ph wont go down!!

[GaryE]

Your pH won't bother a betta. It isn't ideal, but you can do a lot more damage with playing with pH.

 

[betta4ever!]

Your pH won't bother a betta. It isn't ideal, but you can do a lot more damage with playing with pH.

Exactly. Don't bother with the ph if there is a serious reason to.

 

[Byron]

To ensure you understand things...

The pH is closely connected to the GH and KH, and you must find out these numbers. Check the website of your water authority, or call them, as Colin suggested. Everyone with an aquarium should know these levels, as they affect fish.

Once we have the GH and KH, it will be easier to explain why the pH is increasing in the aquarium. But I suspect it may be the dissolved CO2 in the tap water. When testing pH of tap water, you need to out-gas any dissolved CO2. If you do this, you may find the pH is a tad higher, close to what it is in the tank. The water in the aquarium will have out-gassed, and the pH reading should be accurate. Let a glass of tap water sit 24 hours, then test. Give us the results.

I agree you are better to leave the pH alone. But you should understand why it is what it is, hence the above. I don't see anything in the tank that might be calcareous, assuming the sand is inert, so it is likely the CO2.

 

[StevenF]

I’ve been trying to make it go down by using indian almond leaves and water changing since i heard it helps, but to no avail.

Ammond leaves and drift wood often leach organic acids into the water. These can react with KH and reduce the KH andPH value. However if you have a lot ofKH the almond leaves or drift wood would not be able to generate enough organic acid to make enough difference. Frequent water changes tend to reset the tank chemistry to that of your tap water and counter act the effect of the organic acids.

Also almond leaves and drift wood have a finite amount of organic acids they can release into the water. So they need to be replaced periodically.

 

[Stan510]

Anybody mention peat in a stocking? Old timey way.

 

[Stan510]

Heck,carefully open a tea bag,replace tea with peat,restaple. That should be enough for an average size aquarium.

 

[betta4ever!]

I do this for my hendra tank. And I also have peat as a substrate.... Btw, water with tannins tastes like tea!!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is difficult to lower pH without lowering KH. And then there is calcium carbonate. This is a supplier of a lot of things in the tank with two theings they may need- calcium to build bones and cabonate to supply the nacteria and even tome plants with an inorganic carbon source. Co2 will also supply this.

But carbonates also supply KH. To drop pH one must lower KH first. The best way to do this is by mixing one's tap with RO or RO/DI water. These should have 0 KH.

Buffering Capacity (KH, Alkalinity)​

Buffering capacity refers to water's ability to keep the pH stable as acids or bases are added. pH and buffering capacity are intertwined with one another; although one might think that adding equal volumes of an acid and neutral water would result in a pH halfway in between, this rarely happens in practice. If the water has sufficient buffering capacity, the buffering capacity can absorb and neutralize the added acid without significantly changing the pH. Conceptually, a buffer acts somewhat like a large sponge. As more acid is added, the ``sponge'' absorbs the acid without changing the pH much. The ``sponge's'' capacity is limited however; once the buffering capacity is used up, the pH changes more rapidly as acids are added.
Buffering has both positive and negative consequences. On the plus side, the nitrogen cycle produces nitric acid (nitrate). Without buffering, your tank's pH would drop over time (a bad thing). With sufficient buffering, the pH stays stable (a good thing). On the negative side, hard tap water often almost always has a large buffering capacity. If the pH of the water is too high for your fish, the buffering capacity makes it difficult to lower the pH to a more appropriate value. Naive attempts to change the pH of water usually fail because buffering effects are ignored.

In freshwater aquariums, most of water's buffering capacity is due to carbonates and bicarbonates. Thus, the terms ``carbonate hardness'' (KH), ``alkalinity'' and ``buffering capacity'' are used interchangeably. Although technically not the same things, they are equivalent in practice in the context of fishkeeping. Note: the term ``alkalinity'' should not be confused with the term ``alkaline''. Alkalinity refers to buffering, while alkaline refers to a solution that is a base (i.e., pH > 7).

How much buffering does your tank need? Most aquarium buffering capacity test kits actually measure KH. The larger the KH, the more resistant to pH changes your water will be. A tank's KH should be high enough to prevent large pH swings in your tank over time. If your KH is below roughly 4.5 dH, you should pay special attention to your tank's pH (e.g, test weekly, until you get a feel for how stable the pH is). This is ESPECIALLY important if you neglect to do frequent partial water changes. In particular, the nitrogen cycle creates a tendency for an established tank's pH to decrease over time. The exact amount of pH change depends on the quantity and rate of nitrates produced, as well as the KH.

from http://fins.actwin.com/aquariafaq.html

 

[Lynnzer]

You need to start again on the thinking here. I am in a similar situation myself and no matter how much you bugger around with altering the pH you won't easily achieve it. I did a pH test just a couple of days ago and it showed really high. I dropped a splash of white vinegar into the tube and it immediately lowered the reading to 7. Now, unless you intend to add salt with the vinegar and fry the fish for supper, that's not a good way to go.
While searching for ways to drop the pH I came across this article. Take time to read it. It seems to make sense to me.

 

[Colin_T]

You can use a Rift Lake water conditioner to increase the GH, KH and pH of the water. However, if you want to keep soft water fishes, then don't adjust it. You should only increase the hardness if you want to keep livebearers, rainbowfish, goldfish or Rift Lake cichlids.

 

[drpenquin]

Your pH won't bother a betta. It isn't ideal, but you can do a lot more damage with playing with pH.

Hi, thanks for telling me. I will no longer try to attempt at lowering the ph But I do have a question. If my GH is lower than the ideal GH in a betta tank, should I try to attempt to make it higher? Or should I not since it could be dangerous to the fish.

My GH is 2 dGH / 35.8 ppm and I saw in an article that bettas require 3-4 dGH

 

[Colin_T]

Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish) come from soft acid water. They do best in water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH below 150ppm. Your water is very soft and is fine for them.

Captive bred fish are fine with a pH up to 7.6 or slightly higher.