Update on 75 gallon *bichir* tank, Pics and Videos

[Pufferpunk]

You're going to need your own filtration system. If you are using it for SW, I'm surprised you didn't get one yet.

Filbert ate the Ornate...

[sevenyearnight]

Water from my PUR tap: 8.0
Just changed out 5 gallons.
My CO2 levels are within range now.

The RO systems are so pricey, Roba wants to but me one but I feel bad because I'm unemployed.
I'm sorry about your ornate, he really did look too much like a worm
Mortimer has decided that he looks like a worm too, he occasionally bites on his tail now if he turns around sharply enough to see it.
I may also have to rehome L-Seven, he's started to turn on her :/

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, a $60 worm!

[sevenyearnight]

Ok, my tap water right now is testing at 7.2 ph, I don't know how long it's been at that Ph, but I have to assume that something in my tank is lowering the ph. I did a water change today with water at 8.0 ph, tested a few min later, maybe a little
higher than normal, but now it's exactly the same low somewhat below 6.4 ph.
I think it might be the plant substrate. I haven't been adding CO2, and that reads in the correct range. I don't have drift wood at the moment.
What can I do to safely raise the Ph? I'd like it to at the very least stay above 6.5, but no greater than 7.0 because my south american fish need slightly acidic water.

[Flutter]

I keep our discus at a pH of above 8 without any problems. It's probably around 8.4-8.6 and they've been in it for almost a year and are doing quite well. They get tap water and we don't change a thing about it other than adding Prime and CO2 for a few hours a day. Our water is also very hard and they deal with that fine as well. Hardness is around 16-18.

[sevenyearnight]

Ok, but I still need to get the Ph up. There are only plants, 3 fish, ceramic, sand, rocks, and plant substrate in the tank. The water going in is 7.2, the tank tests at >6.4 within a few hours. Today I did a small water change with 8.0 ph water, still reading low.
What can I do to hold the ph at least at 6.5?

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

Seven, you could add a good buffer. Seachem makes one that targets the 7.0 ph range or API Proper PH 7.0. I have used both over the year when I needed a stable 7.0 in tanks in the past with great success. Btw, the SunSun canister filters are pretty good filters for those prices. I would buy a hw-404 or the older model hw-304 which both is a 530 gph canister 4 basket with built in uv that has an on/off switch on that. About around $70-90 on ebay.

PP, sorry to hear about your bichir. You know that a fahaka will eat anything that looks like a worm. Trials and errors and we all still tend to keep doing them, myself included.

And Flutter those ph ranges are african cichlid ranges that you have for discus....lol. That's crazy and dont how you can do it with such sensitive fish like a discus. Now I never could keep discus alive but that was a good 15 years ago though. So things would probley be different now with alot of my trials and errors.

[Flutter]

They haven't even had a single health issue and the female lays eggs approximately every 2 weeks. I don't think that pH matters as long as it's stable. We don't change our water for the fish.

sevenyearnight, get some tap water and let it sit for 24 hours and then test it. pH changes as the water gasses off. Let us know what it is after 24 hours, it may help you find out why your tank pH is low.

[sevenyearnight]

sevenyearnight, get some tap water and let it sit for 24 hours and then test it. pH changes as the water gasses off. Let us know what it is after 24 hours, it may help you find out why your tank pH is low.

Oh! I didn't know, I'll do this.
I thought buffers weren't recommended, but if it's safe, I'll try it.

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

They haven't even had a single health issue and the female lays eggs approximately every 2 weeks. I don't think that pH matters as long as it's stable. We don't change our water for the fish.

Oh wow, they bred and laid eggs with such a high ph? Now these are tank raised discus right and not wild caughts? Because I have heard tank raised discus that can thrive in hard water and a higher ph.

[Pufferpunk]

95% of the discus you see at shops are tank raised/bred.

[Flutter]

Yes, they're tank bred/raised. The female is a .... something cross. Brain fart on the name but it's the one with the dark/prominent 4th bar. Heckel? She lays eggs and her partner gobbles them up. He drives us crazy as she is so desperate to breed and he'll do every pairing behaviour but mate. They're an obvious pair but he's about as sharp as a sock filled with soup. We don't want to breed them and they really wouldn't be successful in our water but it is nice to see her so healthy. He's just brain damaged I swear....

I'm really interested to see what the pH is after 24 hours. I hope it helps solve the mystery.

[sevenyearnight]

Ok at 10:30 pm
Reg tap: 7.2 ph
Pur: 8.0 ph

Will test at 12 hours first, then 24.

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

Ph not wanting to stay stable. That's why I metioned a good buffer that targets a certain ph range.

Flutter thats what I had about 15 years ago was a Heckel. LOL, that male rather eat then breed. Most shops and breeders close to me keeps their discus ph 6.5 and they are all tank raised and bred.

[sevenyearnight]

10:30 am
Tap: 6.8 ph
Pur: 6.8 ph
So what ever mineralization Pur does doesn't hold.
Algae seems to have been stunted by the daily water changes, and plants are still growing, so I guess I have finally neutralized my over fertilization.
Tank levels are still the same. Going to pick up a buffer today, would raising the ph to 6.8 within a weeks time be too slow or too fast?