How Do I Adjust The Water Properties?

[nemesis]

hi all, first post, yey http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

just setting up a new tank at home, looking at having ~6 angel fish and 4 clown loaches (currently have 2 clown loaches in there already, i put them in when i added the plants). i&#39;ve had the water in the tank for around 3 weeks now and tested it each week, and steadily sitting water hardness around 90ppm, and with &#39;basic&#39; Ph (which i think is around 7.4 judging by the colour chart in the test kit).
what i&#39;m wondering, is since the angel fish apparently like the hardness of the water, but having a low/high Ph level, is it ok for adding fish now? or am i looking to hard, since its a new tank and really there&#39;s no life in it yet to adjust these readings? or should i be adding some different chemical to the water to adjust? i&#39;m a bit confused....
now the tank is very small, maybe 22-23L, and i&#39;ve had more fish in this thing than i can remember but now have decided to try and understand whats going on with the water, rather than just 1/4 water changes every month and hope for the best http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif

[Marc]

Hi nemesis&#33;

The easiest way to raise your pH, is with bi-carb soda but this is only a temporary fix. You&#39;ll find that Melbourne tap water is relatively low pH, and with things like timber etc in the water they will lower the pH.

What I do for my tanks that want slightly higher than neutral pH is use some crushed coral shell mixed in with the gravel. This helps raise and stablise the pH. If you wanted higher like ~8, you could use soley white marble chip substrate or similar which will actually set your pH at 8.

Be careful with changing 25% of the water monthly. With melbourne water catchment so low now, there are VERY high levels of chlorine in the water. You&#39;d be better off changing 5-10% of the water weekly in my opinion.

[leongross]

now the tank is very small, maybe 22-23L, and i&#39;ve had more fish in this thing than i can remember but now have decided to try and understand whats going on with the water, rather than just 1/4 water changes every month and hope for the best http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif[/b]

Way too small to easily keep it stable. The smaller the body of water, the more likely changes to pH and nitrites / nitrates will happen quickly. If you can do it, get a much bigger tank, it will be much easier to control&#33; Don&#39;t overstock it&#33;

[Marc]

I didn&#39;t notice the small size of the tank. That certainly is small and will always be a challenge to keep stable nemesis as Leon has pointed out&#33;

[nemesis]

thanks for the replies guys http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif
it certainly is a tiny tank, had it for years and it sits in my bedroom under a bookshelf. not looking to get a bigger one until i build my house, in which case by then im hoping to be intelligent enough to keep a behemoth of a tank (so consider this one the learning curve) http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif
i&#39;ll try the crushed coral idea, just wondering how much i should use? and yeh there&#39;s a natural log in the tank that i&#39;ve had for years, the clown loaches spend 95% of their time in/under it, lol.

[Marc]

Timber will certainly make the water softer and definately drop the pH, especially so in such a small volume of water.

Lose the timber and perhaps add a "White Rock" instead. Keep the gravel as is. You may find that is enough to hold the pH.

White Rock is sold at most shops, and retails anywhere between &#036;4 and &#036;8 a kilo. (It&#39;s a rock, not a substrate).

[joz]

A spoon full of shell grit may also just do the trick?

[nemesis]

i used shell grit once before (long time ago), looked like crap and didn&#39;t help so i cracked the sads with that idea http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif

for an update though, i&#39;ve had 4 baby angel fish in the tank now for about 5 days, and tested the water again and its changed. i&#39;m going to give it a couple more days and see what it is, but looks like just having the fish in there has done the trick...wait and see i guess, but they all look pretty happy http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

[joz]

i used shell grit once before (long time ago), looked like crap and didn&#39;t help so i cracked the sads with that idea http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif

for an update though, i&#39;ve had 4 baby angel fish in the tank now for about 5 days, and tested the water again and its changed. i&#39;m going to give it a couple more days and see what it is, but looks like just having the fish in there has done the trick...wait and see i guess, but they all look pretty happy http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/b]


Shell grit really only may work if its in a area of water flow.eg in a filter, so water physically needs to be dragged over it.Its just a bit hard to control the ph with any degree of accuracy.

Ph will always drop if theres little or no buffer and fish are pissing and shitting in their tank.All you really want to do is control the amount of drop and stabilze it.

[Marc]

It is with sadness that I reply to this post. Adam (nemesis) died tragically late Sunday afternoon in a motorbike accident aged 25.

Rest In Peace Adz, you&#39;ve always been a good mate, and will be sadly missed by all the members of MEA (http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au) and even a few here on TFT.

[wombat1100]

I didnt know Adam , but as a fellow motorcycle rider all i can say is RIP brother.
Darren

[joz]

Oh F---&#33;

RIP http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

[jonnie]

A well respected member of MEA....RIP from another bike rider

[Zorba]

replied before reading all the thread

RIP