How do I stabilise my pH

[DaveW]

Hi,

My tanks about 3 weeks old and is running well. I've got 2 juvenile Discus with a couple of plants, some driftwood and a gravel substrate in a 120l tank. The water is nice and clear and there's no ammonia etc. However I'm having real problems getting the pH to the correct level. Each week when I do a water change, it's fallen to around 5.5, I'm using pH up to get back to around 6.5, and have added discus buffer + neutral regulator, am I missing something?

Dave

[samir]

what is the carbonate hardness of your water. you need to do a kh test and let us know how much it says.

[DaveW]

OK, I don't have a kH test kit, so when I get one I'll do the test and post a reply.

Cheers

Dave

[samir]

I'm guessing that you will have a very low kh reading and will need to increase it to keep your ph from crashing

[Bill T.]

I have been using kH generator for a while. Keeps pH at about 7.0 & you don't need much of it. Other people use some shell grit, which I have also used in the past - works well but is a bit approximate.

[RichVic]

Hello Bill.T
Culd you explain further about the Kh generator you use please. Starting with what it is?

[Bill T.]

I'm using Aquamaster kH generator. In 240litre tank, I dose with one or two teaspoons with each water change - dissolve the powder in a jug of water & then add to the aquarium.
You should be able to buy this from your lfs.

[RichVic]

Thanks, will check it out

[Robdog]

Is there a way to raise Kh but lower the ph and keep it stable?

[Bad Inferno]

CO2 controller

[Ben]

Neutral Regulator by Seachem will help.

[Phlipper]

There are all kinds of chemicals to use as buffers for PH and hardness, rising KH will aslo raise PH, but what level do you want the PH anyway. A PH of around 6.5 should be easily achievable, if your tank is at PH 5.5 then you certainly want to raise the hardness of the water and adding a regulator is the way to go, not just a PH up powder. PH up powder is nothing more than Bi-Carb Soda and it will raise your PH but not for long and contains not all of the necessary minerals to properly buffer your water.

I am on a tight budget { Discus will do that to you} and I cannot aford all the expensive buffering, stabilising chemicals sold. All I ever use these days are the cheap and readily available " Neutraliser Blocks" sold in the shops and even in most supermarkets here, about $2 a block from supermarkets and are good for 2 to 3 weeks depending on acidity of the water. These " Neutralising " blocks contain various natural minerals to raise the KH like calcium, carbonates etc etc, just what your water needs.
They look like the weekend feeding blocks you can buy, but are quite different and I use nothing else these days with great results, you dont have to spend much money to achieve good results. You PH may still fluctuate a little and it pays to check often { electronic PH testers are great}, but will be much better under control.

All you do is drop one of the blocks into the tank where it slowly dissolves and releases KH raising minerals into the water. A block should last about 2 weeks, this rate of dissolving indicates a good PH level around 6.5 to 6.8 and the lower or more acidic the PH the quicker it dissolves, so if you find it dissolves in a few days then you know the PH is two low and you may need to add two blocks until a good balance is achieved. It may take a few weeks to get it right, but it does work at a fraction of the cost and a great deal less mucking around............give it a go, it works for me, it may not be the whole solution, but you may be pleasantly surprised 8-)