza]

Leanne I have the same problem, out of the tap 7 aged in the barrel 8. I add ph down get to 7 next day 8 again. My barrel has been washed out a number of times including recently when I pulled every thing out and washed the barrel at the car wash. However still have same problem. i even use RO water. So I figure it has to be something in the barrel? What ever my discus all seem fine, breeding ect. But I hate having to muck around with the ph so much.

[dddd68sg]

sometimes is the PH test kit you using not accurate.IMHO if your discus is fine with the PH i would not bother to adjust it. It can cause more harm than good to adjust the PH regularly/ :lol:

[flukes]

Good adive, better to be stable than in the "normal range"

[leanne31]

I know its better to have stable water but my tanks ph is always around 7 and when I add the aged water to it it wouldnt be the same so it wouldnt be stable the longer it sits in the barrel the higher it rises so I thought maybe if i tested it just before a wc get it to 7 it would be good what do you think Scott or should I just leave it be.

Leanne

[flukes]

Whats the setup in the barrel?? Are you aerating, with air stone or circulating with a pump.??

Are you heating the water?? Any carbon etc...

Must be something for ph to be rising that much..

Fill a glass of water and leave it for the same time you age your water for and test the ph...

At least you will find out if its the barrel or the water..

[leanne31]

Its got a 15cm long airstone with 2 heaters and once a day I turn the pump on for about 10 mins also just to give the water a big stir I dont have any carbon or anything else in the barrel I'll do the water test tomorrow and see what it comes up with thanks Scott.

Leanne

[ozarowana]

Maybe the water is just too buffered.

[leanne31]

Wont the ph crash not rise then

Leanne

[Merrilyn]

A lot of buffering (i.e. dissolved minerals) in your water will prevent the pH from dropping.

[leanne31]

How do you test that then Merrilyn is it with a kh test kit if it is my kh is 4, gee I need to go back to school to learn all these things to keep my fish.

Leanne

[goldenpigeon]

i would start by not using a ph down but a ph buffer (that makes the ph go down)

[Merrilyn]

Leanne, there is a very interesting site here about water chemistry. Some of it relates to marine tanks, but there is also good information on fresh water tanks too.

http://user.aol.com/andrerich/aquarium/Page6.html#water

[leanne31]

still got to get around to getting some of that David havent had the time yet to go and get some but when I do I'll let you know the results.

Leanne

[leanne31]

Thanks Merrilyn I'll have a read after I've fed my tribe. :lol:

Leanne