pH help Needed!!

Your pH is not high; there's barely any adaptation needed. They would adapt to that in an hour or two of being introduced.
 
KarlTh said:
Your pH is not high; there's barely any adaptation needed. They would adapt to that in an hour or two of being introduced.
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Well, coming from a senior member I feel better, I for some reason thought my PH was high. I added some more cardinal tetra's last week all surviving nicely and I usually lose them right off the bat. Super sensitive little guys. Thanks!
 
shawnhu said:
Just wanted to add a little bit to all the good advice that's been given already.

With a higher PH, one should be extra careful with Ammonia, as it will be highly toxic in the higher PH range. I've been able to get away with Ammonia readings of 2ppm and up with a low PH, but at your PH, even .5 would probably be deadly. Just keep that in mind.

When it comes to GH, the higher the better for most snails, as this will reinforce calcium for their shells. GH is also considered when there is interest in breeding the stock that you have. KH for the most part is used as a buffer to keep a stable PH.

Hope this helps a bit.

Shawn
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At .5 ppm total ammonia, a pH of 8.4, and a water temp of 25C you only have .0625 ppm of free ammonia.

http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~piwc/w3-research/free-ammonia/nh3.html

Granted, it is important to keep ammonia at 0ppm at all times because even trace amounts can cause damage over an extended period of time.
 
Thanks for the link, jpap. that may come in handy some day.
 
The best reason to measure pH is to watch for a crash. If your pH is falling a little each week for months you are likely burning through your kH buffer and you would want to fix that before you are in the low 6s. With plants it should not be a problem as they love ammonia as a fertilizer.
 
colinsk said:
The best reason to measure pH is to watch for a crash. If your pH is falling a little each week for months you are likely burning through your kH buffer and you would want to fix that before you are in the low 6s. With plants it should not be a problem as they love ammonia as a fertilizer.
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I've destroyed my bio-filter by stocking plants. It's not a problem until you want to cycle a new tank using bio-media.
 
shawnhu said:
I've destroyed my bio-filter by stocking plants. It's not a problem until you want to cycle a new tank using bio-media.
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Or prune too much. I lost a fish last month because I pruned half of the biomas from my tank and did not think that it would casue a ammonia/nitrite spike. I had not measured any Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate in months. I pruned and the next morning all the fish were acting funny. Out came the test kits and I was 1ppm Ammonia, .5ppm Nitrite and 5 ppm Nitrate. I did a 90% water change. One of my Plattys did not survive. All of my shrimp did though. ???
 
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