high pH
- Thread starter ibanezgfx
- Start date
Let your Tap water stand overnight in a shallow bowl and then re-test. Most tap water will stabilize a bit (or even a lot) higher than it tests immediatly from the tap. If your tap ends up being significantly lower than the tank, then multiple low volume water changes could adjust it but you should still look for the cause of the increase in pH. Natural process usually lower pH so something in the tank has to be raising it if the tap water isn't that high.
Either way, take it slow and careful, 8.4 really won't hurt much, but rapidly changing solids or mineral levels could cause trouble.
dave
Either way, take it slow and careful, 8.4 really won't hurt much, but rapidly changing solids or mineral levels could cause trouble.
dave
The pH change from off-gassing CO2 dissolved in the tap water will not harm the fish. If the pH of the tap is due to short-acting buffers added by the utility, all bets are off. Then aging is a great solution.
He's talking about dissolved CO2 in your TAP water...after it sits for awhile the CO2 outgasses into the atmosphere resulting in a higher pH reading...which is harmless to the fish. Phosphates/short term buffers, on the otherhand, can be problematic due to osmotic shock I suppose.
Exactly, especially if the shirt-term pH shift of excess dissolved gases or short-term buffering agents (pipe protection for the utillity) have been "compensated" by other additives from the LFS. It become a pH/osmotic roller coaster easily.