Hey Tom or anyone who wants to help,
I'm in Burlingame and I'm on the San Francisco water system. I keep mostly low-tech planted tanks, one CO2 ADA-style tank, and a lot of unfiltered, medium-plant-mass betta tanks which I change 100% every week or so. I've always buffered my water to raise the KH while keeping the pH between 6.5 and 7.0, and I've pretty consistently stuck to Seachem's buffer products (previously Neutral Regulator/Discus Buffer; now Alkaline Buffer/Acid Buffer). I've also been using "RO Right" by Kent to add GH (I breed bettas and it was suggested to me that their fins grow better with sufficient mineral content).
Qualifier: People have often given me the advice that I shouldn't be messing with buffers, the simpler the better, tap water is fine, etc. But I've always felt I needed a buffer because otherwise the pH would be hugely variable -- the pH would start out quite high (7.8+) from the tap and drop over time in the tank (down to 6.0 and lower, depending on how long between water changes, plant vs. fish load, etc.). I have some soft-water fish that don't prefer pH above 7.0, and I didn't like shocking any of my fish during major water changes by adding high-pH tap water to a tank that had become pretty acidic over time. I killed quite a few otos that way, before I started buffering.
Two things recently changed that make me question my buffer use. First, I've noticed that the tap water is no longer 0-1 DH like it was a while ago—it's more like 6-8 DH. Now that the tap DH is closer to 7, maybe I don't need to add RO Right anymore. But I feel I still need some kind of buffer or the pH will swing like I described above. What do you all do?
Second, I've noticed that after I add the buffers to replacement aquarium water during a water change, the pH in the bucket is about 6.5. This is right where I want it. But after a few days in the aquarium, the water is closer to 7.5 or higher. Why is the pH rising? This has been happening in all my tanks, including the unfiltered betta tanks, low-maintenance tanks, and the CO2 tank (though the CO2 tank doesn't rise quite as much, because of the CO2).
This didn't used to happen before when I was using only Neutral Regulator/Discus Buffer, no GH additive (no RO Right), and the tap water was 0-1 DH. Back then, the bucket would be 6.6-6.8 pH and the tank water would stay in that range long-term. (BTW, I switched to Acid/Alkaline buffer rather than Neutral/Discus because Neutral Regulator supposedly softens the water by precipitating out Calcium and Magnesium, which would make my addition of RO Right useless.) Now I'm using Alkaline Buffer/Acid Buffer, RO Right, and the tap water is 7 DH -- so which of those three is the culprit that's raising my pH over time?
In case it matters, this is what I add to every 5g of my replacement water during water changes:
3/4 tsp Acid Buffer
1 tsp Alkaline Buffer
1+ tsp Ultimate conditioner
1 tsp RO right
Thanks for any input!
Eryn
I'm in Burlingame and I'm on the San Francisco water system. I keep mostly low-tech planted tanks, one CO2 ADA-style tank, and a lot of unfiltered, medium-plant-mass betta tanks which I change 100% every week or so. I've always buffered my water to raise the KH while keeping the pH between 6.5 and 7.0, and I've pretty consistently stuck to Seachem's buffer products (previously Neutral Regulator/Discus Buffer; now Alkaline Buffer/Acid Buffer). I've also been using "RO Right" by Kent to add GH (I breed bettas and it was suggested to me that their fins grow better with sufficient mineral content).
Qualifier: People have often given me the advice that I shouldn't be messing with buffers, the simpler the better, tap water is fine, etc. But I've always felt I needed a buffer because otherwise the pH would be hugely variable -- the pH would start out quite high (7.8+) from the tap and drop over time in the tank (down to 6.0 and lower, depending on how long between water changes, plant vs. fish load, etc.). I have some soft-water fish that don't prefer pH above 7.0, and I didn't like shocking any of my fish during major water changes by adding high-pH tap water to a tank that had become pretty acidic over time. I killed quite a few otos that way, before I started buffering.
Two things recently changed that make me question my buffer use. First, I've noticed that the tap water is no longer 0-1 DH like it was a while ago—it's more like 6-8 DH. Now that the tap DH is closer to 7, maybe I don't need to add RO Right anymore. But I feel I still need some kind of buffer or the pH will swing like I described above. What do you all do?
Second, I've noticed that after I add the buffers to replacement aquarium water during a water change, the pH in the bucket is about 6.5. This is right where I want it. But after a few days in the aquarium, the water is closer to 7.5 or higher. Why is the pH rising? This has been happening in all my tanks, including the unfiltered betta tanks, low-maintenance tanks, and the CO2 tank (though the CO2 tank doesn't rise quite as much, because of the CO2).
This didn't used to happen before when I was using only Neutral Regulator/Discus Buffer, no GH additive (no RO Right), and the tap water was 0-1 DH. Back then, the bucket would be 6.6-6.8 pH and the tank water would stay in that range long-term. (BTW, I switched to Acid/Alkaline buffer rather than Neutral/Discus because Neutral Regulator supposedly softens the water by precipitating out Calcium and Magnesium, which would make my addition of RO Right useless.) Now I'm using Alkaline Buffer/Acid Buffer, RO Right, and the tap water is 7 DH -- so which of those three is the culprit that's raising my pH over time?
In case it matters, this is what I add to every 5g of my replacement water during water changes:
3/4 tsp Acid Buffer
1 tsp Alkaline Buffer
1+ tsp Ultimate conditioner
1 tsp RO right
Thanks for any input!
Eryn