Thanks for the tip, pop. I located the article on TDS. Interesting indeed. I too was skeptical that the temperature rise - even if it really was six degrees - could have such an immediate impact. That's what motivated me to post here to see whether others have had any similar experiences.
The article indicates that if Total Dissolved Solids are high in a tank, fish may struggle more to adapt to any change in pH. The use of the term 'TDS shock' (as the root cause behind pH shock) suggests to me that the impact can happen very quickly. But I'm still not clear how much of a change is considered significant.
Is a shift from pH 7.4 to 7.2 a big one?
Similarly, I'm not sure how suddenly the pH dropped. I had not tested it for a few weeks, and I did not test it immediately prior to the water change.
I monitored pH regularly both in the tank and at the tap when the tank was new... January through April of this year. My API kit consistently indicated a pH of 7.4 for both sources. During the spring, I reduced the frequency of my testing. I do partial water changes every week. Last night, the lower pH was evident both in the tank and in the tap water.
So it does appear that something changed in the water supply. Perhaps the city made a change in the treatment process at the start of summer. I don't have the ability to test GH, and I imagine GH/KH could have changed as well. Probably time to purchase one a test kit. Any suggestions?
-DD
The article indicates that if Total Dissolved Solids are high in a tank, fish may struggle more to adapt to any change in pH. The use of the term 'TDS shock' (as the root cause behind pH shock) suggests to me that the impact can happen very quickly. But I'm still not clear how much of a change is considered significant.
Is a shift from pH 7.4 to 7.2 a big one?
Similarly, I'm not sure how suddenly the pH dropped. I had not tested it for a few weeks, and I did not test it immediately prior to the water change.
I monitored pH regularly both in the tank and at the tap when the tank was new... January through April of this year. My API kit consistently indicated a pH of 7.4 for both sources. During the spring, I reduced the frequency of my testing. I do partial water changes every week. Last night, the lower pH was evident both in the tank and in the tap water.
So it does appear that something changed in the water supply. Perhaps the city made a change in the treatment process at the start of summer. I don't have the ability to test GH, and I imagine GH/KH could have changed as well. Probably time to purchase one a test kit. Any suggestions?
-DD
