Newbie needs pH advice

[PrincessFish]

I've only had my aquarium up and running for just over 3 weeks now.  Substrate is Flourite.  First week was just plants and I've been testing the water religiously since adding fish.  The results have been positive except for my KH which is only 20 (and even below that for a while because I started adding some filtered water thinking mine was too hard - but it was just the Flourite).  The cycling ended 5 days ago and the pH has dropped from 7 to 6.8 since then.  Interestingly, my city tap water (which I've been using other than the exception noted above) has a pH of 8.4.  Last night I changed about 15% of the water and woke up worrying that the shock of water changes will be hurting the fish (I know my new rams are more particular about water conditions).  pH after the water change went up from 6.8 to 6.9.  My questions are:

1.  Will the shock of water changes with water that has such a different pH be too stressful for the fish?
2.  Will it help to add a stabilizer to bring the KH up a bit?
3.  What else can I or should I be doing? 

Thanks so much for your help!

[PaleoFishGirl]

Hi PrincessFish and welcome to OVAS!

The pH of my water out of the tap hovers around 9.  Even so, I do 50% water changes every week in a tank with pH ~7 to no ill effect.  My fish actually seem happy just to have the clean water   I wouldn't worry about a pH change from 6.8-6.9, honestly.

If you are really worried about it and you have the extra room, maybe invest in a Rubbermaid tub or garbage pail, or even an extra tank to fill with water and let it 'age' (degass, so that the pH lowers) before doing your water changes.  You can pre-mix your water conditioner in there as well.

Good luck!

[BigDaddy]

Adding things to your water to adjust the pH just ends up becoming a vicious cycle.  The buffers rarely last that long, and sooner than naught you are back at your original pH anyway...

pH swings are a part of life for your South American fish.  In the tropics, most bodies of water shift pH a full degree, sometimes two, from day to night (i.e. from 5.0 to 7.0 back to 5.0)

As PFG mentioned, the benefits of water changes can be overstressed.  Regular partial water changes are the best things you can do for your fish.

[beowulf]

Adding things to your water to adjust the pH just ends up becoming a vicious cycle.  The buffers rarely last that long, and sooner than naught you are back at your original pH anyway...

pH swings are a part of life for your South American fish.  In the tropics, most bodies of water shift pH a full degree, sometimes two, from day to night (i.e. from 5.0 to 7.0 back to 5.0)

As PFG mentioned, the benefits of water changes can be overstressed.  Regular partial water changes are the best things you can do for your fish.

I agree and often when you have things like driftwood etc in the tank this will bring down the pH a certain amount also.

[artw]

It is always a good idea to test your water before and an hour ot so after your waterchange just so you know how much, if any, the PH is changing.  If it changes too much,  just do a smaller,  or perhaps 2 small ones during the week.

but as others have told you, they, and myself frequently do large water changes and my fish don't seem to mind, they actually enjoy it, especially the tiger barbs.   (and they nip my arm hairs too, lol)

[PrincessFish]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement!!  I am going to chill and just focus on developing some regular water change good habits.   And . . . relax and enjoy watching my new fish of course.

[PuddleDuck]

Driftwood, as mentioned, will help. Peat in the filter can help too.

Or, you can do what I did, and buy an r/o unit 

[PrincessFish]

I actually started putting some (only 1/2 of 2 water changes) R/O water in when I didn't realize that it was the Flourite causing the GH to be 300!  And my KH dropped down to 10 . . . so, NO more R/O for me!

[PuddleDuck]

  Maybe less r/o water.

I used mine for about 1/4 - where we live we have hard water so I used it for my discus.

[PrincessFish]

Hey Jemima I love your handle!!
My tap water is really quite soft (GH=40) but the Flourite brought it up to a GH of 280 at first.  Now after 3 weeks it is settling down a bit and is down to GH=120.  I'm sure it will continue to drop as the tank matures and settles.  And my fish don't seem unhappy ;o)