High Ph Tap Water

[Desdemona]

I have had hardly no luck fixing the pH in my local water. Since I have Betta, Platys and Corys it doesn't seem to be a huge deal to them. But, it would be cool if I wasn't stuck with pH tolerant fish.

My tap water is well over the 8 level pH wise. I bought some nuetralizer that claimed to make any water level out around 7, but it didn't do anything. I then bough the pH down stuff. It recommends 2 drops per gallon but I have to use 12 drops just to get to 7.5. I don't want to add anymore than that and worry that 12 drops of the stuff is a bit much for my poor fish. Though the betta and his one Cory friend didn't seem to mind (poor cory caught something from new fish though and I suspect he'll be dead by the time I get home from work).

It is high alkline water as well. Does anyone else have water like this? If so what do you do? just stick with fish that can handle it? If I put one drop of pH down in the water testing test tube it will actually bring it down, so I know the stuff works. But, it just seems like I need a lot more than is normal.

 

[KrystaK]

Are you on well water? I am and my pH is 8.2 and alkaline as well. I wouldn't trust any of those chemicals, they may lower the pH but as soon as you do a water change the pH will shoot up and it'll be a never ending circle. Also, those chemicals aren't that safe for fish.

I'd recommend either going to a water store and getting Reverse Osmosis water (Which has everything filtered out of it and has a neutral pH) or I've heard bog wood works in lowering pH, never tried it though.

 

[KittyKat]

I have had hardly no luck fixing the pH in my local water. […]

You might find this useful: http/blog.natureaquarium.co.uk/?p=498

What I don't go into in that post is that at higher pHs, soft water fish are more likely to get diseases because they often have a poorer immune system than hardwater fish but deal with this because fewer fungi and bacteria can survive in acidic water than in hard water.

I strongly advise that you stop trying to adjust your water with shop bought products because changing pHs are harmful to fish. I do recommend that you invest in GH and KH test kits and find out exactly how hard your water is and where the hardness in coming from. In the long term, you *may* be able to soften your water by using bogwood, leaves, and/or peat.

What decor do you use? Some types of decor can harden the water. For example, reef bones, coral sand, some types of rock…

I wouldn't trust any of those chemicals, they may lower the pH but as soon as you do a water change the pH will shoot up and it'll be a never ending circle. Also, those chemicals aren't that safe for fish.

Actually, the pH is quite likely to crash before a water change, unless one makes sure that there is way more buffer than is needed. Why exactly do you say that these products are not safe for fish?

 

[Desdemona]

I have been treating the water before adding it to the tank and always in the same manner. I never treat water in the tank directly. Not sure if that makes any difference or not.

I thought reverse osmosis water was suppose to be bad for fish because it's too clean. It lacks minerals. Or do you add those in later?

It is city water, not well water. I will look for the GH and KH test kits.

 

[lloyd]

i have found the best way to lower the ph and kh of my water is quite simply to mix it with rowater. ro water in my area is about £3.00 for 30ls. all i do is mix half ro with half my tap water and i can reliably keep my tank ph at about7.2-7.4 with a kh of 4 which is nice and soft for a lot of soft water species.

chemically altering you water parameters is always a dodgy business that i wouldnt advise.

if your after softwater fish yu should be more concerned about kh than ph and as long as your kh is reasonably low you can acclimitise alot of soft water fish to a decent ro/tap mix.

look into it because it is genuinly the easiest way to control water parameters that i have found

I have been treating the water before adding it to the tank and always in the same manner. I never treat water in the tank directly. Not sure if that makes any difference or not.

I thought reverse osmosis water was suppose to be bad for fish because it's too clean. It lacks minerals. Or do you add those in later?

It is city water, not well water. I will look for the GH and KH test kits.

the idea is to mix it with your tap water to "water down" your tap water if you like. i.e a 50 50 mix will turn a tap water of kh 30 to 15ish.

 

[KittyKat]

I thought reverse osmosis water was suppose to be bad for fish because it's too clean. It lacks minerals. Or do you add those in later?

You are right, which is why lloyd is correct about mixing. If you start using RO water, you need to maintain the same proportions at all water changes to keep the GH, KH and pH stable.

 

[Desdemona]

I think I can get RO water for less than a 1$ a gallon (US) as long as I go to the BYOB type places. I have a bunch of bottles for that purpose but I always forget them. Guess now would be a good time to get into the habit! Thanks for the tip.

Do you buy water conditioners when you do that mix? I have been using water conditioner but just the recommended usage, of course.

Oh, didn't add.. decorations are just 3 live plants, 2 fake, two aquarium decorations (meant for that purpose) and your typical gravel with some "sand" that just looks like finer cut gravel. I don't have anything really unusual. One of my decorations looks like a log but it's the same material as the other fish ornaments you buy. Oh, and I have a moss ball.

 

[lloyd]

i do use water conditioner but i beleive alot of people do not

 

[KittyKat]

For the RO water, it *should* not be necessary, but if one is mixing tap water back in, then it is needed for the tap water. It is best to either pre-treat the tap water before mixing, or mix then treat *all* the water.

 

[Desdemona]

well, I tested my tank water today and I have a Kh of 161.1 ppm or 9 drps of the API test kit. My overall hardness/GH is 11 drops or 196.9 ppm. I went to a new/lps today and he suggested using coral rock (the broken up bits) since they are mostly calcium and will keep the pH down. Does anyone do this? It seems like a higher level of KH already would make that a little pointless. of course by high level I am just going off the chart on the test kit. They only show up to 12 drops.

I need to do some reading on the tests to see exactly what they mean!

 

[KittyKat]

well, I tested my tank water today and I have a Kh of 161.1 ppm or 9 drps of the API test kit. My overall hardness/GH is 11 drops or 196.9 ppm. I went to a new/lps today and he suggested using coral rock (the broken up bits) since they are mostly calcium and will keep the pH down. Does anyone do this? It seems like a higher level of KH already would make that a little pointless. of course by high level I am just going off the chart on the test kit. They only show up to 12 drops.

Those readings are hardwater.

Calcium -> high pH, as far as I am aware (at least based on the numbers we work with in fish tanks).

 

[Tonyb111111]

I have the same issue and resorted to 30/70 mix of tap and RO water. I think most RO water these days are remineralised, but if not you can add a supplement that is safe ne easy with each water change. My tap water was 14GH and pH 8.2, the mix has has resulted the aquarium stabilising at 6.5 which is ideal for my fish. Though with trialling different ratios of tap to RO I expect you can get what you want. I was advised by my LFS and on here that buffers are a last resort. Hope this helps

 

[Rummynose]

well, I tested my tank water today and I have a Kh of 161.1 ppm or 9 drps of the API test kit. My overall hardness/GH is 11 drops or 196.9 ppm. I went to a new/lps today and he suggested using coral rock (the broken up bits) since they are mostly calcium and will keep the pH down. Does anyone do this? It seems like a higher level of KH already would make that a little pointless. of course by high level I am just going off the chart on the test kit. They only show up to 12 drops.

I need to do some reading on the tests to see exactly what they mean!

Do not add crushed coral! It adds to the water hardness, which increases the alkalinity of your water.

I use crushed coral because I have very soft water with a low ph, and the crushed coral adds buffering to my water to keep the ph stable in my tank! It prevents another ph crash in my tanks!

You could add peat moss in your filter to lower the ph naturally. Bogwood helps too, but only marginally! Using CO2 for your plants is supposed to also lower the alkalinity in your water, something you may want to look into!?

 

[Desdemona]

I want to do plants. I need to see if I can get the right light for my tank first. I thought the coral was a odd suggestion, especially after the high KH test.

I will look into the peat moss. Do you have to by fish tank specific? They market that for reptiles right?

 

[snazy]

Why are you trying to change the Ph in the first place? It's not the Ph that matters to the fish but the gh and kh.
The platies should be loving high Ph normally, some cory species tolerate high Ph too(my albinos are kept at 7.6) As for the betta fish, it probably isn't best kept with corys as the corys won't appreciate slow water and the bettas fast water.