Stingrays and high ph levels?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
calgaryflames said:
yah i heard you the first 7 times you said this already.

the best advice i can give you is to call another pet store and listen to what they say,maybe they can sell you some more products :)
Click to expand...

I don't usually ask LFS's for advice. Only reason I asked Golds aquarium is cuz I'm friends with the owner and the workers which are Dennis's 2 brothers. I was proving a point with u cuz u were in denial how soft the Lower mainlands water is and how low our buffing capacity is especially when u don't even live here... Also u kept making assumptions what I might be doing wrong to make my geo tank alkaline but they were all wrong...


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Honestly, some people should just sit on their hands when they don't know what they are talking about.

Any sand that is made up from calcium carbonate mineral (such as aragonite sand) holds a lasting reservoir of calcium carbonate, which is slowly but constantly released, and will buffer and raise the pH of ones tank water on a continuous basis. Using aragonite sand can raise the pH to as high as 8.2. Some of the sand formulas that the OP is using (Geo System) are known to raise the buffering capacity & pH of tap water. As long as there is sand in the tank, it will continue to buffer the water. Ditto to crushed coral, crushed oyster shell, etc. In an area with water values such as Vancouver/Victoria, you simply need to replenish over time as these substances dissolve. This is all common knowledge to anyone that keeps fish & lives in this area.

As far as pH shock, it is indeed a myth, when fish die from osmotic shock it's due to a sudden change in TDS, not pH. This was all explained in great detail in this past discussion. I guess some people still don't get it.


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?415333-Reverse-osmosis-for-rays

.... and again here.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?415754-PH-shock-vs-Tds-Shock


Osmoregulation has nothing to do with pH, and everything to do with controlling the balance of water/salt concentrations. pH has nothing to do with regards to if ones water is a hypertonic solution, hypotonic solution, or if it's isotonic. The shock part of the equation comes in when a fish has difficulty reaching equilibrium.





Crazyfish - Say hello to Kevin & Dave for me. :)


HTH
 
RD. said:
Honestly, some people should just sit on their hands when they don't know what they are talking about.

Any sand that is made up from calcium carbonate mineral (such as aragonite sand) holds a lasting reservoir of calcium carbonate, which is slowly but constantly released, and will buffer and raise the pH of ones tank water on a continuous basis. Using aragonite sand can raise the pH to as high as 8.2. Some of the sand formulas that the OP is using (Geo System) are known to raise the buffering capacity & pH of tap water. As long as there is sand in the tank, it will continue to buffer the water. Ditto to crushed coral, crushed oyster shell, etc. In an area with water values such as Vancouver/Victoria, you simply need to replenish over time as these substances dissolve. This is all common knowledge to anyone that keeps fish & lives in this area.

As far as pH shock, it is indeed a myth, when fish die from osmotic shock it's due to a sudden change in TDS, not pH. This was all explained in great detail in this past discussion. I guess some people still don't get it.


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?415333-Reverse-osmosis-for-rays

.... and again here.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?415754-PH-shock-vs-Tds-Shock


Osmoregulation has nothing to do with pH, and everything to do with controlling the balance of water/salt concentrations. pH has nothing to do with regards to if ones water is a hypertonic solution, hypotonic solution, or if it's isotonic. The shock part of the equation comes in when a fish has difficulty reaching equilibrium.





Crazyfish - Say hello to Kevin & Dave for me. :)


HTH
Click to expand...


Well explained RD. That explains why my Geo's tank is alkaline. I'm no expert with TDS but I've been trying to tell Calgaryflames it's my sand that has a big part of it but he tried to be a smart *** and didn't believe me...Thank you for the full explanation. Now I understand. Sure I'll say hi to the Dung Brothers for you;)


Cheers Mate.
 
Correct on the substrates, anyone who keeps Africans knows to keep their water hard and PH high uses these type of substrates to maintain high level PH and Hardness. Its how I did it 15-20 years ago with my breeding colonies of Tropheus. Never did I find my PH below 8.2-8.4 using a crushed coral substrate. Even if you don't want to use it as a substrate, use nylons or nylon pull tied bags and put the substrate within these and put them in your sump. Will help to maintain a higher/more stable PH in your system.
 
johno27 said:
I am sure Calgary will be right in here to say he is sorry :)

Same thing applys to reef tanks or calcium reactors for that matter
Click to expand...


It's ok. Maybe when he use to live in Van the ph and hardness was higher. Also I know Victoria's water is slightly softer then Vancouver's water but as of today both cities water is very soft. We have major problems with stabilizing PH. This is one reason why I miss living in Calgary or other cities with harder water cuz I never had to deal with using buffers/crushed coral etc.
 
In Metro Detroit you could take a sledge hammer to the water we are kind of lucky

I have no idea what most of this mean :)

Aluminum Al mg/l 0.089
Iron Fe mg/l 0.039
Copper Cu mg/l 0.023
Magnesium Mg++ mg/l 7.05 10-15 mg
Calcium Ca++ mg/l 23.4 50-100 mg/l
Sodium Na+ mg/l 7.85 <150 mg/l
Potassium K mg/l 1.2
Maganese Mn mg/l 0.002
Zinc Zn mg/l 0.1
Silica SiO2 mg/l 23.2
Sulfate SO4- mg/l 37.2 <150 mg/l
Chloride Cl- mg/l 22.2 <200 mg/l
Sodium ( NA+)
Phosphorus P mg/l 0.26
Total Hardness mg/l 136 *
Total Alkalinity mg/l 90 *
(1) Bi-Carbonate Alkalinity mg/l 90 * 0-250 mg/l
Carbonate Alkalinity mg/l 0 *
Non-Carbonate Hardness mg/l 46 *
(Also known as permanent
hardness)
PH 7.89
Residual Alkalinity 69
 
Just as I expected. My PH raised nearly raised a point from swapping out the gravel with sand. My 450's PH went from 6.4 to 7.2. I haven't test my hardness yet but I'm certain it went up as well. I started with 4 x 22lb bags of sand. The fish are doing well. My stingrays are still eating like pigs and now they love the sand substrate. I still have 2 unopened bags of sand that I will add in on next water change schedule. Now my back kills lol. It wasn't easy taking out 120+ lbs of gravel...Once my water clears up more I'll share some quick snaps:)


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You might want to think about aging your water for water changes in a container with some crushed coral I am not sure how the swing in TDS right after water changes may affect them. Maybe someone that has more knowledge on the subject can tell you if that is advisable or not
 
johno27 said:
You might want to think about aging your water for water changes in a container with some crushed coral I am not sure how the swing in TDS right after water changes may affect them. Maybe someone that has more knowledge on the subject can tell you if that is advisable or not
Click to expand...

Ya I'm no expert with TDS but I do age my water in 55 gallon barrels for my water changes but without crushed coral.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom