# Setting Up 4 Angel Fish Community



## Frank1971 (Aug 23, 2010)

O.K... I have been working on a Lake Malawi set for a couple months now, and an in the process of cycling a 55 gallon tank to move them into from a 29 gallon.

Once my all those Africans are transferred over, I want to set up an Angel Fish tank with my 29 gallon. It's not a high tank, like many suggest, but I was thinking of keeping the population at a minimum to compensate. I went down to my LFS, and asked the owner how I get my PH lower to accomadate for Angels and he said Reverse Osmosis, and advised where I can get this water in a few different places in town, including his shop. He suggested that when I'm ready, that I empty half my tank out and replace with RO Water. This would drop the PH lower at a very slow rate he said. I guess what I don't understand is how do you control the PH level? The more RO Water you put in, the more the PH level will drop? Also, every time I do a water change, will I have to go buy RO water?

I'm not sure, I'm in the research process right now, and any info on the questions above would be greatly appreciated.

Also, what bottom feeders do Angels go well with?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

What you would have to do is premix your water change water in buckets to get the same ph as in the tank. What is your ph now? and what are you wanting to change it to?


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## Frank1971 (Aug 23, 2010)

susankat said:


> What you would have to do is premix your water change water in buckets to get the same ph as in the tank. What is your ph now? and what are you wanting to change it to?


My water is very hard, 8.0+ which is perfect for my Cichlids. But, I have read that Angels like more acidic water, between 6.5 and 7.0. 

What do you mean pre-mix?


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Unless its a breeding pair of angels, you will only fit 1 in that 29g tank. Angels can and do get large.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Unless you are dealing with wild caught Angels, you don't need low ph water. Angels are very tough and will live and thrive in water with a ph from 6.5 to 7.5. The two best things to provide Angels are temp above 80F and clean water. If you source water has a high ph you can easily lower it with distilled water and peat filter pads.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Not true Neon. They thrive in low Ph waters, Mine live in 5.8 Ph and breed like friggin crazy. The low Ph constitutes acidic water conditions, this acidity actually is vital for the health of the fish overall, it wards off parasites and bacteria due to the acidity thus sustaining healthy fish.

My angels are kept lower then my discus are, none of my angels are wild caught They are at the maximum an F3(3rd gen bred in captivity). Gh and Kh play a vital roll in their wellbeing as well. There is alot more to water then just the Ph when you really want to get into the water chemistry per species.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

premixing is when you take tap water and mix it with distilled or RO water till you get the ph you want. You will have to do this with each change.


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## kubalik (Nov 25, 2010)

instead of going with RO water just set a layer of peatmoss under the gravel plus put some wood in the tank that should lower the ph nicely ... can use peat moss bagged in canister filter too .


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I don't think the peat and driftwood would lower it enough to get it to where he wants it.


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## Frank1971 (Aug 23, 2010)

susankat said:


> premixing is when you take tap water and mix it with distilled or RO water till you get the ph you want. You will have to do this with each change.


Mixing distilled water? Like distilled water from the grocery store?

Would I just mix in the RO or the distilled water in my bucket and test the PH before I refill my tank?

Then, would I continuously do water changes until I get the PH level I want in my tank?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes you can use distilled water from the store, it would probably be cheaper than buying ro water from lfs. If you already have fish in the tank you will have to lower that ph slowly so not to shock the fish. Once you get the tank to the ph you want, when you do your water changes you will have to pre mix the water in a bucket while checking the ph to match it to the tank ph then do your water change.


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## Frank1971 (Aug 23, 2010)

susankat said:


> Yes you can use distilled water from the store, it would probably be cheaper than buying ro water from lfs. If you already have fish in the tank you will have to lower that ph slowly so not to shock the fish. Once you get the tank to the ph you want, when you do your water changes you will have to pre mix the water in a bucket while checking the ph to match it to the tank ph then do your water change.


Thank you! That's some really good information, I will give that a shot!


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

RO water here in chicago is .50-1.25 per gallon. They make small affordable undersink RO units too, if you are interested, I used to buy the distilled and it got old quick, hauling water around in the car got irritating quickly.


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## Frank1971 (Aug 23, 2010)

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> RO water here in chicago is .50-1.25 per gallon. They make small affordable undersink RO units too, if you are interested, I used to buy the distilled and it got old quick, hauling water around in the car got irritating quickly.


Thank you for that info, the owner at my LFS says he sells it for .39 cents a gallon, that's a good comparison for me.

I'm in a small town in Utah, so that's probably the reason for the price difference... cheaper than buying distilled water at the store at .80 cents a gallon.

Thanks again


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Yes, wal-mart sells 5g water jugs for water coolers, those come with a handle as well, I suggest those if you are physically able which most should be to lift 50 pounds or use a transfer pump. BUt here they run 8 bucks a 5g jug so there id assume they charge around 6 bucks or so.

You can compare water rates too, here I get charged for every gallon that comes in and they double the bill to show was is going out. I am at a 1:1 ratio for intake/waste per my water dept. It was cheaper for me to get an 1:1 RO unit and filter my own water then fuel use to get to the LFS 15 miles away for RO water, I got a 210 so yeah I needed a CDL liscense to get that water home LOL


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I mix RO water with my 4 planted tanks every week. I do so more to keep my hardness to a certain level and for the most part, my ph is my ph. I don't shoot for a specific ph.

Mixing in the RO with your water changes is pretty easy and will be exceptionally so with a 29g tank. You can start with mixing 50/50 during a 50% water change. This would equate to roughly 25% RO in you tank and shouldn't alter your ph very much. All depends on the ph value of the RO water. Some believe it is always 7.0, but that is not true. After mine sits for about 12hrs it is 6.6. After a few water changes you will be at a 50/50 RO/tap mixture in your tank - roughly and that is the ph you should settle with, whatever value that comes out to be. Adding in more than a 50% mixture could cause you to run into other problems like water not being hard enpugh and having a fluctuating ph. If you need to go any lower then I would suggest CO2, but you may at that point get what you needed out of a layer of peat under the substrate, driftwood, and/or peat in your filter - these don't change the value too much usually and the effect will change over time.

I keep my Angels in water that is 6.3-7.0. This is the amount of change usually after my CO2 comes on. Haven't had any issues and they appear very healthy - 1 adult, 3 juvies. I keep my gh/kh in the 4-5 range, or try to at least.

EDIT: I forgot to add that my tap is 8.2 ph.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

your gh and kh are perfect, Jrman. Thats truly spot on to keep the Ph in check and keeps it below 7.0 I think 6+ is 7.0 an up.

Right now in certain parts of the US please check your tap water first, there is ALOT of chemicals the water departments are dumping in due to run off and heavy rains.


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