How Do I Keep Ph Stable?

I have kept my tap water aside for 24 with airdrome bubbling air through it. I tested for KH, GH and pH. They are -

KH - 2
GH - 3/4
pH - 7.4

How do I keep my ph stable given that I have very soft water?

 

Regular water changes

 

My ph drops to like 6 in a week .. I don't think I can do daily water changes

 

You have to raise your KH. That's what keeps your PH stable. I use Seachem Alkaline Buffer to raise mine. It actually doesn't take very much to get it to 5 or 6, which should keep your PH stable.

You can also use baking soda for the short term. I think it's 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons.

 

Will that raise my ph as well?

 

Yes

 

Well that's a problem then. I want to keep cardinals and they need low ph

 

It only raised my PH from 6.8 to 7.2. It always stays stable at 7.2 now.

 

Mine is already 7.4 .. it may take that to 7.6!

 

Has someone tried both acid and alkaline buffer to lock certain ph?

 

Anything you do to raise your KH will raise your PH. I have not tried both together, but I know many use them together. I suggest you try the baking soda first. See how much it raises your PH and then decide what you want to do from there. Test it out in a bucket of water, not your tank.
Fish can acclimate to different PH levels. You just have to do it slowly and keep it steady.

 

How about Seachem Neutral Regulator? Has anyone tried that?

 

I disagree with adding Seachem alkaline buffer. It will work, but it is more difficult to get the measurements right. I would use crushed coral. You add it to your filter and it will naturally raise your kH/pH slowly. It will stop releasing the buffer automatically and stabilize. You will need to add more coral every 3-4 weeks. But no measuring, no need to use math at all lol

Most fish will acclimate just fine to a higher pH. Having a stable pH is more important than an exactly perfect one.

 

Well that will increase my ph as well. I don't want my ph to increase. I tend to keep tetras .. I have had problems with tetras before when I had 7.6 ph

 

Tetras do prefer soft, slightly acidic conditions. I have pretty hard, alkaline water and I looked into setting up a cardinal tank here, but haven't done it yet. They don't tend to do very well in tap water here. At my quality LFS, which knows what they are doing and has earned my trust, they have a beautiful show tank with the biggest, most amazing cardinal tetra specimens I have ever seen. They cut the tap water with 50% R/O to soften. Then use driftwood and peat in the filter to keep the water acidic and full of tannins. I may be mistaken, but I think the soft aspect of the water may be more important overall than the ph aspect. But I'm not entirely sure about that. I believe that most cardinals in the hobby are raised in "wild" conditions on captive river farms, essentially wild-caught and sensitive, but you can make an effort to source tank raised specimens that should be more adaptable to slightly alkaline conditions. Good luck!

 

What if I use peat moss? Will that affect my KH and GH as well?

 

I'm just gonna throw this out here. I know you really want Cardinals, but you might save yourself a lot of time, money and heartbreak if you pick something similar to the Cardinals that would do well with the water you have. You will need to fix your KH to keep your PH stable, that's a given, but there are soo many fish that do well with that range and harder water which is what you have.

 

I don't know that peat actually influences kh or gh. Not sure. But it would effectively reduce kh's effect because peat is acidic and directly lowers the ph. The problem is keeping things stable. Peat's effectiveness would diminish over time, so you'd need to replace it regularly, and the peat's characteristics would vary depending on source. So you'd likely have to micro-manage it to keep things stable. And keeping things stable is pretty important. R/O would be more predictable.

 

I have hard water where I live and so need to keep it down for my Neons, Cardinals and 'guppy control' Betta's. So I use rain water caught in tubs (watch what surface it runs off though) and if it's too dry then I use a 6.5 buffer that you can buy in good stockists. Hope that helps

 

Thanks all for the replies

 

Tetras do prefer soft, slightly acidic conditions. I have pretty hard, alkaline water and I looked into setting up a cardinal tank here, but haven't done it yet. They don't tend to do very well in tap water here. At my quality LFS, which knows what they are doing and has earned my trust, they have a beautiful show tank with the biggest, most amazing cardinal tetra specimens I have ever seen. They cut the tap water with 50% R/O to soften. Then use driftwood and peat in the filter to keep the water acidic and full of tannins. I may be mistaken, but I think the soft aspect of the water may be more important overall than the ph aspect. But I'm not entirely sure about that. I believe that most cardinals in the hobby are raised in "wild" conditions on captive river farms, essentially wild-caught and sensitive, but you can make an effort to source tank raised specimens that should be more adaptable to slightly alkaline conditions. Good luck!

Question please--I have an 10 yr. established 55 gallon with five small tetras, two 2" catfish, one 5 inch botia, one Chinese algae eater approximately 2 inches, and 2 clown loaches approximately 5" long and my water quality is decent except the PH stays around 7.8. The rank was planted--they all died within about 6 weeks.
I recently lost three dwarf Garramis (apparently a fungus) which had only been in the tank about two months .
I do regular water changes about every two weeks and turn on the light about 8 to 9 hours a day.
Any other suggestions or things I could try?
Thank you for your expertise. Jerri