Stubborn PH

G

GiddyUpGo

AC Members
Jun 18, 2007
6
0
0
My husband and I recently purchased a small 12 gallon tank with the intent of keeping easy, non-aggressive fish. I had a tank when I was a kid but other than that neither of us have any fish-keeping experience. We got our tank ready and right out of the gate were sold a fish who turned out to have ich. Within a couple of days all our fish had ich. We bought some ich treatment, which was supposed to work within three days, but we ended up having to use it for a couple of weeks before all the symptoms went away. Then one of our fish, (a Krib) whom we were told by a salesperson was non-aggressive, started killing all of our fish. So we had the ich outbreak and a massacre all within the first couple of months of tank ownership. We now have just two fish left; a tetra and a dwarf gourami.

So I mention all of that because I don't know how much of it has to do with the problem we're having right now. We have well water, but I've tested our well water and found it to be at a pH of even 7.0, which I'm told is perfect for the kind of fish we want to keep. However, the pH in our tank is 7.6 according to the test kit I have, and no amount of pH neutralizer will bring it down (I've added it every day for about a week). I've also swapped out about 50% of the water in the tank for well water and the pH is still a stubborn 7.6.

We'd like to add some more fish to our tank but are told that we can't do this until we get the pH under control. So, how can we do this if water changes and pH neutralizer aren't affective?

Thanks in advance!
 
Could there be something in the tank that is raising it? What kind of substrate is there? Different kinds of rock and gravel can make pH high, like sea shells and crushed coral can.

Adding driftwood might help lower it, but probably not a lot if for some reason you have a high kH/alkalinity buffer.

That being said, is 7.6 a horrific number? The average fish could handle that, not the more sensitive species. Mine has been 7.2-7.4 for a long time... I think that's not uncommon anyhow. Fish much more prefer stability than a certain number, unless they are wild caught fish.

Also, could your test kit be expired or inaccurate?

I would hope you'd be swapping out tank water quite regularly through water changes. But you could always try slowly mixing in bottled water with some tap water, which is lower, and doing a larger water change, but slower options I've mentioned might be safer. A big pH change COULD cause problems. (Although I accidentally once, went from 7.4 down to 6.0 in a 2 hour time period without buffering the bottled water enough. The next day it was up to 7.2 and no on looked worse for wear, but I was definitely stressed!)

I'm not sure if a high - but very stable - pH would be the main reason for fish loss. If anything, they probably don't enjoy all of the additives sold by LFS to try and change pH through chemical means, instead of natural ones like peat or driftwood. You might want to stop using it, especially if it isn't doing anything.

Or choose fish that do well in that pH.
 
As NeonJulie said, there's probably something in the tank buffering (raising or lowering in this case raising) the pH. If you have any shells, pieces of coral, or anything containing calcium carbonate, the pH is going to rise. With a jump from 7.0 to 7.6 there's a good chance there is. What do you use to treat your water?

That said. 7.6 is fine. Don't fight your normal water. You'll just have it bouncing all over the place and stress and kill your fish. It's when pH is taking 1 point jumps like from 7.6 to 8.6 that you have to worry about it. If your LFS is at 7.2 and you're at 7.6 then don't worry about it.

LFS people aren't always the brightest, so take what they say with a grain of salt and do your own research. The internet is great for that as you well know.
 
I'd stop using the pH reducer asap. Those products are pretty worthless IMO, as there are natural, less stressful ways of reducing pH such as adding peat to the filter. The pH reducer products can cause the pH to swing, which is very stressful to fish. I wouldn't even mess with natural methods though- 7.6 is not that high and should pose no problem for any community fish that I can think of- a stable pH is much better than a perfect pH. Most fish are very adaptable- for example, I even keep discus in water with a high pH and I have no problems.

As far as the pH of your tank being higher than it is straight out of your tap, I would bet that the pH is rising as the CO2 gases out of your tap water. Try this: set out a cup of your tap water and leave it out overnight. Test the pH of the water in the morning, and see what it is. I'll bet it comes out to about 7.6. ;) As long as you aren't doing huge water changes that will make the pH swing in your tank, you should be fine.
 
Last edited:
when i first set up my FW tank, it had readings of 7.8-8.0 things like that. I freaked out and attempted to lower the pH with pH down and other products. Ended up having wild pH swings, couldn't keep it stable, and killed a bunch of my fish. I stopped trying to help (which is all I was trying to do - DOH!) and just added dechlorinated tap water. After a month my pH setted down to 7.2. I haven't changed my process and its still around 7.2 and I haven't had a single fish death since then. Your fish will be able to attapt to a more constant pH even if it isn't 100% ideal compared to constantly changing pH. Only if you had discus or really lower pH sensitive fish, I would stop trying to fight the pH.

Lesson well learned for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom