Duff0712 Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 I was wondering if anyone happens to test PH before/after a water change and do you notice a big PH difference? I've been looking at my tanks closer than normal lately trying to get things stable and parameters where I want them etc and I noticed that after a 20% WC my PH jumped pretty high in the tank. Normally it would sit at 6 or lower and a day after the change the water tested at 7.0 and my KH was still at 0. I have active substrate (Brightwell Rio) so it should re-acidify the water with no KH. I am just worried that with enough of a PH swing could really stress/kill my shrimp. I haven't noticed any dead, but I would think it should be something to worry about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Are you pouring or dripping new water? How often do you do water change? Since my RO water is like 5 pH, I use airline that flows directly into HOB and drops about 0.05-0.10 pH but goes back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Are you pouring or dripping new water? How often do you do water change? Since my RO water is like 5 pH, I use airline that flows directly into HOB and drops about 0.05-0.10 pH but goes back up. I don't necesarily pour or drip. I have a pump set up in a bucket and I shoved a pre-filter sponge in the output and it slowly, but steadily fills the tank back up. I have been doing a water change once a week. I think my RO is 7.0 which doesn't make sense that my tank would increase so much with just a 20% change, especially since my KH is still 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I suggest you use an airline to add in new water. Put it directly in your filter or near output. Also if your RO water is 7.0 and a day after water change, it's 7.0, your substrate buffering may be weak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I suggest you use an airline to add in new water. Put it directly in your filter or near output. Also if your RO water is 7.0 and a day after water change, it's 7.0, your substrate buffering may be weak? I'll see if I can't find something high enough to set a bucket on. My substrate buffer maybe weak. It isn't new but it isnt super old either-Duffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I'll see if I can't find something high enough to set a bucket on. My substrate buffer maybe weak. It isn't new but it isnt super old either -Duffy Doesn't have to be high. As long as it's above the tank, it's good. Get rigid tubing, bend it like hang man hook, attach airline and start the siphon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Doesn't have to be high. As long as it's above the tank, it's good. Get rigid tubing, bend it like hang man hook, attach airline and start the siphon. It would be nice if my RO was around 5. Is there anything I could possibly add to my RO water to gently lower the PH before I add it in.I will start doing the drip method, but I figure if I can get my remineralized RODI water lower first that could help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Sera Super Peat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Sera Super PeatSo I figured I would test PH again. Both my tank and rodi water was reading at 6 or below with the API test... Weird... But good I suppose. Idk if I had a faulty reading or the PH took a massive drop over the day. I'll keep an eye on things as I do water changes but it seems like it will be ok now. If I notice my rodi at 7 again and it stays overnight I will give the peat a try. Thanks! -Duffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 So I figured I would test PH again. Both my tank and rodi water was reading at 6 or below with the API test... Weird... But good I suppose. Idk if I had a faulty reading or the PH took a massive drop over the day. I'll keep an eye on things as I do water changes but it seems like it will be ok now. If I notice my rodi at 7 again and it stays overnight I will give the peat a try. Thanks! -Duffy API pH test is highly inaccurate and best to take about 3 test and get an average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 API pH test is highly inaccurate and best to take about 3 test and get an average.Will keep that in mind. Thanks for the help and ideas -Duffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillznglass Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 One other thing to consider would be seachems acid buffer. Make your RO water and run an air stone for awhile before you add the acid buffer. It is non phosphate based so it's better. Try to get the ph in your bucket the same as it is in the tank before you add it. You may have to use it with their alkaline buffer in the suggested mix ratios for you ph target. Natural buffers like you have are better but this would work fine. If you don't mind some tannins in your water you could put a hang on back filter with some organic peat in it on your bucket overnight before you do a water change. You would have to play with it to get it right though, so the seachem stuff would make it easy and consistent. The biggest thing about the seachem product to know is it works with your tanks plants and other various things for it to work right. So it does not have as much of a punch as a phosphate buffer, but I'm sure it will work fine for the time it will take for your soil buffers to kick in. Just a suggestion. I do belive ph swings are hard on aquatic life, unless they happen slowly over the day. PH swings are common in planted tanks, but I don't think they are fast enough to mess with the inhabitants very much. But ph is logarithmic, so 6.5 to 7 is a big shift especially in the short time it takes for a water change. The drip method mentioned here is a great way to go especially if you can figure out a way to automate with some fancy plumbing. Happy shrimping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff0712 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 One other thing to consider would be seachems acid buffer. Make your RO water and run an air stone for awhile before you add the acid buffer. It is non phosphate based so it's better. Try to get the ph in your bucket the same as it is in the tank before you add it. You may have to use it with their alkaline buffer in the suggested mix ratios for you ph target. Natural buffers like you have are better but this would work fine. If you don't mind some tannins in your water you could put a hang on back filter with some organic peat in it on your bucket overnight before you do a water change. You would have to play with it to get it right though, so the seachem stuff would make it easy and consistent. The biggest thing about the seachem product to know is it works with your tanks plants and other various things for it to work right. So it does not have as much of a punch as a phosphate buffer, but I'm sure it will work fine for the time it will take for your soil buffers to kick in. Just a suggestion. I do belive ph swings are hard on aquatic life, unless they happen slowly over the day. PH swings are common in planted tanks, but I don't think they are fast enough to mess with the inhabitants very much. But ph is logarithmic, so 6.5 to 7 is a big shift especially in the short time it takes for a water change. The drip method mentioned here is a great way to go especially if you can figure out a way to automate with some fancy plumbing. Happy shrimping! I actually have some Acid Buffer from Seachem so if the problem ever arises I will give that a try. I was using it with alkaline for my 12g Neo tank to get my PH stable. I have done several other PH tests on my RO water and tank and it seems to consistently be at 6 or below PH so I am thinking when I tested my tank and it was reading at 7 PH it was probably from a dirty vial. I will still keep an eye on it thought just in case. Thanks for the idea though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillznglass Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 I rinse those vials out like crazy. Still don't trust I get it all out. The api ammonia test is very unpleasant. Toxic too they say. I've found seacheam acid and neutral buffer more stable in alkaline conditions. Still working on keeping acid stable with plants and inactive substrate. Lol. Yeah not really gonna work I think. But I bet with soil and driftwood the stuff would work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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