Trailblazur Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 For folks that have soft water fish aquariums, like 6.5ph, 0-2 GH/KH, is there concern for PH fluctuation 🤷🏼♂️ If so, how is that managed without raising the water hardness outside of the fish’s recommended soft water water parameters⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 It's fine. PH fluctuations are massively overestimated as a problem. My pH was 6.2 early this morning and here's my pH now. It will be 4.9 in about an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazur Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 On 5/25/2023 at 12:03 PM, Mmiller2001 said: It's fine. PH fluctuations are massively overestimated as a problem. My pH was 6.2 early this morning and here's my pH now. It will be 4.9 in about an hour. WOW, that’s a huge fluctuation. The fish don’t mind that huh, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 On 5/25/2023 at 10:27 AM, Trailblazur said: WOW, that’s a huge fluctuation. The fish don’t mind that huh, lol. No, it's one of the biggest misunderstood concepts there is. Only second to "heavy root feeders". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 On 5/25/2023 at 11:35 AM, Mmiller2001 said: No, it's one of the biggest misunderstood concepts there is. Only second to "heavy root feeders". I've seen people say that it's really sudden changes in kh that fish don't tolerate well. Have you found that to be true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 (edited) On 5/25/2023 at 12:31 PM, JettsPapa said: I've seen people say that it's really sudden changes in kh that fish don't tolerate well. Have you found that to be true? When I I got back into the hobby, I definitely ran into problems as you mention. But knowing what I know now, it was osmotic fluctuations/ differences that was at the root of my problems. Either KH, GH or a combination of the two. Keeping those parameters stable is where I focus my attention. The best tools to use are a simple GH/KH test kit and a TDS meter. If I notice a problem, these are the first things I check. I only monitor pH to measure CO2. Edited May 25, 2023 by Mmiller2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazur Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 On 5/25/2023 at 3:25 PM, Mmiller2001 said: When I I got back into the hobby, I definitely ran into problems as you mention. But knowing what I know now, it was osmotic fluctuations/ differences that was at the root of my problems. Either KH, GH or a combination of the two. Keeping those parameters stable is where I focus my attention. The best tools to use are a simple GH/KH test kit and a TDS meter. If I notice a problem, these are the first things I check. I only monitor pH to measure CO2. What is causing the KH/GH fluctuations and what do you do to combat that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 29, 2023 Share Posted May 29, 2023 Back then, I wasn't changing water frequently enough. I would get dips in both then do a big water change. Now I run 0dKH and do weekly 62% water changes which keeps GH and nutrient levels very stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazur Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 On 5/29/2023 at 11:16 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Back then, I wasn't changing water frequently enough. I would get dips in both then do a big water change. Now I run 0dKH and do weekly 62% water changes which keeps GH and nutrient levels very stable. Gotcha. well I guess I won’t necessarily get a dip in KH seeing as my tap has barely any detectable KH🤔🤷🏼♂️ I raise the GH w Equilibrium to about 3 degrees for the plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 29, 2023 Share Posted May 29, 2023 I just went to 5dGH. Things are looking good and I'll probably stay at 5 degrees. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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