TANGANYIKA BUFFER

Hi folks,

Just wondering if anyone uses or has used Tanganyika Buffer and if so what are your experiences?

My ph used to be 8.2 straight from our tap but it has dropped to 7.6 over the last few weeks.

I was thinking about getting this.

www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/TanganyikaBuffer.html

Thanks in advance,
Pete

I no longer have tanganyikan's as such (although I do have tanganyikan cats), so I tend not to browse the Tanganyika additives on shelves nowadays (and I'd previously blend my own mix anyway or simply made sure that the substrate had good buffering capacity).

I gather that what you have is a rather good filtration system and some reasonable buffering and that would explain why the acid content of your water increases 4-fold (pH 8.2 to 7.6) yet doesn't crash to being acidic.

Seachem is a reputable source of material, I also note that do a "lake salt" and "trace elements".
I see that the blend of lake salts seems reasonable for tang as it has respected the magnesium content.

I'm not a great fan of too much in the way of additives, but I'm sure I can't see anything about that product that gives me major concerns.

On the whole, thought, I would be fan of large water frequent water changes and a buffering substrate (eg coral gravel).

ian

thanks for sharing about the product. this buffer seems to be the real deal.i use tropic marin and have lots of ocean rocks and sand/ gravel but is impossible achieve a ph of more than 8.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but just wondering how important it is to buffer the water up that high? My tank is about 7.4 using coral sand and rock, but wonder should I use something like this to increase it? In the tank are a few Shellies and Masked Julies. Would they be more comfortable in a higher pH?
Also, I added no salt, should I consider this too?
Thanks,
Lorcan.

Dont be silly lorcan sure we are all learning

yes they would be more comfortable in a higher ph i keep mine at a ph of 8.5 i use caribsea african substrate mixed with coral sand and coral rocks yes i also use seachems lake salts and trace minerals and have had nothing but success with them, i find these bring out the best in the fish, although my shellie tank is 7.8ph using just coral sand and tuffa rock and they breed like wildfire for me in it.. just goes to prove it can be done without additives, its your own personal choice which way you want to go but they wont be happy i find in a ph under 7.5

Just to add, this is a copy/paste job which makes a lot of sense to me. For the academics maybe not.
This is what happens in reality!

Source:
www.fishlore.com/Articles/PHArticle.htm

In the wild, pH is not as stable as many of us think. It fluctuates considerably. In Indian waters I have observed higher pH during day times and lower during nights. Also, pH is lower in autumn and higher in spring. In autumn, dead leaves fall and decay in watersheds leaching out acids like tannin, which acidifies the water. In spring there are more monsoon rains, hence more oxygen dissolves and therefore the pH pumps up.

In aquaria, pH is not perfectly stable either. pH changes in accordance with aeration, decoration, gravel, temperature, nitrate content, dissolved minerals and many more.

Aerating 20 litres of water for 4 hours took my tap water pH from 7.8 to 8.6.
Gravel that you use also plays an important part in your tank's pH. Any decor like corals or fossils hikes your tank's hardness and hence your tank's pH.
Decorations like driftwood or bogwood can lower pH.
High nitrate levels lowers pH. Don't use high nitrate levels as a means of reducing pH. High nitrate levels are highly stressful to fish.
Water maintained under higher temperature also tends to be acidic.
You can also observe some mild pH fluctuations during water changes.
If you have a planted tank, you can observe considerable pH fluctuations during day and night hours. When there is light, plants carry out photosynthesis, taking in carbon-dioxide and giving out oxygen. This raises your tank's pH. At night plants respire, taking in oxygen and giving out carbon-dioxide. This reduces pH.
Pumping in carbon-dioxide for the well-being of plants also lowers water pH.
I have successfully housed discus, angels, rams and tetras in a 55 gallon tank for more than a year with a pH of around 8.3-8.6 and hardness way up without any problem. All these are said to be acid loving fishes but they thrive in fairly hard, alkaline water (above pH 8).
Conclusion
So pH is not nearly as important as it is believed to be. What I would suggest is that if you intend to get so called acid-loving fish like discus or tetras don't rush or panic to bring down the pH, or in the case of Malawians don't rush to lift the pH to around 9. Stay cool and your fish can adapt to your tap water, and don't spend more on water softeners like RO units or resins or water hardeners.

I don't advocate you not to change your pH deliberately, but I would advocate you not to make alterations in pH in a panic. If you are so particular in bringing down pH you can rely on peat-filtration or a piece of driftwood. Instead of spending on RO or other resins, you can spend that money on a bigger tank. Try to keep your pH fairly stable. If you are so concerned about your fish's health, consider regular water changes. Don't panic and get into a mess as fishes face more nightmares and harsh conditions in the wild than in home aquaria. I would also advocate against using a pH lowering chemical until you know its ingredients and its working, and NEVER TEND TO INCREASE OR LOWER YOUR pH RAPIDLY.


The bottom line is "don't mess with your fish, leave them alone!"

Dave

the above article makes good sense. over the last 25 years i have kept and bred just about most tang cichlids from the most delicate to the hardiest and i never fuss about ph and hardness. it is much more important to have stability and good water quality. as long as i maintain above 7.6 ph (optimum 7.8)and reasonable mid to hard water. (bread soda and epson or marine salt added at water changes only)
the fish thrive. to achieve and maintain very high ph and hardness is expensive and difficult and values have to be consistently and regularly tested and tweaked.
the mentioned additives/buffers such as seachem etc. are very good and work well but are not essential and stability is the key to all good fishkeeping.

thanks for the advice guys; after reading the above posts i am not gonna go panic 'UP' the water ph in my primarily tangayikan tank anymore. its nearly always around the 7.5 mark but nitrate level always very low.

i have a 100l tang tank with 4:1 coral:play sand mix for substarte, at 2" deep and a large ocean rock, my pH is very high (8.8 last i tested) but i just add same temp tap water with a pinch of marine salt and dechlorinator straight in, and that comes out the ground at 7.2. sometimes i do 30% changes and i've had 3 spawns from leleupi so far and great growth rate from some multi fry i aquired. yea a water change with different pH water will affect pH a little bit but it hasn't done any harm even to new born fry, and the sand buffers it back to stable levels

just get good coral sand and let it do its magic