Alkaline pH!! Need some serious help here!

okief1sh

okief1sh

AC Members
Jun 15, 2006
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Midwest City, OK
I have found a ton of articles about people with acidic pH problems, but I can't seem to find anything about alkaline pH. I am pretty concerned about this since my pH is increasing consistently.

Current pH is 8.4 (it was at 8.2 last week)
I also used test strips to test my KH (I know they are not as accurate, but I don't have a KH test kit yet) I can't remember the actual value right now, but it is the highest that the strips will register.

I have drift wood in my tank and peat pellets in my Fluval. I really could use some help with this. Some of my Rams are starting to lose color and the only obvious problem in regards to water quality is the pH. :help:
 
peat and driftwood are good to make your water more acid but find out what your tap water is. If it is more than 9 you have a problem. Anything like this will affect rams as they are so picky about anything wrong with the water. One thing you shouldnt do is start adding in chemicals to lower it. These can do more damage than good and are likley to result in pH swings that will kill your fish. As I said, find out the pH of your tap water, if it is too high you may have to start using well, rain, bottled or another type of water not from your taps.
 
Start using a mix of RO and tap water. This should allow you to make the water softer which in turn will bring your pH level down. You will have to play with the amount of RO water you will need to get the level to were you want it. This will also keep the water levels stable. I myself have very hard water and using RO/tap mx works very well for me. I do a change of about 40% in my tanks and use a 50/50 mix. It has brought my levels down and keeps them at a good level.
 
Cool, I will try the RO thing.

I just had another thought that I need an opinion on.

I just added my Fluval about a month ago. I was using a Penquin BioWheel before that. I left the BioWheel on for about two weeks before shutting it down and going with just the Fluval. Do you think that my tank might be going through a mini-cycle while the Fluval builds up its full bio-load?
 
All depends, what are your water prams. You will be able to tell if the tank is going through a mini-cycle. I would think that you shouldn't have a problem but you never know. It is better to be safe and check. Post your water prams here and someone could let you know.
 
like needeles said--RO plus tap. Maybe a 75% RO to 25% tap depending upon what you are attempting to accomplish.

I know several people that keep South Americans and Asians in that range of pH with no problem. Only issue becomes breeding. Most of the SA's and Asians won't as a result of mineralization of the surface of the egg happening too quickly.

Most fish will adapt to a higher or lower pH than that "listed" at many sites in species profiles. If you examine distribution of fish and then examine the pH values within that distribution you will see huge differences in pH.

What fish are you trying to keep? Are you attempting to breed them?

Most likely Peat Pellets and driftwood will do little to lower pH if the kh is in the mid to high range as well.
 
I am concerned about my 20gal community tank. In particular my blue rams. Their color is not great and I am concerned about it. Water prams that I know for sure are...

pH-8.4
Ammonia-0
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0

I don't know KH for sure, but it is extremly high. I measured it with the test strips since it was the only thing I had that would register KH and it was at the highest level the strips will show. I still need to go get a KH test kit, just haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
a friend at another site has kept rams in that pH. They only made it a little over a year. I cannot get rams to "thrive" in anything much above 7.4. It really depends upon the strain. Many farm bred fish will "tolerate" that extreme. The wild caughts I have kept and breddo not seem to like anything above 7.0. They do not breed at 7.0. but they will live. The rams I have purchased from other hobbyists don't climb the ladder well either. But, some people have been able to pull it off--they are much better at this hobby than me--lol.

If i were you I would try to get pH down to 7.4 or lower (especially given what you say about color). I would also try to get kh to 6 or less and gh to 10 or less. Mixing RO water with tap at a 75% RO to 25% tap ratio might be a good starting point.

I hjave also utilized sphangum peat to help out. The reason is very simple. You are getting a 2 for one ion exchange with peat. It will give up a single hydrogen for two calciums. It softens the water--lol. I have used the "peat bomb" approach. It is a lot of work. I have also used it as a substrate mixed with sand and very fine aggregate.

Sand and very fine aggregate can also be useful when thinking of rams. They are the Microgeophagus ramirezi. They are pretty little eartheaters. Fine aggregate and sand permits them to sift for food. a natural and genetically programmed behavior.
 
I guess that explains why they are constantly "eating off the floor" :). I had noticed that they usually let their food sink to the bottom of the tank before they will chow down on it, but I just thought that they might be a little slow ;).
 
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