Water changes recently

[Dave76]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed their water params changing drasticly recently - seems not to be be an isolated case in one area.

I'm in Perth, others have reported problems in Melbourne & Sydney.

I've always done water changes straight from the tap into my tanks & haven't had a problem previously until a couple of weeks ago.

As a little experiment in the last week I've filled and left a glass of water sitting daily - have 7 of them now - all i've added is a drop of prime to each glass - overkill, but consistant - and been astounded by the results.

The ph has varied from 6.4 -> 7.8 out of the tap, the kh from 0 -> 4 and gh from 1 -> 7. It stays pretty consistant day to day each sample.

Not sure if it is to do with increased rains / change of seasons or what - just thought I'd make everyone aware of the situation here as I'm beginning to suspect this is what caused the death of my discus recently.

Just thinking if a few people in different areas can try doing the same perhaps to see if it is a common problem at the moment.

I'm going to be looking into an RO unit this week to avoid the problem again.

Regards

Dave

[Trebs]

I certainly have. My tap water comes from Prospect reservoir (West Syd) which uses chloramine. During and just after the last school holidays I had a lot of nitrite in the tap water (0.5ppm). I suspect they dumped more cloromine in the water before the holidays as they would be short staffed. Not sure of the exact chemical explaination but nitrite is produced when chloramine is netrualised and the water is heated.

The lower dam levels effects the water parameters also.

[Woll]

Some lfs sell RO water, i know majestic aquraiums in taren point (syd) sell 20l for $8 (i think)

[dismatt]

hey dave i tested my tap water today straight from tap 7.8 i also lost a discus on the weekend, whos the best in perth to see about ro unit do you know how much they are. thanks :lol:

[Proteus]

Some lfs sell RO water, i know majestic aquraiums in taren point (syd) sell 20l for $8 (i think)

Yeouch... pricey

I would be more than happy to set up a 4-5 stage RO unit and sell it for $4-5 for 20L...

:wink:

[Del]

...I'd buy it from you Proteus!

[Proteus]

I am actually in discussions with someone to maybe get something set up...

[goldenpigeon]

kool can u send mine up pro? ;)

[kalebjarrod]

If anyone is really scared or worried about there water i have access to labs to test my water for work

i am sure they don't charge us too much ($100.00ish)

and this is a full written report

FYI :wink:

[goldenpigeon]

lol yer i cant afford that.... my fish will just have to die.................... :(