Ph Question

[Torred1771]

I know this is a basic question to ask but whats an acceptable ph for my tropical tank

 

[FishFanatic04]

What is your Ph? I have been told over and over and over to leave my PH alone.

 

[Desdemona]

It depends on what fish you put in it. Some fish are happy in a wide range of pH values others are more sensitive. If you can find fish that are naturally happy in your water's natural pH then that is the sweetest deal. pH changing chemicals can be touchy and bad for fish.

Figure out what fish you want and then check out their care sheets to see what they need. Try to keep fish with similar ranges together.

 

[Rummynose]

That depends on your fish. Some fish like ph in the higher ranges and some in the lower. Usually the ranges are between 6 and 8, I would think that most people's tanks' ph being between 6.5 and 7.5.

Fish will get used to the ph in your tank, even if in their natural habitat they may live and thrive in extreme levels. Hope that helps!

LOL I did not mean to copy you Desdemona, I had the window open too long until I anwered and saw your post after I posted mine. Well, maybe it reads that I agree!

 

[Torred1771]

Ive got harlequin rasboras at the moment. I tested my ph today at 8 and four people at my lfs said its fine and one person said to do an immediate 30% water change to drop it. I plan to add tetras and some sort of barbs at some point.

 

[Rummynose]

If your tap water has a ph of 8, I would leave it alone. Your fish will adapt to it!

Test your tap water by putting a glass of water out over night and test it the next day!

 

[Rummynose]

You could also add some bog wood to your tank, asides from looking nice and giving the fish some hiding places it has ph lowering qualities. It won't change the ph too much, only marginally!

 

[Torred1771]

If your tap water has a ph of 8, I would leave it alone. Your fish will adapt to it!

Test your tap water by putting a glass of water out over night and test it the next day!

My tap water was closer to 6.7 to 7 so they told me to buffer it up, so I buffered it up and now they say its too high at 8. The lady at the lfs said that she will not sell me fish while I have a ph of 8 because they will instantly die after being in their perfect 7ph tank.

You could also add some bog wood to your tank, asides from looking nice and giving the fish some hiding places it has ph lowering qualities. It won't change the ph too much, only marginally!

I have two lovely pieces of wood in the tank!

 

[reignofcheese]

My water was 8.2 for twenty years and never gave me trouble with all sorts of fish.

pH is not worth worrying about, all fish are tolerant of a wide range. of all perameters this is the least important.

KH is more important than pH, as this is what defines the buffering, and in turn, the STABILITY of the water.

Pet shop employees are often ignorant, and the wise thing to do is not rely on them for advice.

If the fish are kept in pH 7 water at the store, they can easily be acclimated to water of pH 8 by simply gradually adding new water to the old. Fish can handle gradual pH change, but not sudden.

Also the higher the pH is in the first place and the better buffered it is by a decent KH, the less affect driftwood has on the water. by the time the pH is over 8 you can expect it to have no affect at all if it is reasonably buffered.

 

[FishFanatic04]

You should probably do a water change and leave your natural ph alone. Its worse for your fish to mess with it. My ph is 8 naturally and all of my fish are fine. And you ph was at a great level. 6.7 is not that low when 7 is neutral.

Fish won't die because of your ph. They Could die from constantly added buffering chemicals.

 

[Rummynose]

Yeah, I agree with what has been said. Change the water and don't add any buffer to it. Your ph from the tap is fine!!!!

Check your Kh and Gh, if those are very low like mine are you could add a small amount of crushed coral to your filter, it will help buffer your ph, meaning keeping it stable at where it is!

 

[Tonyb111111]

Why would the pH increase from the tap to the tank, is it a coral sand substrate?

 

[CezzaXV]

If you have a coral sand substrate then that will certainly be doing it, yes. Unless you're planning on keeping very specific fish like some kinds of cichlids which need quite a specific pH, you won't want to be altering the pH at all, as it's much more harmful to fish to have an always moving pH than a "correct" one.

Many people around here have learnt the hard way that you can't always take what the employees at any LFS tell you at face value. Many of them will tell blatant lies to get you to buy stuff, and many others just don't have a clue what they're talking about.

 

[Torred1771]

I dont have coral sand substrate at all. I am not keeping specific fish either, just rasboras, tetras, barbs, and dwarf gourami.

 

[Tonyb111111]

I am a newbie to fish keeping, but IMO your tapwater is fine and this should be used with no buffers at all. The ideal aquarium water is one where you dont add any additional chemicals. pH of 7 is fine for most fish and does not need adjusting, but test regularly for pH & KH as this will likely change as the aquarium matures and reaches equillibrium, and will give you warnings of possible pH crash. My tank started at 8.2 and after 2 months eventually settled at 6.5 which is ideal for the fish I am keeping, this was with no additives, just the chemistry in the tank of plants, tannins and livestock. Try to avoid unnecessary additives and buy fish to suit your water when you know what the end point is. AsI say, i am a newbie, so if this opinion is incorrect please could the more experienced amongst you tell me