What should I do????

[anniefish]

Hi all,
I'm having trouble getting the Ph down from 8.2. I dose with white vinegar and get down to about 7.8, but when I check again usually 12 hours later, it is back up again.

I have two systems one with about 100 Jade Perch (fingerlings added last Thursday) in a concrete tank with a bio filter, the other with yabbies and a gravel grow bed. Both do the same thing.

Any ideas to keep the pH down? What is a safe Ph to have? I'm worried that changing the Ph too much, too often will upset the fish.

Thanks in advance,
Ann

[Dufflight]

Not sure. Try and do a search on concrete tanks. I'm not sure if they push the PH up a lot. As a system ages it tends to drift down. How olds is the system.

[anniefish]

Hi Dufflight,

Thanks for your reply. The tank has had water in it for over a year, but have been cycling through grow bed filled with gravel, and had some yabbies in the tank for about 2 months. Our water comes from a bore and is 8.2 Ph. We would have thought the tank should not affect the water by now.

Annie

[Dufflight]

AP water is a little acidic. Most systems end up around the 7 ish. As the bacteria catches up with the fish the system will come down unless the concrete buffers this. My system runs with gravel and had a ph of 8ish to start but once I got fish the ph has come down by itself. Up until that point I was using a little peat to counter the ph.

When you add vinegar it brings down the PH and makes the water more acidic and this could then eat a little away from the concrete and what is released brings the ph back up. Buffering your water. Others might have a better idea on what to use to counter this. As the system ages it will work itself out. Or you may have to add something to the GB's to help counter the PH swing.

[anniefish]

Thanks Dufflight,

So, should I not worry too much until the ammonia starts rising? I'm just worried about toxicity increased with Ph. How high can ammonia/nitrite get before it will affect the fish?

The fish are very happy and eating like little savages.

Annie

[aussieap]

Hi annie.

You are probably going to have to live with it. Both the gravel and concrete tank will tend to keep ur pH up and ur system water is high too.You may see some signs of nutrient blockout in ur plants at that level, keep an eye out for that. I don't really see the point in fighting the natural balance in the system. If you can top up with rainwater instead of bore water, that may help a bit.

It really just gives you a bit less margin for error in terms of fish health and plant potential. Make sure you have plenty of aeration 24/7. I also tend to fedd b4 pump cycles than after, just to get that elevated ammonia from feeding, out to the growbeds asap.

At least you will never have to buy shellgrit! Sounds like ur fish are handling it ok.

[anniefish]

Hi Aussieap,

Thanks for your ideas, I think I am stuck with high Ph, just have to be careful.

Annie

[Outbackozzie]

Yep

Only problem at that ph is nutrient uptake (iron etc) sometime spraying the leaves with seasol or iron chelate solution can help, if a problem is noticed.

[anniefish]

Hi all,

Another question, I was using wadding bought at the pet shop for filtering, I use the same wadding in patchwork, so bought some. This one has 'antimicrobial protection' it says:-

"Treated with Ultra-FreshTM for your lasting protection against bacteria, dust-mites, fungi , mould, mildew and odour."

My query is -do you think this will affect the system? I didn't use it as I was worried that it might kill any good bugs. I'm sure the one at the pet shop was not treated.

Annie

[fishfood]

Dont use the pachwork one you dont know what the treatment is