PH advice please

[Tracy10]

hi,
My ph out of tap,which i left standing for 30hrs is 8.My brother who lives in same town ph is 7.4.What i wanted to question is does house pipework etc affect ph at all,as my house is older than my brothers.?

And if i use peat in filter in tank to bring it down,when i do water changes do i need to run a filter with peat in, in the bucket before adding to tank.And if so how long,would you advise.

This is really stressing me out now,with ph of 8

[Mgamer20o0]

what kind of fish do you have? i am guessing its pumped in and not a well.

[jm1212]

is that his tap or tank water?

you can always add driftwood to your tank to help lower the pH. dont use chemicals.

[Rbishop]

It could be your pipes, but usually a short flush getting things to temp, removes that factor. For most fish, the 8.0 will not be an issue except for slightly longer initial acclimation time.

If you decide to continue the peat treatment for control, it would be best to run a filter on your staging tank.

[Tracy10]

hi,
its his tapwater thats 7.4. i havent actually added any peat yet,as not arrived yet. i do have bogwood in tank,but its not lowered ph at all.

So if i am do for a water change,how long would i have to leave peat filter running in buckets,before adding water to tanks.Also is adding peat,a good idea,or is it best to leave alone.

I have 4 platies,4 glowlights in tank at moment as lfs said my water was fine,but when i bought test kit,and did myself,the results where different.

[TKOS]

You water probably is fine. Ph isn't that important in the grand scheme. KH and Gh and TDS can be. I wouldn't worry about it and just use the tap water. Bogwood will not lower pH, at least not significantly.

[Star_Rider]

yes..old pipes may affect your pH..

you may have calcium/lime build up in old pipes

[Tracy10]

I tested my kh/gh levels from tap....and results worried me also.

KH was at 10dkh but GH was 19 dgh

i used the api kh/gh test kit, the GH was way of the chart.Are these results bad ?

[jm1212]

they are going to help buffer your pH to one on the upper end of the spectrum

[Tracy10]

I am a complete novice,this being my first tank.Sorry but i dont understand what you mean. Is it a problem,as want to keep platies,guppies etc.?

[rhardy]

It sounds like you have high calcium. mineral deposits in your water line. You may have to do more frequent water changes, especially if you have a small tank. Platies and guppies should be fine with frequent water changes.

[Rbishop]

I don't think you have an issue with your water.