My tests are in

My only idea would be that there is something in your tank releasing some basic chemical. Shells or coral might do it, and I have NO idea about plants. I would *think* they would help to even out pH. If you're worried about it, you could always get a buffer. They work pretty well. If you can't get your hands on some buffer maybe up your water changes?

Also are you adding anything to the water for any plants you have? That *might* affect the pH. I have not as of yet worked up enough courage to try to keep live plants in an aquarium, so I'm really just guessing.

But I'm fairly certain shell or coral decorations would raise your pH.

Best of luck. Maybe someone else has a more satisfactory answer.

Jade

I just went through the same confusion. apparently water in your pipes has lots of CO2 in it, which lowers the ph, then once the water stands for a while al lthe CO2 disperses and the ph goes up. which means that the 1 point jump from tap to tank is fairly typical. If I can find the thread again wher ethat got answered I'll post a link

here it is
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69486

8.4 is a lot higher than a lot of fish like, but you can bring it down by either putting peat or driftwood in or if you are doing live plants doing CO2 injection will bring it down as well. my ph is 8.0 right now so I'm kind of in the same boat.

A pH of 8.4 is perfectly acceptable and won't harm your fish. They are swimming happily in their tank aren't they? I can compare pH to humidity for humans. Humans prefer lower humidity than high humidity. Would you be more comfortable in a 90*F day with 100% humidity or 40% humidity? The same thing applies to the fish. While they might prefer soft acidic water, they can survive and flourish in hard alkaline water. If you aren't currently breeding these fish, don't mess with the water conditions. If it ain't broke don't fix it. With my situation, I keep my community tanks with regular tap water. My tapwater can legaly be bottled and sold as mineral water to give you an idea of how much minerals are dissolved in it. Most of my fish are softwater fish and they are doing well. Since I do like the challenge of breeding, I do have a seperate 10 gallon tank with soft acidic water that I could acclimate my Tetras and Barbs too should I want to breed them. I produced this water with a lab grade RO/DI unit though a 2/3 mix of rainwater to dechlorinated tapwater would have done the same thing.

zave2340 said:

well i do have a LARGE chunck of driftwood i the tank, i also ahve live plants. So i guess it would not be a problem to add in some CO2 since my PH is so high.

Click to expand...

it might make you plants explode too! I mean a good kind of explode... um, er, like a growth explosion :duh: