Water Ph.

[Cricket]

So i finally got to checking the ph in my water barrel(which holds roughly 80+ gallons). All I have in it is a heater and lots of aeration. However I have a bit of a problem the ph in my water barrel reads 8.2 my small tank water and the water coming out of the tap reads 7.8 my bigger tank reads 8.2 Ive been wondering what is causing the ph in my water barrel to spike. I can't seem to find out what is causing this, so I thought maybe it was the water barrel its self. I switched over to a 50 gallon hex glass tank, filled it up stuck a heater in it with lots of aeration and then checked the ph, it reads 7.8; I woke up in the morning checked the ph again it reads 8.2. So I was wondering, can too much aeration cause a swing in ph?

 

[Cricket]

I was thinking maybe it has to do with the gas exchange after sitting in the barrel/tank for 24 hrs with aeration. Um maybe if i treat the water with a water conditioner first? I will try that tonight.

 

[carcrazy]

I have heard of people using peat moss to lower the ph and soften water. Perhaps you can attach a filter somehow with peat moss in it and run it for a while? As long as there is no fertilizer in the peat moss, it should be safe.

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Tap water stabilizes after about 24 hours. There's no point in testing right our of the tap, since you will get a different reading 24 hours later. Things like aeration and even temp swing will give different readings as well.

 

[EEYY]

So i finally got to checking the ph in my water barrel(which holds roughly 80+ gallons). All I have in it is a heater and lots of aeration. However I have a bit of a problem the ph in my water barrel reads 8.2 my small tank water and the water coming out of the tap reads 7.8 my bigger tank reads 8.2 Ive been wondering what is causing the ph in my water barrel to spike. I can't seem to find out what is causing this, so I thought maybe it was the water barrel its self. I switched over to a 50 gallon hex glass tank, filled it up stuck a heater in it with lots of aeration and then checked the ph, it reads 7.8; I woke up in the morning checked the ph again it reads 8.2. So I was wondering, can too much aeration cause a swing in ph?

Unless the ph is really that high, otherwise I would guess that you need to re-calibrate your ph meter/monitor by using ie ph 4.01 / 7.01 / 10.01 Milwaukee buffer solution.

 

[Cricket]

When I add aeration for 24 hrs the ph changes. Oh well ill just use some prime.

 

[EEYY]

When I add aeration for 24 hrs the ph changes. Oh well ill just use some prime.

Another quick way to lower your ph level is to add acid / neutral regulator (by Seachem), but you need to use it gradually. The best case is to add the acid regulator and checking the ph level at the same time.