PH levels

[oldschoolculture]

Hey guys,

yep, one more question. What is the best way to keep PH levels down. Its currently at about 6.8 - 7.0, but thats tap water. Any help would be greatly appreciated........cheers

[Benny]

thats a nice Ph to have it around....

Otherwise u will be told about peat i believe, or some sort of buffer

[DR.V]

lots of driftwood or peat moss in the filter ^^

[Dee]

Hi OldSchool,

Best to try and not mess with water chemistry, 6.8 - 7 is pretty good mate. What is the PH after aging for 24 hours ? If your from Melbourne, have a look at your KH ... some area's in Melbourne have VERY soft water. If you still want to lower PH, I would use peat. JMO

Cheers,

Dee :)

[oldschoolculture]

Sorry mate,

what is kh again? :oops:

[Dee]

Heya OldSchool,

KH is Carbonate Hardness ... the level of mineral content in your water. A low KH can lead to PH dropping and PH stability problems, I found out the hard way :roll: Try and aim for a KH of 2-3degress or 40-60ppm approx at this level it should stablize and "buffer" your PH. Im in Melbourne and have tested my Kh out of the tap and it was around 1degree = 20ppm ... very soft, KH test kits are around $12-15 and it's well worth testing. Just my 2 cents worth ! HTH

Cheers,

Dee :)

[Dee]

Oops :oops: .... forgot to say a KH reading of above 4-5 degrees will start to raise your PH to above 7. 2-3 degrees should give a reading of around 6.8ish, well it has in my case HTH

Cheers,

Dee :)

[oldschoolculture]

Thanks heaps, ill go tomorrow and get myself a kit

[DR.V]

Yeah , for discus tank you want soft water which mean low kH level, around 2 - 3

[jwight]

I thought the general hardness was the important thing for the measure of water hardness i.e. under 3 GH is very soft e.t.c.

[DR.V]

general hardness (gH) is different with carbonate hardness (kH) ... but basically measures the same thing. If it reads 2-3 , means soft water also low pH

[Merrilyn]

The biggest thing we worry about in Melbourne, with such a low Kh is a pH crash.

With nothing to buffer the water, the pH can drop very quickly, and cause a lot of problems to your fish.

In Melbourne, I suggest everyone toss a handful of shellgrit in their tank to prevent pH crash. I use this in all tanks, except the spawning tanks. The added calcium in the water also benefits bone growth in young fish.

[oldschoolculture]

shell grit u say.....excellent idea. I currently have a couple of handfuls of peat moss in a bag and hang it above one of the sponge filters. Seems to keep it going.

[Proteus]

IMO, preferred water chemistry for Discus

pH = 6.4 to 7.0

gH = 70-100ppm

kH = 3-4 degrees

temp = 28-29c

[leanne31]

Your ph is perfect in fact i reckon there will be a lot of people that would love there ph to be that.

If your not breeding your fish at the moment I wouldnt worry about the hardness it only needs to be soft if your've got a pair and want fry. If you have juvies a bit harder is better.