Contiunuum PH buffer

[tiffany89]

Can you use the Continuum brand of PH buffer for you freshwater tanks?

Ive read that you can and I have also read that it will buffer for ! night then crash back to original PH which causes fish stress.

 

[ripped tide]

Elaborate a little more. What kind of freshwater tank? Where is the ph at now?

 

[tiffany89]

Is a South American freshwater. Oscars, catfish, and some odds and ends cichlids. The PH is at 6.0 and needs to be at 6.5 to 7.

 

[ripped tide]

I seriously wouldn't sweat it. Cichlids are tough. 6.0 really isn't too low for those guys.

How often are you doing water changes? Waste build up breaks down into organic acid and can lower the pH.

 

[stevhan]

Your South, Central and African River Cichlids will all do just fine in 6.0-6.5 pH. I wouldn't use a marine buffer because of the initial jump in pH that you will get. As Ripped Tide said your pH will drop with excessive organic matter. I would check your alkalinity and get that stabilized and then your pH should be a lot easier to stabilize.
Also beware because several buffers are buffered with phosphates and this is a strong buffer but could lead to algae issues if used too often.

 

[tiffany89]

Oh really? Im just getting into fresh water fish.. what would you suggest for an alk buffer? Or is the seachem one ok to use?

 

[ripped tide]

I get the sense that you want to add products to your aquariums. Lol. It's fun, makes ya feel like a chemist, ya know?

BUT, it's kinda like adding ingredients to a soup. Once you over do it, it is spoiled and a lot harder to fix.

So, I would reccommend that you share more information about your tank. Freshwater hardness is usually measured in GH. Have you tested for that? How high are your nitrates.

Just because you have a low pH doesn't mean that your hardness is too low, it may mean that your acid level is too high- usually the case with large dirty cichlids.

 

[bluespot]

Ripped Tide;872733 wrote: Just because you have a low pH doesn't mean that your hardness is too low, it may mean that your acid level is too high- usually the case with large dirty cichlids.

I agree 100%! I kept and bred african cichlids for more than 10 years. Bred nearly everything from 6 types of peacocks to frontosas to julies and had a total volume of 1400 gallons plus in my setups. I only ever used an "african cichlid mix" gravel for buffering. Pretty much just an aragonite and limestone crushed mix. It kept pH at a perfect 7.8-8.0 without any sort of chemical buffering.

If I didn't keep up with water changes the pH would fall to about 7.2. A lot of people would go for a highly touted "cichlid buffer" (carbonate additive I believe) to raise the pH. All that was needed was a good sized water change with gravel suctioning and pH was back to 7.8 with no chemicals added. African and South American cichlids are wonderful but also about the dirtiest, most waste producing fish out there. I would try up to a 40 or 50% water change, suction the gravel, and cut back on feeding or change water more frequently.