Antiphos=Ph Spike??????

[Mitch]

Just wondering if anyone could help me? I been using a phosphate filter for a while now usig Aquamedic Antiphos, a week ago i changed the media over and placed in Antiphos FE. When i tests the Ph on the weekend it had spiked dramatically from 6.2 to 7.4 in just a week. The discus seem fine. Just wondering if any one knows if this tye of phosphate removal can cause Ph movement, and if so what is the best way to counteract this? I cant really stop using the phosphate filter as i have had an extreme problem with phosphates for a long time, have tried everything under the sun to remove them, this is the fist thing to finally start to make a dent in the levels. Any help on this matter would be appreciated :D

[samir]

most of the ph down products contain phosphates. i guess that was keeping your ph low. whats the hardness of your water ?

[G-1000]

Seachem discus buffer for example contains phosphate. Whereas their acid buffer doesnt.

Im not sure but I think Samir is on the right track - a lot of pH products do have phosphates in them to stabilise the range of pH.

Proteus - input ?

G

[FishLover]

I use Discus Buffer to lower my PH from 8.5 to 7.2

I was wondering if the high phosphate level is just as bad as the high PH leve to my discus.

Any idea?

[Mitch]

most of the ph down products contain phosphates. i guess that was keeping your ph low. whats the hardness of your water ?
Samir- my water is about 3-5 DH. Thanks for the responses i didn't know that discus buffer contained high levels of phosphate. So it seems that with every water change i am only topping my phosphate levels back up??

[samir]

maybe you are. i think the phosphates reduce calcium from water, so i guess the ph down products probably have phosphate to soften, and acid to bring down the ph. its been years since i went to university so my brain has erased quite a bit of info. whats the hardness of your water before and after adding discus buffer?

[FishLover]

Is the high phosphate level bad for the Discus?

I really hate to give up on Discus Buffer. It made my WC so simple. Otherwise, I had to use peat to lower the PH level. It could take up to a day or so and it is not cheap comparing to Discus Buffer.

My tab water comes out at 7.5 and it goes to 8.5 next day. The only way I can avoid aging the water to have a stable PH is using Discus Buffer.