Safely/naturally lowering PH

Hello everyone!

I tested my tap water (after letting it sit out over night) it looks to be right at 7.0.

I retested my tank water and it looks like it is at 7.4/7.6 when using the low range ph test and 7.4 when using an outdated high range PH test.

Right now the tank water is high - it usually is around 6.8/7.2. Would Maracyn cause an increase in PH?? I used that about 3 weeks ago for fin tear on the guppies.

Why would ph increase in a fish tank???

My ammonia is at 0
Nitite 0
Nitrate 10

I guess bottom line is leave well enough alone??

I just hate hearing Petco tell me EVERYtime I have a high PH. (They usually test when I loose a fish within the 14 days - which I have been having poor luck with the Gourami)
 
Sounds like they're feeding you :bs: so they don't have to honor their guarantee. Ask to see the expiration date on their strips, and ask them to use a liquid test. If they want to not honor their guarantee the least they can do is use an accurate test. It sounds to me like you may not have enough buffering in your water. Since you said it usually reads 6.8 and today it reads 7.4-7.6, those swings in pH could be causing your problems. Perhaps someone else will chime in too, but I would raise the GH/KH a little to reduce the pH swings some.
 
Well that is really weird. Even if your tank is usually 6.8-7.2 then that is a fluctuation that could be harmful to your fish if it happens too quick.
Do you have plants or inject co2?
If you have plants the ph could change throughout the day but that is ok.
Any co2 change related to co2/plants in ok for your fish.
The ph would be on a bell curve through out the day. Lowest in the motning and highest at night before the lights go out.
If anything the high ph isn't the cause of the deaths but it could be the ph fluctuation.
The one thing I can say from experience is the ph of your tap can change from day to day and throughout the day.
I actually posted a thread awhile back because I found my ph dropping drastically just from doing a water change.
I was going to post a link but I just read it and it wasn't that helpful.
Any way. good luck
 
UCF-Planted said:
Sounds like they're feeding you :bs: so they don't have to honor their guarantee. Ask to see the expiration date on their strips, and ask them to use a liquid test. If they want to not honor their guarantee the least they can do is use an accurate test. It sounds to me like you may not have enough buffering in your water. Since you said it usually reads 6.8 and today it reads 7.4-7.6, those swings in pH could be causing your problems. Perhaps someone else will chime in too, but I would raise the GH/KH a little to reduce the pH swings some.
Click to expand...

How do you raise GH/KH?

Maybe I am colored blind - all those blues look a like - I retested the tank water and I asked my 6 yr old what color is was and he said 7.2. I am going to keep testing and see if the ph is consistent. It really did look darker this morning - maybe I am loosing it!
 
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If you do have to end up lowering the PH, you can try CO2 (Carbon di-oxide) injection. Normally you would only do this to provide this nutrient to live plants, but dissolved CO2 is carbonic acid after all.
 
My PH is 8 – 8.2, my lfs tested a month ago at 8.2, just after I had finished cycleing my tank. He said the tap water in this area is 8.2 because its filtered through chalk. He said most of their fish are use to this as they use tap water. All their fish are acclimatised to local water.
Thay do have fish that wont adjust up to a high ph so have to adjust water ph down to them. 6 lfs that ive visited recently all have the same setup. A couple only stock fish that will adjust to 8.2 the others keep to sets of tanks.
 
have you added an airstone recently? adding one helps drive out CO2, which as mentioned above lowers the pH. the pH of your tank is fine though, and should lower to where your tap is within the next few water changes.

Just for reference, Petco will tell you anything to sell you a product for this matter, usually a pH changing chemical that will make the tank and water quality go on a constant roller coastyer ride. ive heard workers tell customers that their african cichlids died because the pH was at 8.0, and that their cardinals died because the pH was at 6.5.
 
I would just keep up with the water changes and see where you end up in a month, with no other changes.

What are your GH/KH readings?
 
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