"Vacation" feeding blocks---do they work?

iamntbatman

I've used these before successfully. Not all fish will really dig into them but some do. Basically, they're just big discs of inert gel (made from seaweed I believe) and full of daphnia. They don't foul your water like the plaster feeders do. They might be worth a shot. Even if your fish don't eat them, you can break them up and feed them to your fish when you get back.

karjean

I would not try to change the PH, what is the Ph of the aquarium and also the from the water source to fill the tank. You will stress the fish more if you try to change it.

never quit

Okay, it looks like I'll try to get those gel blocks. I've been around to the couple of pet shops in town and haven't noticed them, but then I wasn't looking for them either! As far as the ph, when I did a 20% change last Saturday and added some buffer. The ph then was ~ 7.0 and just now (Wednesday night) it looks like it's ~ 6.8. Does that seem to be reasonable steady ph?

Thanks
Never Quit

karjean

What do yoou mean by a constant PH? Your water source should have a constant PH. What is it's reading? You do stress the fishes more when you do add buffers in the aquarium. Basically, unless you exactly know what you are doing, you should only be adding some water conditionner when you do a water change. Keep any chemical on a last possible resource.

iamntbatman

It's natural for the pH to drop a bit like that (mostly because of the increased CO2 concentration). What's the pH of your water normally? Why are you fussing with it?

never quit

Well, again, I'm relatively new to this, and it's my understanding that you want to keep the ph from fluctuating, thus the buffer. I just took a ph of the incomnig city water and it's at least 7.6, that's the max on the color chart and it looks a little more blue than the max.
So let me ask this; if I shouldn't be using a buffer wouldn't the ph gradually drop, and make it unhealthy on the fish? Is that a symptom of something wrong with the tank? Is there an alternative to the buffer that I can use?
Thanks a lot! I REALLY appreciate your help! Don't worry about hurting my feelings, you're making me a better fish keeper!

Thanks
Never Quit

iamntbatman

If your water has any amount of KH (carbonate hardness) then it has some buffering capacity on its own (the higher the KH, the more buffering capacity the water has). If your pH is naturally above 7.6 it's probably already quite hard. I would get the pH and hardness of your tap water tested. The LFS should be able to do this for you. Just make sure they give you exact numbers and be sure they don't use paper test strips.

never quit

Okay, I can do that.....I'll let you know the results, then I'd like your recommendations.

never quit

Okay, took a sample of water to the fish store. Unfortunately, he only had the test strips....He said the KH was okay, and the ph was 6.4....When I ran the test using the wet method, I got a KH of 120 and a ph of 6.8.
Tomorrow I'll do a 20% water change.......Do you recommend I use more buffer?

Thanks
Never Quit

Mikaila31

No don't use any more buffer. I have a pH of 7.6 out of tap and never have any issues with it. It is important to have a stable pH, buffers get used up and with your hard water you are fighting a loosing battle. This results in the pH doing a rollercoaster effect between 6.8 and 7.4pH. This stresses fish, they are not picky on their pH, but they do need the pH to be stable.