Prometheus

I have a 30 gallon tank

So, I went to the store and had my water tested. Apparently everything seemed okay except they told me my pH was way too high at 8.4. They say the tap water around here is at 10 but the pH will naturally drop down after a while in the tank. I have platys, a gourami, lampeye kilifish, oto cats, and neon tetras. They are telling me the pH is too high for these fish and I should add neutral regulater to bring it down. I already happen to have the stuff but I don't want to add anything if I don't have to. The guy was also shocked that I haven't done any major water changes except for just topping it off. He also says that something is driving up the pH and I have to take it out or it's just going to keep getting higher. It's been two months maybe, since I set up the tank with soil. The plants are great but now I'm concerned about the fish. When I set up the tank I added oyster grit to the soil because the city water here lacks hard water nutrients. I assume that's driving up the pH. I can't exactly take the oyster grit out of the soil

I dont know what to do or if I should do anything at all. Is this an issue with these fish? Do I need to introduce something that will keep the pH lower? Is there something other than chemicals that I can do.. like add peat or maybe somekind of bogwood?


My second question is about the filter. I have this aquaclear HOB filter which is creating too much water agitation and a lot of noise and I dont feel like topping it off every few days just to keep the noise down. I want to get rid of the filter. Can I do that with a 30 gallon? How do you know when it's safe to take it out? I also have some fuzzy light green algae on the glass and on the driftwood in the tank but it comes off easily. I do have water sprite I just introduced two weeks ago so I am not that concerned about more algae but if I take out the filter there will be no water circulation. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Red_Rose

I have a betta in my 10g and many have said that 8.2(that's what the water is in the tank) is too high for them but he seems fine with it. I think as long as it's stable, that's the most important thing. Also, I have heard of others saying that their pH has dropped in their tanks after awhile but I have yet to see that in mine and it's been set up since July of last year. The pH in your tank just might stay at 8.4.

You could try using bogwood or peat but with the oyster shells in your soil, it probably won't even work but I could be wrong.

As for the filter, is it new? My AquaClear 20 was rather loud for about a month until crud started to build up in the impeller well. Now I can't even hear it anymore. I also have a baffle on the outflow of the filter. It helps to lessen the surface agitation a great deal but if you really want to remove the filter, I can't see why you couldn't remove it from your tank. I know a lot of people don't bother with filters or powerheads in their NPT's. For the longest time, I didn't have any water circulation in my 10g and once I had added the filter, I had noticed no difference with the algae that was in the tank so I don't think it would get worse if you removed the filter.

Squawkbert

While you may be able to remove the filter (eventually, if not now), you will still want some water circulation, so you will want to replace the filter w/ a power head or two positioned so that you have some surface agitation (it need not be noisy, but you want some nice ripples). Having ripples instead of a waterfall will lower your evaopration rate.

You do need to be fairly certain that you have your nitrogen fixing bacteria established in your sunstrate before removing the AC filter. One way to do this is to remove the filter but leave the media cartridge (or at least the foam pad) in the tank for a few days after you pull the rest of the filter (hanging near a PH would be ideal).

If your tap pH is really 10, I'd call the water department as it is illegal to dump water witht hat high of a pH in some places!

If the water comes down to the 7-8 range after sitting out for some time, it's probably gassing off the excessive Cl2 added before it is pumped to you. At any rate, having some driftwood or almond leaves or peat moss somewhere in the tank should help lower pH a bit.

Prometheus

No the filter is not new, I was referring to the noise from the water dropping back into the tank. I guess I could do that thing with the soda bottle. But I would just rather not have a filter there at all. So I will see if I can get something submersible powerhead.. They seem quite expensive though...

And yes, I live in the city where the water has a high pH of 10 when it comes straight from the tap.

what kind of bogwood would pring downt he pH? Does anyone recommend against using the neutral regulator? I just don't really like the idea since I will just have to use it all the time and then buy more.

When I set up my next tank, should I not add the oyster grit? I was thinking about setting up a 10 gallon for german blue rams but if it turns out the same as my 30 gallon, the water will be too hard them.

Red_Rose

Test your tap water to see what the GH is. If your GH is 8 or higher, you won't need to add anything to harden your water. It's also good to know what your KH is from the tap too. I think anything from 4 or higher is recommended to prevent your pH from fluctuating or crashing.

Diana K

Ditto Red Rose.
Before you get too far in to addressing pH issues be sure you understand the link between KH and pH, and find out just what the water company is adding to the water to make it so alkaline.

It may be that some sort of filter for your household may be better: Remove stuff that is causing a problem, do not add more stuff.

dwalstad

[quote=Prometheus;385079] I have this aquaclear HOB filter which is creating too much water agitation and a lot of noise and I dont feel like topping it off every few days just to keep the noise down. QUOTE]

Ah, those noisey filters. They'll drive you crazy! And all that water agitation is probably removing carbon dioxide, which will drive up the pH. Plus, its hard to have floating plants, as they get trapped under the spillway.

If your plants are growing well, you really don't need a filter. However, if you want one, I recommend a small submersible. Wal-Mart has one for about $20. I bought it for my sister during a visit, because I couldn't stand the racket from her old filter. I'm sure that the fish in the tank were even more relieved than I was!

Prometheus

So maybe the filter is aerating the tank, removing CO2 and driving up the pH? I forgot about that. Another reason to remove that filter!! I think I will definately get rid of it and get something submersible. The plants are great! Maybe I can just use the filter to start up another tank. If I turn off that HOB filter, does the bacteria inside need the water circulation to survive or will it be okay for a few days? I may want to use it but probably not right away.

So I called the water supply company and found out that the tap water is soft and has a pH of 9.2 with a hardness of 1 grain per gallon (or 16 ppm). So it was okay that I added the oyster grit?

Is it necessary to do a water change too?

Thanks!

Prometheus

just double checking here about removing the filter..

I have quite a few fish in there, about 7 lampeye kilifish, 22 neons, 1 gourami, 1 danio, 2 platys, and 4 otto cats. Oh- AND the platies had babies a few weeks ago. I think there are 4 of them. Will it be okay to remove the filter even with that amount of fish? Is that considered overstocked?

mistergreen

you can have a filter but don't cause water surface agitation.
Maybe a canister or a submerged powerhead type filter.

My water is naturally in around 7.8-8.0... I checked my NPT tank for the first time a few days ago. It's a around 6.0. All the organics and plants will bring it down. I'm trying to bring it up with lime stones and shells( Going to raise some fancy snails ).

You can mix in RO/distilled water to bring the ph/hardness down.