Soft water fishes in high Ph

[Platinumpete]

I currently have fishes that likes their ph in the 7/netural levelwater, I have been keeping up with that level by using RO water near my dorm room which is very convenient for me. But it is still a drag to carry water back to my room every week. The water in my area is 8- 8.5. Now that I have moved out during the summer I don’t have that access to RO water within walking distance. I tried lowing ph with meds but it only rises again. I have a drift wood in there which is making the water yellow, I don’t mind that but it doesn’t lower my ph at all. I want add 6 neon tetras at the end of the summer. My question is can neon tetras or other soft water loving fishes adjust to a high ph like 8-8.5? So it is better to leave them in that high ph then to change their ph? What do people that own petshops do, do they have to adjust ph to suit the fish all the time? Or do some just leave them in what ever ph water they have?

 

[sylvia]

Let me first say that my pH is 8 and I have only ever adjusted this for especialy fragile fish or those that need a lower pH to breed. I have never had problems with neons myself and most fish can adapt perfectly well to a higher pH. It is fluctuations in pH that are unhealthy. By the sounds of it, your attempts to lower pH are causing fluctuations. I sugegst you stop trying to lower it now. The fish you currenty have in your tank (the one in your sig.) should be fine adapting to the new change. With the neons, try to get some that have been in your LFS's tank(s) for a while already. This will ensure they have acclimated well to the new environment. This is actualy something you should do when purchasing any fish. Avoid buying fish that have only just come in - often the LFS will experience a major die-off with new arrivals as they come in sterssed and are not usualy carefuly or gradualy introduced to the tanks and are often carrying disease as well. With fish like neons, especialy, which can deteriorate quite quickly if stressed, make sure you only buy fish that you are certain are healthy. I cannot stress this enough. Even if there are just a few fish in the tank that are sick, refrain from buying their apparently healthy tank-mates. As for whether LFSs alter pH, most can't afford to do so. Most have a filtration system that links all the stock tanks anyway - it would be impossible, with the same water being shared by all tanks, to alter the pH in just one of them. Usualy, they use the local tap water. Check with them what their tanks' pH is so you know whether the neons are at risk from pH shock when you bring them home and you know to acclimate them to your tank more gradualy. If, BTW, the fish were bred locoly, they have more than likely lived the majority of their lives in your local tap water anyway and should be fine in it.

 

[Platinumpete]

wow! Thanks! Good info! I always thought that you have to adjust your ph to suit the fishes you have and high ph on a softwater loveing fish is dangerous to them. So it's all about adjusting them to your tank and don't do anything that would stress them out. I got it! thanks again! And I'm not trying to breed neons so I'm glad to hear that I don't have to get RO water all the time.