PH Variation in tank (tropical)
Is your tap water treated with chlorine or chloramine or is it natural, like from a spring, well or reservoir?
While using rain water might sound like a good thing, it’s not as good as it sounds since rain water lacks the minerals, trace elements, etc. that water (from the ground) has in it. It’s these minerals, etc. that establish the pH of the water and help keep it buffered to a certain level. Without these minerals buffering the water, the water would be much more susceptible to pH crashes which can kill your fish.
Hopefully, by now, you’ve been to my blog and read the “Establishing your tap water baseline” article. It sounds like you will have to regularly test your tap water since you imply that your pH changes. This is common with natural water supplies as the water is not buffered up like most public utilities would do before allowing the water to go through the public pipes.. Utilities buffer up the water so the pH is above 7.0 so the water is not acidic in the pipes which would cause corrosion to the pipes over long periods of time. Even with my public utility supplied water, I find that during the hot summer months, the pH is higher… usually due to some of the mineral buildup on the insides of the pipes leaching into the warmer water flowing through the pipes.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to articles referenced above listed on the right side under Archives - Year, Month and under Labels)
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
