help to keep ph balanced using well water

T

tooie32

Registered Member
Jul 9, 2006
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Hi all I am new here.

I have an aquarium at home but I am having trouble maintaining the ph levels when I get the ph levels corrected then after a couple of days it drops back to 8.4 alkaline.

I am using well water no city water here most homes uses well water and the ones that are in my town uses the city water or should I say town water.

So the well water here is nothing but alkaline.

What should I do to maintain the ph level in my aquarium with out using up my stuff to keep the ph balanced in the aquarium?

No I don't have a water softener.



Carl
 
You would have to get a water purifier. the reason your pH returns is because of the chemicals in your water. You would have to take them out before you add it into the tank. I think they do sell them at fish stores. Your other alternative is to just get fish that like high pH. But don't use that pH stabilizer stuff. As you see, it does not work and winds up making a worse environment for the fish b/c then you keep having pH swings.
 
there's nothing wrong with a pH of 8.4 and the vast majority of fish out there will do just fine with it as long as it's stable. all water has an inherant chemistry and as you've found out, trying to mess with it leads to instability ... very stressful to fish and will ultimately cause disease and death. i'd strongly suggest that you leave your ph as it is and just enjoy your fish.
 
What do you mean ,it "drops" back to 8.4? That is very high. I would not be concerned at all .
 
A constantly fluctuating pH is worse for the fish that a constant one outside of the normal range. If you really want to bring it down and keep it down, I think the thing to use in your filter is peat moss. You could set up a second tank and age your change water with the peat moss and a backup filter so that you change it before putting it in the tank as well. Could some one back me up on the peat moss? I'm only about 85% sure that is what you use. Chemicals that bring the pH down quickly are probably going to harm your fish more than anything.
 
ok so drop the meter back to 8.4 alkaline will not hurt the fish my question is will it hurt fishes like neon tetras, Angle fish, Mollies, Platies, etc.

If it dosn't hurt them while keeping it at 8.4 which how far I see on the ph level scale I got.

I happen to have four neon tetras used to have 6, and I have 6 guppies. I am planning to get more neons but I don't know if they will handle the alkaline envirment.

Carl
 
The neons may not do well as they are a more fragile fish. It is possible they might do okay if you acclimate them to the new pH slowly when you introduce them into the tank. Most fish will adapt to the higher pH, you just have to do your research on each species. Like I said if you are really worried you cvan get a water filter. I saw one in Petsmart for $30 and it takes the chemicals out of your water which make it so alkaline. It filters the water as you atke it out of the tap.
 
I don't really think Ph is such a big deal. Chances are your LFS has near the same PH level as you so the fish are already used to it.
 
Most LFS's arent on well water. I have a friend who has well water with similar pH. he has had a hard time keeping fish alive, mainly the Neon tetras. The things taht have done well were the platys which tend to like higher alkaline water. i would say a fish that likes very soft water like neons wouldnt do so well, but fish that are more tolerant of harder water would do fine.
 
Thanks Lorazoo I used to have Mollies and platties and they did fine with out ph editing.

Cuoius what filter is it called I want to take a look at it see if its worth a buy.

thanks for your help.

Carl
 
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