Changing water with different PH levels

Hello,

My tap water comes out at 8-8.2 and the water in my 7 gallon betta tank is currently at 7.2.-7.4 - I'm assuming from the Fluval substrate. I just realized that when I'm doing water changes, the PH level is massively different. Is that an issue? I thought I understood that large fluctuations of PH are bad are for the fish. If correct, what should I be doing to counteract this situation?

Thanks!

 

Hello,

My tap water comes out at 8-8.2 and the water in my 7 gallon betta tank is currently at 7.2.-7.4 - I'm assuming from the Fluval substrate. I just realized that when I'm doing water changes, the PH level is massively different. Is that an issue? I thought I understood that large fluctuations of PH are bad are for the fish. If correct, what should I be doing to counteract this situation?

Thanks!

You may want to put some water straight from the tap into a container. Let it set for 24 hours and then check the PH. It is possible the PH in that water will drop close to the same as you are seeing in your tank. Another lady had the same problem. She found that the PH dropped over night so she now ages her water for 24 hours before doing her water changes.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply. I tried what you said above and let the water sit overnight but it didn't have any impact on the PH. My other tanks with just standard gravel show that high PH (8.2) as well. My betta tank that shows the lower 7.2 (or so) PH has Fluval substrate and that is the reason I believe its showing a lower PH. I guess my concern is will that cause problems when doing water changes? If I do a 50% water change and I'm putting in water with a PH of about +1.0 will that harm the fish? How long does it take for the substrate to buffer the PH of the new water? Thanks!

 

Change water and don't worry about what can not be changed ..
Water changes are #1 the rest comes after [far after IMO]..
I would do 1 @50% weekly or email removed weekly without knowing your stocking ..
Here is the long and short ;the longer you wait in-between the water changes the larger the difference will be ..
Change water often #1 .
Welcome .

 

Hi, thanks for your reply. I tried what you said above and let the water sit overnight but it didn't have any impact on the PH. My other tanks with just standard gravel show that high PH (8.2) as well. My betta tank that shows the lower 7.2 (or so) PH has Fluval substrate and that is the reason I believe its showing a lower PH. I guess my concern is will that cause problems when doing water changes? If I do a 50% water change and I'm putting in water with a PH of about +1.0 will that harm the fish? How long does it take for the substrate to buffer the PH of the new water? Thanks!

You could run some crushed coral in this tank. It might counteract the substrate and help hold your PH steady. Add the crushed coral and then do several small water changes over several days to get the PH up to the same level as your tap water. When trying to change something like this I recommend gradually increasing the amount of water changed daily. Start with 10% one day, 15% the next, 20% the next and each day after that change out 5% more each day until you are up to 50%. By then the PH should be the same as your tap water and the CC should hold it there.

Smaller water changes done more often will prevent drastic changes in the PH as you are determining how much CC it will take to keep the PH from dropping in this tank. Once done the CC should hold the PH at the same level as your tap water.

Once you have it stabilized continue to change out at least 50% of the water each week. Keep an eye on the levels and if you find the PH dropping again it is time to pull the CC and give it a good rinse off and maybe even time to add more. It works by slowly dissolving but does so very slowly.

 

Just do a water change and add the the fresh clean water into the tank slowly. Say over 10 minutes or so or do multiple smaller ones on a weekly basis. We acclimate fish to new environments to account for changes like this. I’d employ the same concept when doing a water change as we do for fish acclimation. Bettas like more of a neutral ph anyway so I don’t think I’d adjust the ph up. You could always add some substrate to the water change water and let it sit for a day or two and see if the ph matches closely.

Keep in mind how the PH scale works. It not as simple as a change from 7.0 to 8.0 is one times more acidic or basic. The new water your replacing it with is 10 times more basic than your tank water is. That’s a pretty big change for a little fishy.

The pH Scale – Introductory Chemistry – 1st Canadian Edition

 

Perfect, that's what I was looking for. I remember reading something about it not being a simple +1 but more of a large multiplication. I didn't really want to have to play around with changing the PH up as I was more looking for keeping the PH as it is since that is one of the reasons I bought that substrate and I know the Betta prefers it more neutral. I'll try the slower water changes and instead of 30-50% weekly, I'll do 15-20% multiples times weekly.

I appreciate everyone's help! Thanks!

 

Perfect, that's what I was looking for. I remember reading something about it not being a simple +1 but more of a large multiplication. I didn't really want to have to play around with changing the PH up as I was more looking for keeping the PH as it is since that is one of the reasons I bought that substrate and I know the Betta prefers it more neutral. I'll try the slower water changes and instead of 30-50% weekly, I'll do 15-20% multiples times weekly.

I appreciate everyone's help! Thanks!

Sounds like a very good plan With my previous recommendation I didn't realize you wanted to keep the PH lower.