P H

[bennett418]

Another one!

The PH in my tank is between 8-9 is this too high? the fish all seem very happy and playful should i reduce or will that give them "toxic shock"

i would rather not use chemicals, i will be taking my piece of wood out tonight so that will help abit i think.

 

[Fishkrazy1]

What kind of fish are we talking about here? because cichlids do great in a ph of 8.0-8.4, and their are some that like a higher PH, if you're keeping regular community fish I'd recommend getting a ph buffer, Yes I know you don't want to use chemicals but trust me I use ph buffers in my 75gallon and it's perfectly safe, anyways get a ph buffer for 7.0ph if their just community fish. Also how many fish are there and what size tank?

 

[bennett418]

Tank size is 30x15x12
yeah there community fish,
5 neons
4 serpae
4 green barbs
4 sunset platies
2 dwarf gouramis
1 pleco
2 loachs

i will buy some on weekend then, is it best to do it in stages? over a week or so?

 

[jlOisAhoTti]

All I know is that neons seem to like acidic waters, you should probably try lower it a little bit.

 

[connorsbala]

Dude im havin the same problemo! I bought some pH decreaser and it reduces it by 0.5, if you do the recomended amount, daily! Its taken id say at least 2-3 days to go down from 8.5 to around 8.0! So im using that till it goes to neutral. If you get a certain one, like mine, then it helps the activity of tetras which is cool
Anyways, good like!

 

[erk628]

Not sure if I'm right but from what I have heard and read the Ph decreasers work for awhile but your Ph will end up being what it orginally was, so basically your fighting a losing battle. I would look into some media to add to your filter like peat for example.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ph is really tricky to adjust well and safely. those ph buffers/reducers can play havoc with other areas of water chemistry, they can even stop plant growth!

generally speaking a stable ph is the most important thing to have. are your fish healthy? have you had a disproportionate amount of deaths? do they appear listless or have any loss of colour?

if it aint broke don't fix it!!

 

[bennett418]

ph is really tricky to adjust well and safely. those ph buffers/reducers can play havoc with other areas of water chemistry, they can even stop plant growth!

generally speaking a stable ph is the most important thing to have. are your fish healthy? have you had a disproportionate amount of deaths? do they appear listless or have any loss of colour?

if it aint broke don't fix it!!

Thanks for repiles, no the fish are playful, growing well, plants growing excellenty have had to trim some back already!

every time i have checked the PH since having tank it has been the same so it is stable...

If it does not harm them it being a little high then I might leave it, although i might look into peat as i read a book that talked about that.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

peat is supposed to be a natural way to soften the water, i've heard mixed reports about it working but by all means try it if you like. just remember to go slowly, you should just add a little bit to your filter to start then add more each week so the ph drops slowly and gently rather than taking a nose dive!

 

[bennett418]

peat is supposed to be a natural way to soften the water, i've heard mixed reports about it working but by all means try it if you like. just remember to go slowly, you should just add a little bit to your filter to start then add more each week so the ph drops slowly and gently rather than taking a nose dive!

Think i might give it ago, are there any other ways?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

peat is supposed to be a natural way to soften the water, i've heard mixed reports about it working but by all means try it if you like. just remember to go slowly, you should just add a little bit to your filter to start then add more each week so the ph drops slowly and gently rather than taking a nose dive!

Think i might give it ago, are there any other ways?

yes there's a few, a lot of them linked to plant growth so if your interested i'd have a good look through the planted tanks section of the forum.

adding some sorts of bogwood will drop your ph but only temporarily, it's effects will reduce over time.
certain substrates (generally fertilised ones for plant growth) will lower ph
adding Co2 for plant growth will lower ph
using RO water (can be bought either from your lfs or you can buy your own unit) will lower it, but it's expensive and you'll have to add buffers to the water before adding it to the tank.

 

[connorsbala]

ph is really tricky to adjust well and safely. those ph buffers/reducers can play havoc with other areas of water chemistry, they can even stop plant growth!

generally speaking a stable ph is the most important thing to have. are your fish healthy? have you had a disproportionate amount of deaths? do they appear listless or have any loss of colour?

if it aint broke don't fix it!!

My fish are fine too, all seems well! But i think ill still adde some pH reductor everday but less than what is recommended!