Koi Fish Information Centre

Turbocoupe76 said… among other things: “…I was told that running a fast current in a tank helps bring up the PH because it makes the Limestone(buffer) that the county LI, NY puts in the water, evaporate. Is this true???…”
Limestone would buffer up the water and increase hardness allowing the pH to increase or at least not decrease… but I think you may have misread what they are adding. I understand that some utilities add Lime (not Limestone) to the water to buffer it up… that is, raise the pH to keep the water from being acidic and corroding the pipes. If this Lime breaks down, it would actually result in your pH lowering. The faster flowing (agitated) water would outgas CO2 better which would raise the pH since CO2 in the water causes a lower pH.
Here’s a snip from a water utilities website…
Corrosion Control EBMUD adds calcium hydroxide (lime) or sodium hydroxide to the water at the source or at water treatment plants to control corrosion. Using lime to achieve a slightly alkaline chemical balance prevents the water from corroding EBMUD’s distribution pipes and consumers’ plumbing. This keeps substances like lead from leaching out of plumbing fixtures and into the drinking water.
These next two sites actually have pretty simple explanations of how they treat their waters if you want to read more and get a general idea on what’s done before you get to drink it.. one in the USA, one in Canada… http://www.ebmud.com/water_&_environment/water_quality/water_treatment_plant s/ http://www.saskatoon.ca/org/water_treatment/water_treatment/treatment_proces s.asp
Try to find a similar page on your own water utility treatment plant’s website for more details on what is done to your tap water.
Adding salt and especially Marine Salt would increase the hardness of the water.
You should do the 48 hour tap water baseline test on your tap water to really find out what your starting point is so you will then know how far off your tanks are getting from the baseline. See my blog for details in my article “Find Your Tap / Source Water Baseline” http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/05/find-your-tap-source-water-baseline.ht ml
WooHoo… I was curious if anyone else had been writing about this so I just did a Google on - find your tap water baseline - and my article came up at the top of Google’s search.
Yes, Brine Shrimp are easy to hatch but they can also be a little work since they do die off quickly in the DIY breeding chambers like 2-liter coke bottles, however if you set up a tank strictly for breeding brine shrimp, they can live for several months and keep re-breeding so you could constantly net some live ones to feed your fish. They do have fish food brands that sell frozen brine shrimp cubes which are easier to use.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)

Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society