PH question

S

snflwr78

AC Members
Sep 6, 2007
37
0
0
NE Ohio
When I first set up my new (and 1st) 10g tank I was told I could add fish once I lowered my ph. The guy at the lps recommended a regulator that would adjust my ph to 6.5 and now I am wondering if that is too low. The tank has been going for about a month now with danios, a cory catfish, and a dwarf algae eater (just got this cute little guy yesterday!), and I was thinking about raising the ph closer to 7. Can I just add a 7 buffer to weekly water changes to adjust slowly? Or should I stop adding the buffer altogether? Or should I just leave it the way it is....

:feedback:
 
Leave your PH alone and just get fish compatible with it and acclimate them slowly when you first buy them.
 
what is the ph from the tap?

I would see what the tap was..before i did anythng to alter water.

sometimes low ph may indicate other issues like low kh/gh which maybe useful when stabilizing a tank.

outside of that it is usually best to not alter ph and keep the water sitution stable.
it is easier to do with asingle source.
 
ty for comments, I will just leave the ph as it is. My tap water is reading considerably higher (7.6 or so) and I have no snails.
 
I guess you missed my PH discussion over the last 2 days.

In recap: My tap PH is close to 8.0, but so is the freshwater PH at all my LFS, so in the end it would be useless to change it.
 
the fish will adjust to pH thats stable. its much worse for them to be in waters that have to constantly be "adjusted". 7.6 is a pretty **** good ph, its very close to neutral, so I dont know why you would want to lower it, unless you have fish that specifically need a pH that low.

otherwise leave it alone, stable ph, is more important than proper ph, as long as it isnt incredibly high/low.
 
unless you plan on keeping wild-caught fish, or breeding fish that need a specific pH and hardness for the eggs to grow properly, there is no point in messing with your pH. anything in the 7's is absolutely fine for store-bought fish, and almost all of them can easily adjust to living in water from mid 6's to low 8's.
 
I changed my ph from what is was naturally based on advice from the lps. After reading these boards I wondered if that was silly and if I should change it back. That is the only reason I was thinking of messing with it. And on a side note, I find it interesting that the lps was all about the ph and said NOTHING to the noobie fish owner about cycling! Thank goodness my fish all made it through.
 
If you leave the pH alone and just do routine water chanes, you will gradually be returning the water to the pH of your tap water. As others have said, if its close enough, the fish will adapt. The gradual change back to tap water should help them make the transition to untreated water without harm.
 
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