Water problem! ph 8.4 out of the tap!

[Repz]

Hi All,

Be sure to check your ph that comes out from the tap!
My friend borrowed my ph pen for quite some time and i figured i should test my ph since i haven't done so for a long time.

I've just been testing Ammonia, nitrite, nitrates which are all in check
0,0,2-5ppm nitrates.

I checked my ph today and it was 8! so i decided to check the tap water and it was 8.4!

All my fish seem to be alive and kicking but i know this level isn't safe, does anyone know if any fishstores around the south western suburbs (fairfield, canley vale, etc) stock Discus Buffer? or anything that can lower my ph to a safe level.

Can people please provide their tap water ph's?

Thanks in advance
David

[Pheonix]

When i lived in Sydney, i use to look up the Sydney Water website and look at the weekly testing results. It will show you what suburbs are fed from the different catchments. I was in dover heights and it was about 7.8 most of the time. The thing to watch is the weather, after heavy rain in the catchment area the parameters would change quite abit, same if there was a long dry spell.

I stored my water in a 200L drum and if I just let it sit with nothing added other than prime to get rid of chlorine and chloromine the pH would fall to 6.5-6.8... I don't really know why this happened.

Up here in Darwin my tap water is super soft and rages between 6 and 7

[ILLUSN]

I'll confirm this statement, sydney ph has been palying up a bit with the rain, the water is also super soft at the moment, my usuall 30ml of HCL/500L crashed my ph down to 3.9 where usually it sits at 5.0-5.3.

double check everything before it goes into your tank.

[Repz]

also... is this the reason why my discus are shying away because the ph is way out of range?

I have been using discus buffer and my ph is now at 7.5 i added abit more in today so that should lower it .

[Hassles]

I am fortunate that the tap water here in Melbourne is excellent, PH neutral out of the tap and this will lower in about 3 weeks close to PH6.

However, I have been experimenting with lowering PH for my Apistogramma tanks and can report excellent results using Oak tree leaves - this will definately lower the PH.The Oak tree leaves are easier to find than Indian Almond leaves which seem quite popular.

HTH

Anybody experiemented with Eheim's Torf Pellets

[DiscusDave]

I am fortunate that the tap water here in Melbourne is excellent, PH neutral out of the tap and this will lower in about 3 weeks close to PH6.

However, I have been experimenting with lowering PH for my Apistogramma tanks and can report excellent results using Oak tree leaves - this will definately lower the PH.The Oak tree leaves are easier to find than Indian Almond leaves which seem quite popular.

HTH

Anybody experiemented with Eheim's Torf Pellets

I bought some Torf, planning on experimenting but haven't got around to it. I was disappointed to read on the package though that it has to be replaced every 3 weeks or so. I was hoping it would last longer. If it does only last that long it wouldn't be at all cost effective.

I've read good things about oak, some people stick a few oak shoots in their tank as an algaecide, apparently with good results.

[ILLUSN]

torf wont last 3 weeks with heavy use i used it on my water aging barrel in an eheim 2217, at 500L/night it was exausted within 6 days