# (ph7.8) in my tank water---tap water also at 7.8ph



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

my question is if my tank water is 7.8 ph and also is my tap water(7.8ph) and when i add driftwood ,thats going to lower my ph lets say to 7.0 and when i do a water chenge with the ph of 7.8 how is that going to efect my ph overall dose it even matter and if ,what should i do about that.because i know its bad if the ph flunctuate up and down so i want to prevent that little promlem


----------



## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

You need to know your kH levels to know how much your pH is apt to fluctuate.


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

taylorhedrich said:


> You need to know your kH levels to know how much your pH is apt to fluctuate.


when i get that test kit ill post in here and get some help because i have no clue how this works.thanks


----------



## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

Quick and dirty.....too high of a KH or too low and your ph will be subjected to swings. This is because KH reprsents the buffering capacity of your water.

If your KH isnt balanced....then you may notice crazy ph with or without the wood when you do changes


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

flashover00 said:


> Quick and dirty.....too high of a KH or too low and your ph will be subjected to swings. This is because KH reprsents the buffering capacity of your water.
> 
> If your KH isnt balanced....then you may notice crazy ph with or without the wood when you do changes


since you put it that way, would it matter if i added the driftwood in.


----------



## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

bud......weiser said:


> Quick and dirty.....too high of a KH or too low and your ph will be subjected to swings. This is because KH reprsents the buffering capacity of your water.
> 
> If your KH isnt balanced....then you may notice crazy ph with or without the wood when you do changes


since you put it that way, *would it matter if i added the driftwood in.*
[/quote]
That's what we don't know, because we need to know your kH levels first.


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

taylorhedrich said:


> Quick and dirty.....too high of a KH or too low and your ph will be subjected to swings. This is because KH reprsents the buffering capacity of your water.
> 
> If your KH isnt balanced....then you may notice crazy ph with or without the wood when you do changes


since you put it that way, *would it matter if i added the driftwood in.*
[/quote]
That's what we don't know, because we need to know your kH levels first.








[/quote]
ok no more out of me







,when i get the kit ill post....i must of misunderstood..its just the way he said it,"then you may notice crazy ph with or without the wood when you do changes"--it most have confused me..


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

what about gh,whats that for????


----------



## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

bud......weiser said:


> what about gh,whats that for????


I think gh stands for 'general hardness', but I could be way off on that.


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

taylorhedrich said:


> what about gh,whats that for????


I think gh stands for 'general hardness', but I could be way off on that.
[/quote]
ya your right it is general hardness and also its for freshwater testing but beyond that i have no clue what it is....


----------



## nomoneyx (Feb 14, 2007)

GH is general hardness and is the measure of calcium and magnesium ions in the water. When someone is saying that a certin fish needs hard or soft water they are talking about the GH of the water. KH is carbonate hardness and is the measure of bicarbonate and carbonate ions in the water and stabilizes ph. If I were you I would go with the driftwood it will lower your ph but not by that much. I put two pieces of driftwood in my tank and I did not notice any change in my ph. Just make sure it is clean before you put it in and monitor your ph for the first few weeks after you put it in to make sure your ph does not fluctuate to much.


----------



## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

nomoneyx said:


> GH is general hardness and is the measure of calcium and magnesium ions in the water. When someone is saying that a certin fish needs hard or soft water they are talking about the GH of the water. KH is carbonate hardness and is the measure of bicarbonate and carbonate ions in the water and stabilizes ph. If I were you I would go with the driftwood it will lower your ph but not by that much. I put two pieces of driftwood in my tank and I did not notice any change in my ph. Just make sure it is clean before you put it in and *monitor your ph for the first few weeks after you put it in to make sure your ph does not fluctuate to much.*


Hence the need to know what the KH of his water is before he puts the driftwood in...



> You need to know your kH levels to know how much your pH is apt to fluctuate.


....word


----------



## nomoneyx (Feb 14, 2007)

Just giving my opinion since you don't have a KH test. Sometimes it is hard to find a KH test, seems like you usually have to buy a big testing kit to get one. From my, I will admit, short experience higher KH is related to a higher ph. I guess if you wanted to be extra safe you could just get a bucket fill it with water throw your driftwood in and wait a week and retest the ph to see how much the driftwood lowers the ph. Even if you did know your exact KH I don't know how you would determine how much a piece of drift wood would lower your ph.


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

I wouldn't worry about the driftwood. In an aquarium there wouldn't be enough tannins to adversely affect the pH. If your tank water is the same as your tap water you could be assured that you would have know issues doing weekly 30% water changes. Just my opinion.


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

Dr. Giggles said:


> I wouldn't worry about the driftwood. In an aquarium there wouldn't be enough tannins to adversely affect the pH. If your tank water is the same as your tap water you could be assured that you would have know issues doing weekly 30% water changes. Just my opinion.


the driftwood isnt in yet im just asking so i dont have any problemS when the time comes to put it in but do you know how much does the driftwood lower my ph by or is that all in the matter of what my kh is at and TAYLOR IM HAVING TROUBLE FINDING THE KH TEST KIT.


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

how about this guys i put the driftwood in and monitor my ph everyday and if i see slight changes i will pull it out and go from there by posting what i have concluded and also its hard to find a kh test kit i dont have a car so going to store to store takes a lot of time.how does that sound i mean how bad can it turn out by doing that.and thanks for everybodies input on this...


----------



## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

well what do you people say about post#16.


----------

