Hey! How's your PH?

[Anthony8858]

Just curious what your PH is straight from your tap.

It seems that my PH gives different readings at any given time.

One day it's 6.8, another day it's OVER 8.8!

What are the contributing factors that influance PH levels in diferent parts of the world?

[Aquarius0015]

It partly depends on the temperature of the tap. Hot water contains less dissolved gases (eg CO2) which lowers the pH compared to cooler water. This is all if I remember my chemistry correctly anyway. Mine at room temp. is 7.4ish

[JSchmidt]

Measure your tap water after it has reached room temp and has been aerated (shake vigorously for 10 minutes or let it sit out overnight). That will allow it to offgas any dissolved gases that may affect pH (e.g., CO2).

Jim

[shewlett]

My tap pH is 7.4+. I modify it with spring water (pH 6.8) and Seachem Acid Buffer (sometimes) to bring it down to 6.8 to 7.2 depending on the tank the water is going into.

[sumoschro]

Every time i check my water it is at a constant 7.3 or so.

[RTR]

Aged my tap water runs 7.5-7.8, depending on which wells are in use.

[RENEGADE]

Dang mines 8.0:sad

[valerie]

Mine is 7.8

[NatakuTseng]

7.6-7.8 here

[Anthony8858]

So since the "ideal" target PH for most freshwater fish around 6.8-7.0, it seems as if everybody has to lower their PH level.

What products do you use to stabilize your PH to around 7.0?

[NickH]

Mine is 8 - 8.2. I refuse to alter the PH of my water. It's not worth the effort. Find fish that can live in your water.

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by Anthony8858
So since the "ideal" target PH for most freshwater fish around 6.8-7.0, it seems as if everybody has to lower their PH level.

What products do you use to stabilize your PH to around 7.0?

Actually, most of us don't lower our pH. We've found out that, except for extremely delicate species (e.g., discus) or attempts at breeding, higher pH works fine. A pH of 7.0 +/- .6, will allow you to keep just about any fish you want.

I keep angels and tetras successfully in our 7.8 water.

Jim

[Anthony8858]

My PH in my tank was typically 6.8-7.0.

Last week, I lost both of my Angels because my PH spiked up to >8.8.
This happened because I didn't check my PH from the tap prior to putting in the tank.

For some reason, the PH in my tap is higher than it's always been.

[Robv1965]

Does the PH usually go up or down after gases disipate?

My PH straight from the tap is 6.8

I have a new tank I'm slowly setting up. I have it about half filled with water and I'm running an airstone. After about three days of this the PH was up to about 7.2.

Does this seem normal? I thought it may have been from some fieldstone I had in the tank, so today I took the fieldstone out and replaced 95% of the water. This evening it tested at 7.2 again.

Maybe I'll do a test and let some water sit overnight in a plastic container and see if the PH changes.........

[JSchmidt]

Anthony, is that the pH of your water out of the tap, or after it's sits out overnight?

Your water sounds suspiciously like it might be treated with the lime-soda method. See this great page at the Skeptical Aquarist to learn about it. Just browse down to the section entitled: Soft water with high pH

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/filtration/softening.shtml

Jim

[Lauren]

Originally posted by RENEGADE
Dang mines 8.0:sad

don't you love so cal? at least the cichlid folks envy us.