Raising PH
- Thread starter CamG369
- Start date
Probably the easiest method I've found is to buy some rocks like limestone that contain calcium. This by itself will raise the ph until it reaches an equilibrium. You can also buy stuff like crushed coral or cuttlebone that also contain calcium.
Yeah this is what I have read so have been looking into it. My only concern would be, during water changes I would be adding water that was of a lower PH again into it, this would cause fluctuations surely?
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Well you actually cannot say for sure what you pH might be. We know it is at least 6.0, but the kit stops there so it could be lower. pH is closely intertwined with KH. So, the way to raise pH is to raise the KH. However, most things that you can use for this will also impact the hardness, GH, of your water.
I recommend that you have a read here as a good place to begin: https://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html
I recommend that you have a read here as a good place to begin: https://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html
Errr - nobody has asked what fish you keep!
So what fish do you keep? I have 3 tanks with a pH of 6 or lower, but I keep fish that need soft acidic water. So no problem. If you are starting out or thinking of a new setup its far easier to go with fish and plants that will thrive in the water you can provide them out of the tap than trying to mess with the chemistry, which can be expensive, time consuming and error prone.
Just my 2 cents.
So what fish do you keep? I have 3 tanks with a pH of 6 or lower, but I keep fish that need soft acidic water. So no problem. If you are starting out or thinking of a new setup its far easier to go with fish and plants that will thrive in the water you can provide them out of the tap than trying to mess with the chemistry, which can be expensive, time consuming and error prone.
Just my 2 cents.
This was also my thoughts. At the moment there's some neons, dwarf gourami and a singular guppy. Reason for the singular guppy is the rest of the group died, rapidly, which made me retest water
I'm aware ph could be lower than 6 as this is the lowest reading the test can do, however at the moment I have no other way of determining ph.
Should the final guppy die, I don't see myself bothering with those anymore - the sorts of fish I'd like to keep would be perhaps cherry barbs, neons, the dwarf gouramis and perhaps kuhli loaches but I'm still doing some looking
pH is not actually that important to fish health as long as its stable. GH (general hardness) is far more important. Fish that come from hard water naturally get rid of excess minerals from their systems. Put them into soft water and they eventually get sick or die from lack of minerals. Fish from soft water hang on to the minerals they get and will eventually die from organ failure if kept in hard water (think limescale in their organs).
Low pH is usually an indicator of soft water and high pH is usually an indicator of hard water. I emphasise usually because it is not a reliable indicator. In your case it may well be true. Guppies are hard water fish and the neons and DG are soft water fish, so it seems likely that your water does not agree with the guppies. But ideal water for guppies would not be good for the others. It would be useful to know the GH and KH readings of your tank.
FWIW most people do not recommend store bought dwarf gouramis. They are farmed in Asia and a very high percentage of them have an incurable viral disease. Other gouramis are ok.
A good site for checking the water requirements of specific fish that you are interested in is seriouslyfish.com. The most important parameters are GH and temperature - but also look at things like group size and aggression.
Low pH is usually an indicator of soft water and high pH is usually an indicator of hard water. I emphasise usually because it is not a reliable indicator. In your case it may well be true. Guppies are hard water fish and the neons and DG are soft water fish, so it seems likely that your water does not agree with the guppies. But ideal water for guppies would not be good for the others. It would be useful to know the GH and KH readings of your tank.
FWIW most people do not recommend store bought dwarf gouramis. They are farmed in Asia and a very high percentage of them have an incurable viral disease. Other gouramis are ok.
A good site for checking the water requirements of specific fish that you are interested in is seriouslyfish.com. The most important parameters are GH and temperature - but also look at things like group size and aggression.
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Agreed as to the tank population being important. With a PH of 6.0, and possibly lower, live bearers are just not going to do well at all. For instance the proper PH for a guppy is over 7.0. Without extreme methods a PH is not going to be brought up to that range. Even if it can be brought up to a 7.0+ level it will be more work to maintain than what it is worth.
In over 50 years of off and on fish keeping one of the most important things that I've learned is that you don't change the basic conditions of water to match fish, you get fish to match the water. With such a low PH such fish as South American Cichlids are a prime choice as they like soft water. While it varies between species as to what is ideal there are many that are fine with a PH as low as 5.5.
Also it should be known as to what the PH is from the source. What kind of water do you use to replace when doing water changes? If tap water check the PH out of the tap but not right away. When testing 'source water' always put in a container and let set for at least a day then test. If, after proper testing, the source water has a higher PH than the tank it may be possible that there is something in the tank that is actually lowering the PH.
PH of the tank will depend on Calcium magnesium sodium, potassium, sulfur, chlorine levels. Sodium and potassium push the PH up to 10 or higher.. chlorine and sulfur will push it down to 5 or lower.. Now tap water will typically have some chloride salts and sulfate salts. The salts don't affect PH but. reaction with fish waiste and plants removing nutrients can convert the slat to chlorine and sulfate which are acidic and can push the PH down below 5. Sodium and potassium may also be present as salts ( such assodium chloride, potassium sulfate) but again the salts don't effect PH.
Calcium and magnesium behave very differently in water. solid calcium / magnesium carbonate are solids and will not affectPH. Calcium and magnesium carbonates only dissolve in acidic water(ph below 7. However once the pH increases to above 7 it stops dissolving and stop pushing the pH up. . Calcium and magnesium carbonate also react with sulfur and chlorine forming calcium and magnesium salts which also have no effect on PH.
In the end the final PH of the tank will be determined by levels of all of these elements. If you have too much sulfate and chloride it can drop to 6 or less. In other cases too much sodium or potassium may push the PH up. In my tank plant growth will push the PH up . But when eh lights turn off and the plants stop growing the PH will drop. In the morning before the lights turn on my PH is currently about 6.7. Just before the lights turn offf the PH is about 7.3 When plants grow they consume potassium, calcium, and magnesium, sulfur and chlorine and CO2 (CO2 .So the daily change in PH is understandable because the water chemistry is always changing. I use RO water and make my own fertilizer and therefore have full control over PH.
Note if your are using a fertilizer or GH booster these products and plants will result in low PH water. When I first saw this my PH dropped each day eventually reading 6 or lower by the end of the week. I added Sea shells at the time to keep the pH close to 7.
Calcium and magnesium behave very differently in water. solid calcium / magnesium carbonate are solids and will not affectPH. Calcium and magnesium carbonates only dissolve in acidic water(ph below 7. However once the pH increases to above 7 it stops dissolving and stop pushing the pH up. . Calcium and magnesium carbonate also react with sulfur and chlorine forming calcium and magnesium salts which also have no effect on PH.
In the end the final PH of the tank will be determined by levels of all of these elements. If you have too much sulfate and chloride it can drop to 6 or less. In other cases too much sodium or potassium may push the PH up. In my tank plant growth will push the PH up . But when eh lights turn off and the plants stop growing the PH will drop. In the morning before the lights turn on my PH is currently about 6.7. Just before the lights turn offf the PH is about 7.3 When plants grow they consume potassium, calcium, and magnesium, sulfur and chlorine and CO2 (CO2 .So the daily change in PH is understandable because the water chemistry is always changing. I use RO water and make my own fertilizer and therefore have full control over PH.
Note if your are using a fertilizer or GH booster these products and plants will result in low PH water. When I first saw this my PH dropped each day eventually reading 6 or lower by the end of the week. I added Sea shells at the time to keep the pH close to 7.
Hello I have done further tests and replied with them
dKH - didn't even go blue, was faintly yellow (practically clear) from the first drop
dGH - 6
At 120GH and 10KH and 6.0PH, I would use a specialized KH booster like Hagen KH booster.
Raise the water for your water changes to 40-50KH an test the resulting PH if it is to low raise to 50-60KH.
Once stabilized use this water in your normal water changes routine and your tank is going to slowly raise to your desired settings.
Do not try to raise the PH by adding KH booster directly to your tank.
Test the evolution between water changes.
Raise the water for your water changes to 40-50KH an test the resulting PH if it is to low raise to 50-60KH.
Once stabilized use this water in your normal water changes routine and your tank is going to slowly raise to your desired settings.
Do not try to raise the PH by adding KH booster directly to your tank.
Test the evolution between water changes.
OK - so you have soft water. That's no problem. While others have suggested what you can do to raise pH there is no need as you have said you will look at your stocking. The KH acts as a pH buffer and you have none so raising pH is tricky because it will tend to come back down again. My own tanks have a KH of zero and GH between 0 and 6 depending on the tank. The pH is stable (but low) and I keep it this way with regular water changes. Unfortunately I do not have soft water like yours (I'm actually quite envious), which also means I know the effort and expense involved in changing your natural water parameters.
If your water came out of my tap I would simply put my fish in it after getting rid of the chlorine. Fish that will thrive in your water include:
Most South American / Amazonian tropical fish - including tetras, corys, plecs. pencilfish etc
Many Asian tropical fish - including rasboras, loach, danios etc
Don't even think about livebearers, such as guppies, platies and mollies, and definitely no African cichlids.
Malaysian trumpet snails are fine (mixed views on keeping them) but most decorative snails would not survive too long.
Soft water shrimp are also fine.
Kind of matches the fish that have survived in my tank and the ones that have died... mollies, guppies never last which after testing I can see why. Although one singular guppy remains a year on.
Will have a look now at other stocking and get that going over the next few weeks.
Thanks all for the advice
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