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Tap Water Chemistry, Done?

jjohnwm said:
pH 7 is neutral; less is acidic, more is alkaline. Hardness is a separate issue.

Maintaining fish that are well-suited to your water makes your life...and that of the fish!...infinitely more pleasant than maintaining water that is well-suited to your fish.
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That's just it, my KH sits at 51-68ppm (3-4)
 
Roger Mcfish said:
Aren't those readings pretty low?
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They're slightly below what many people consider ideal. So you have slightly less buffering capacity than you would have with a higher KH.

That isn't the kiss of death. Those dreaded pH "crashes" that the water-chemistry-fanboys speak of in hushed whispers don't just happen on their own...and they aren't caused by low KH. pH drops because of overfeeding, overcrowding, inadequate water changes and generally poor maintenance. Avoid those pitfalls and your pH won't crash.

Large and frequent water changes are the solution and prevention to just about all aquarium problems, and they have no downside as long as you have access to the water. Those large changes are much easier and more convenient to do when you don't need to putz around with additives and mixtures and other mumbo-jumbo in an effort to create the "perfect" water.

I know what my well water chemistry is, and don't test it as a general rule. How many times do you need to repeat the same test and get the same results before you trust it? I also don't test any of my aquariums as a rule; same reason. I do nearly-100% changes at least weekly, and don't overcrowd or overfeed, so the old water I am taking out is not far removed from the new water going in.

Don't change water when it gets dirty; change it before it has a chance to get dirty.

My outdoor stock tanks and pond are the exception to the testing rule. When I fill them I use an admixture of well water and snowmelt (rainwater), only because I don't want to overtax my well by drawing an additional couple thousand gallons of water in just a couple days time. I test them a lot for the first few days to get a handle on the numbers and to reduce the risk of sudden pH shock when I bring the fish outside. After a few years of that, I'm starting to believe it's also unnecessary. My rainwater is generally at zero hardness and 7 pH; I can gauge the results in the stock tanks easily by just monitoring the percentage of well versus rain water used to fill them.
 
jjohnwm said:
They're slightly below what many people consider ideal. So you have slightly less buffering capacity than you would have with a higher KH.

That isn't the kiss of death. Those dreaded pH "crashes" that the water-chemistry-fanboys speak of in hushed whispers don't just happen on their own...and they aren't caused by low KH. pH drops because of overfeeding, overcrowding, inadequate water changes and generally poor maintenance. Avoid those pitfalls and your pH won't crash.

Large and frequent water changes are the solution and prevention to just about all aquarium problems, and they have no downside as long as you have access to the water. Those large changes are much easier and more convenient to do when you don't need to putz around with additives and mixtures and other mumbo-jumbo in an effort to create the "perfect" water.

I know what my well water chemistry is, and don't test it as a general rule. How many times do you need to repeat the same test and get the same results before you trust it? I also don't test any of my aquariums as a rule; same reason. I do nearly-100% changes at least weekly, and don't overcrowd or overfeed, so the old water I am removing is not far removed from the new water going in.

Don't change water when it gets dirty; change it before it has a chance to get dirty.

My outdoor stock tanks and pond are the exception to the testing rule. When I fill them I use an admixture of well water and snowmelt (rainwater), only because I don't want to overtax my well by drawing an additional couple thousand gallons of water in just a couple days time. I test them a lot for the first few days to get a handle on the numbers and to reduce the risk of sudden pH shock when I bring the fish outside. After a few years of that, I'm starting to believe it's also unnecessary. My rainwater is generally at zero hardness and 7 pH; I can gauge the results in the stock tanks easily by just monitoring the percentage of well versus rain water used to fill them.
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That's what probably confused me then on low kh. Was also always worried about how centrals do better with slightly higher KH.
I do perform large water changes weekly at 75%. Thank you
 
I've kept central american cichlids on just rainwater fine, much softer than that. And a couple handfuls of coral or bird grit in the filter to keep the PH from dropping too much. I think your much harder tap water will be just fine.
 
Bring thread back up.

So I've asked a few others outside this forum for experience as well. Such as breeders in Georgia and North Carolina that have similar water chemistry as me. I've also asked a few moderators and collectors from the cichlid association about my water source with central american cichlids and messing with buffers.
90% of their responses were no need for buffers with a pH of 7.2-7.4 with low kh and GH. They've said key is clean water, steady parameters and routine maintenance and they'll thrive. One breeder in Georgia that breeds centrals in soft water like mine said he's never added anything to his water to breed species such as trimacs and keeps good water quality and he has over 20 years of breeding. Another breeder in North Carolina said he can't keep his carpintis from breeding and has exact chemistry as me. Even with the people from the cichlid association, they've all stated a lot of times, buffers will do more harm than good.

So with my centrals and to eliminate buffers, I am going to slowly start reducing usage of buffers
 
jjohnwm said:
They're slightly below what many people consider ideal. So you have slightly less buffering capacity than you would have with a higher KH.

That isn't the kiss of death. Those dreaded pH "crashes" that the water-chemistry-fanboys speak of in hushed whispers don't just happen on their own...and they aren't caused by low KH. pH drops because of overfeeding, overcrowding, inadequate water changes and generally poor maintenance. Avoid those pitfalls and your pH won't crash.

Large and frequent water changes are the solution and prevention to just about all aquarium problems, and they have no downside as long as you have access to the water. Those large changes are much easier and more convenient to do when you don't need to putz around with additives and mixtures and other mumbo-jumbo in an effort to create the "perfect" water.

I know what my well water chemistry is, and don't test it as a general rule. How many times do you need to repeat the same test and get the same results before you trust it? I also don't test any of my aquariums as a rule; same reason. I do nearly-100% changes at least weekly, and don't overcrowd or overfeed, so the old water I am taking out is not far removed from the new water going in.

Don't change water when it gets dirty; change it before it has a chance to get dirty.

My outdoor stock tanks and pond are the exception to the testing rule. When I fill them I use an admixture of well water and snowmelt (rainwater), only because I don't want to overtax my well by drawing an additional couple thousand gallons of water in just a couple days time. I test them a lot for the first few days to get a handle on the numbers and to reduce the risk of sudden pH shock when I bring the fish outside. After a few years of that, I'm starting to believe it's also unnecessary. My rainwater is generally at zero hardness and 7 pH; I can gauge the results in the stock tanks easily by just monitoring the percentage of well versus rain water used to fill them.
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Yeeup. lazy = ph crashes
 
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