That wouldn't be too harmful. If it will cause the fish more problems, I'll probably turn it down, because they seem fine; I want to know if I can make their environment more desirable.
My aquariums pH is 8.0+, anything I can do?
- Thread starter The Arbiter
- Start date
it depends what ph were they in originally...
if they were in a lower ph before u could have problems....
if they were in a lower ph before u could have problems....
As I am so fond of reading from (I think it's him) RTR, "Fish can't read pH." If your LFS has water from the same source as you and they don't treat it (as most LFS probably would not as the expense would likely be quite a bit for every tropical tank) then the fish should be okay. So long as they are acclimated, fish will adjust to most pH levels. I would be careful to watch ammonia, though, just in case. Higher pH can make ammonia a real pain.
Perfect for African Cichlids!
My ph is off the scale, somewhere well above 8, and many popular fish do fine in my community tank.
Mollies, platies, and swordtail reproduce and do great in my tanks. Guppies reproduce, but tend to live less than a year, but I cannot be certain this is due to the high ph.
Ghost shrimp also seem to love it, and even they are reproducing (slowly).
Corries and ottos also doing fine for more than a year.
Iv'e had rams for about two weeks now, and they seem to be healthy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed cause I really like these guys.
Personally, I try to find fish that work in my water rather than monkey with the ph. Chances are, if you have high ph, your water is also very hard, making it more difficult to bring down, and generally speaking, stable high ph is going to be better than lower ph which fluctuates a lot.
And you can't believe everything you read, or everything people tell you. My lfs insisted that nothing would survive in my water, and now I sell them the fry I raise in that same water.
My ph is off the scale, somewhere well above 8, and many popular fish do fine in my community tank.
Mollies, platies, and swordtail reproduce and do great in my tanks. Guppies reproduce, but tend to live less than a year, but I cannot be certain this is due to the high ph.
Ghost shrimp also seem to love it, and even they are reproducing (slowly).
Corries and ottos also doing fine for more than a year.
Iv'e had rams for about two weeks now, and they seem to be healthy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed cause I really like these guys.
Personally, I try to find fish that work in my water rather than monkey with the ph. Chances are, if you have high ph, your water is also very hard, making it more difficult to bring down, and generally speaking, stable high ph is going to be better than lower ph which fluctuates a lot.
And you can't believe everything you read, or everything people tell you. My lfs insisted that nothing would survive in my water, and now I sell them the fry I raise in that same water.
...but plants are another story: The only things that really seem to hold up in my water are java fern and hornwort, but that's two of the best, IMO.
I hear peat can also lower pH, or if it hasn't been mentioned, Reverse Osmosis is a possibility. RO units can be pricy, although it's possible that it would offset the constant expense of buying RO water to do water changes.
I hear constancy is the key, rather than a given number... But as mentioned earlier, that'd be great for some rift lake Cichlids.
I hear constancy is the key, rather than a given number... But as mentioned earlier, that'd be great for some rift lake Cichlids.
Remember this one fact about pH. A stable pH is better than an optimal pH.
Unless you can find something that will allow you to maintain this optimal pH CONSTANTLY without fluctuation, you are better off providing a stable pH environment.
I would venture to guess that most fish you buy at the LFS have been raised and housed in a pH environment that was less than optimal. If you are breeding or are caring for very sensitive fish such as Discus, providing a stable pH is much more advisable than trying to tinker with things constantly and shifting the pH back and forth between water changes.
You can try peat, RO water or an RO unit, but just remember that whatever method of pH decreasing you use, you will need to constantly monitor to keep that pH stable. Peat will eventually need to be replaced so you will have to monitor the pH values to make sure its not exhausted. Adding RO water from the store or using an RO unit at the house requires mixing the water with your high pH water in the right amount BEFORE adding it to the tank and doing this every single time you change water.
You also need to be worried about Gh at the same time. If you are trying to provide an environment of a 7.0pH and, at the same time, trying to also provide an environment that has Gh that is around 10 degrees you will run into even more problems....such as I.
My tap water is 7.6pH and Gh is at zero degrees. The fish I keep, Jack Dempseys, optimumly require a pH of 7.0 and a Gh of 12 degrees. The necessary water tinkering required to maintain this OPTIMAL water paramaters is just something I am not able to do and thus chose to keep my fish is a less than optimal pH but I am able to affordably give them the optimal Gh they desire.
Unless you can find something that will allow you to maintain this optimal pH CONSTANTLY without fluctuation, you are better off providing a stable pH environment.
I would venture to guess that most fish you buy at the LFS have been raised and housed in a pH environment that was less than optimal. If you are breeding or are caring for very sensitive fish such as Discus, providing a stable pH is much more advisable than trying to tinker with things constantly and shifting the pH back and forth between water changes.
You can try peat, RO water or an RO unit, but just remember that whatever method of pH decreasing you use, you will need to constantly monitor to keep that pH stable. Peat will eventually need to be replaced so you will have to monitor the pH values to make sure its not exhausted. Adding RO water from the store or using an RO unit at the house requires mixing the water with your high pH water in the right amount BEFORE adding it to the tank and doing this every single time you change water.
You also need to be worried about Gh at the same time. If you are trying to provide an environment of a 7.0pH and, at the same time, trying to also provide an environment that has Gh that is around 10 degrees you will run into even more problems....such as I.
My tap water is 7.6pH and Gh is at zero degrees. The fish I keep, Jack Dempseys, optimumly require a pH of 7.0 and a Gh of 12 degrees. The necessary water tinkering required to maintain this OPTIMAL water paramaters is just something I am not able to do and thus chose to keep my fish is a less than optimal pH but I am able to affordably give them the optimal Gh they desire.
My 55 gallon ph level is at 8.4 and maintained since then........
Having 12 neon tetra, 8 rummy nose, 2 redlines, 3 small clown loaches......seem to be very happy.
As mentioned, stable ph is more important then optimal ph...that's what i had learnt from these forum...thank god
Having 12 neon tetra, 8 rummy nose, 2 redlines, 3 small clown loaches......seem to be very happy.
As mentioned, stable ph is more important then optimal ph...that's what i had learnt from these forum...thank god
the way my tank is set up the ph flucuates a little bit.....
my tap water is 7.6-7.8
now my tanks water is 7.0 constantly.......
untill i water change.....25%-35%
a week....
my ph will be 7.2-7.4
then after anopther day it goes back to 7.0
and i do my ph reading at night
but it never gets lower then 7
which is kinda wierd....
because my tank actually alters ph in a natural way....
its almost like a perfect combination of plants filter and fish.....
nevetr had to use buffers or anything....
now in my preacox rainbows tank....
the ph is a constant 7.4
also the constant 7.0 ph of my other tank isnt because of wastes or anything else that would lower the ph...
ammounias nitrites are always 0
not overcrowded with fish or anything like that.....
what i am getting at......
is..
ur tank will find its balance.....
this balance is created by the fish decor plants ect....
and filtering....once ur tank finds its balance keep it their!!
u dont want to alter it cuz u will throw everything of balance!!!
now sometimes this balance is the same as ur tap water.....
what ever works out....
keep it that way.....
the only time u`d want to change ph or anything is if a drastic drop or rise accurd.....
there are ways to have ur tank naturaly adjust to the settings that u want....
thats by different fish plants substrate and u`d have to do some research on that.....also play around with different things.....
its a whole big thing with vast possibilites......
an example would be coral substrate and how it naturaly has a ph of 8+
putting this in ur salt tank will raise ur ph 8+
and this will continue as long as the coral is not taken out or dissolved....
when ur tank finds its balance adding 25% new water during water changes wont do anything....
the other 75% will slowly adjust the new water as it mixes and new compounds form and blah blah...
this just explains the whole stable ph thing..
and hopefully u will get ideas on how to control ur ph with natural things...
this erases buying buffers all the time and w/e else..
my tap water is 7.6-7.8
now my tanks water is 7.0 constantly.......
untill i water change.....25%-35%
a week....
my ph will be 7.2-7.4
then after anopther day it goes back to 7.0
and i do my ph reading at night
but it never gets lower then 7
which is kinda wierd....
because my tank actually alters ph in a natural way....
its almost like a perfect combination of plants filter and fish.....
nevetr had to use buffers or anything....
now in my preacox rainbows tank....
the ph is a constant 7.4
also the constant 7.0 ph of my other tank isnt because of wastes or anything else that would lower the ph...
ammounias nitrites are always 0
not overcrowded with fish or anything like that.....
what i am getting at......
is..
ur tank will find its balance.....
this balance is created by the fish decor plants ect....
and filtering....once ur tank finds its balance keep it their!!
u dont want to alter it cuz u will throw everything of balance!!!
now sometimes this balance is the same as ur tap water.....
what ever works out....
keep it that way.....
the only time u`d want to change ph or anything is if a drastic drop or rise accurd.....
there are ways to have ur tank naturaly adjust to the settings that u want....
thats by different fish plants substrate and u`d have to do some research on that.....also play around with different things.....
its a whole big thing with vast possibilites......
an example would be coral substrate and how it naturaly has a ph of 8+
putting this in ur salt tank will raise ur ph 8+
and this will continue as long as the coral is not taken out or dissolved....
when ur tank finds its balance adding 25% new water during water changes wont do anything....
the other 75% will slowly adjust the new water as it mixes and new compounds form and blah blah...
this just explains the whole stable ph thing..
and hopefully u will get ideas on how to control ur ph with natural things...
this erases buying buffers all the time and w/e else..