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When doing a water change i am always verrrrrry careful that the temp of the water added to the tank is the same as the water in the tank. Is this nessasary?? I also want the p.H. in the tank at 8.0.-8.1. and my tap water is 7.5.-7.6. is it nessasary to add chemicals to the new water to raise the p.H. to 8.0.-8.1.? If so what do i use? I'v tried Aquarium Pharmaceauticles p.H. up and it doesn't work. also i don't care how long it takes me to do it (im a way-over achiver and a perfectionist ). so any help you can give me will be appreciated.

Thanks, C.J.T

I LOVE MY 55GALLON REEF!!!!!

well, im not sure about the temp part but from what i've read using products to modify the ph isnt good because of dramastic changes and a constant change would stress the fish, there are some natural ways to raise the ph but im not sure what they are, but im sure someone here does

its me sk8freak20...i need to get premie so i can change my name back

Yes it is neccessary to add the same temperarture of water during water changes since sudden changes in temperatures can cause illnesses such as ich. During a water change my temperature never changes more than a degree Celcius. As for pH do not use any chemicals to alter it since there can be massive pH swings because these chemicals arent always stable. This will stress the fish out and most fish can adjust to pH levels. My pH is 7.6 and my fish do fine. And what fish were you planning on getting or why did you want to raise your pH?

Temp depends on the purpose for the water change. If you want to encourage cories to spawn, do a water change, and then replace with slightly cooler water to mimic rainfall.

i added some crushed coral when i set my tank up 6 months ago it stays at 7.8 and they seem to like it/:'

As pug said if you want corries and some other fish to spawn you should change the water with a 1-2 degree temp change, thus dropping the water temp slightly...but you wouldn't want to change any of the water parameters drastically as you could cause great amounts of stress in the tank and thus cause the fish to become ill in different ways, one main one we hear about here is ich heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

*breath*
i wouldn't worry about the pH

repeats in a mellow, hazzy voice:

I....won't...worry....about...the...PH...




lol

"Use the fauce-et."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

C.J.T

I always use a ph buffer when I do a water change.

As far as temp I never worry for the 5ft tank, and with the 11g i use the finger test for the temperature and that is about all.

im a way-over achiver and a perfectionist

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This is the way I have always worked.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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just a quick tip, a lot of people add water from the hot tap to balance the temperature of their tanks during water changes, in addition to adding copper to the water from the heating tank this water, despite the heat can often have its own bactiarial culture, this will effect ph and introduce metals into the water. so incase you were doing that- dont.Personally i always use water conditioners before putting any tapwater into the tank, and i have never had problems using this method.

I was getting water straight from our well. 1 faucet is connected almost directly and doesn't go through all the filtration, water softener, and water heater. Somewhere during the filtration the sulfur in the water would react to make hydrogen sulfide. Nasty smelling and toxic so I thought it best to avoid it completely. Water straight from the well is usually 50F. I let it warm up for awhile but it was probably never over 70F when I added it to my 78F tank. I also never had ich or the death of a fish near a water change so long as I didn't change a large amount of water at once. I did have lots of fish spawns.

i always make sure the water is the same temp, or near it, as for chemicals, RO/DI does the trick to purify the tap water

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

i just let the water sit over night in the 2 buckets so it goes to room temp and so the chlorine evaporates. this way it wont be much of a temp change to sress the fish..

to buffer the ph up i use coral sand.. it is the best way without useing chamilcals or any liquids.. i have a bag of it in my cannister and in a box filter in the tank.. buffers it nicely..

r0b3y