Water Chemistry

[kylealastairlove]

hello, not been on for a while as my computer broke temporarily back though!

i wanted to ask a question about changing water ph and maintaining it when doing water changes, so here goes

i was thinking of buying some leaves that can be used in the aquarium that soften the water and also lower the ph, this happens when they start to decompose in the water if i add these leaves should i just let my fish adjust whilst the water does too, or should i remove fish and put them back in when the water is stable again. also my tap water has a ph of 7.6 (the current ph level of my tank) so how would i go about getting the ph lower so when it comes to doing a water change i would be putting in water that has the same ph as the water in the aquarium?

thankyou to anybody who can answer my crazy question lol

 

[CezzaXV]

Why would you want to lower your pH? A pH of 7.6 is perfectly acceptable to most fish. You'll probably find that if you left your tap water 24 hours to let things gas off, the "true" pH of your water is probably lower than that.

If you really really want to lower your pH in your tank, most recommend adding some peat to your filter.

I have soft water and the pH diference between tank and tap can grow quite large at times. You'd be surprised how much fish can handle though, as long as your water changes are gradual. I connect a hosepipe up to my tap to do my water changes, so it's not at all difficult for me to drag out refilling my tank over the space of an hour or more if I feel so inclined.

 

[kylealastairlove]

thankyou for the reply, i was just wondering as i have some espei rasbora and i was planning on buying a wild betta pair, i wanted to try and mimic their natural waters. as they can be found in waters with quite a low ph. and the wild betta pair i wanted are kept in water with a ph of around 6 so i was worried that they would struggle to adapt to 7.6 thanks for the info by the way, do you think i should just leave my water how it is?

 

[CezzaXV]

As long as you acclimatise them properly, they should be fine. You might wanna go really slow and long on acclimatising the bettas, especially if they're wild ones and currently kept in pH 6. If you don't already drip acclimatise, I'd recommend familiarising yourself with the method. As long as you do it right, no reason that can't they can't be happy in pH 7.6. A long acclimatisation process is going to be less work for you in the long run than messing with pH in your tank. It's quite likely that natural processes in your tank will bring your pH down in time, and as I said it's possible that your "true" pH is lower than that too. In any case, trying to change a pH is difficult work. Maintaining it, even more so. Just leave it where it is.

 

[Tonyb111111]

thankyou for the reply, i was just wondering as i have some espei rasbora and i was planning on buying a wild betta pair, i wanted to try and mimic their natural waters. as they can be found in waters with quite a low ph. and the wild betta pair i wanted are kept in water with a ph of around 6 so i was worried that they would struggle to adapt to 7.6 thanks for the info by the way, do you think i should just leave my water how it is?

Most LFS I have visited say their tanks are at about pH6, and we don't struggle to acclimatise new fish to our tanks with gradual addition of tank water over time before releasing. So I am tempted to say it may not be a problem, though I am relatively new to this so stand to be corrected. I agree with Cezza, your pH is fine and most fish will have no problems with this.

 

[kylealastairlove]

thanks CezzaXV, your a great help i shall have to research that method as i haven't used it before. if it will make it easier for me in the long run than i will leave my ph alone and give the method you said a go thanks again for the good advice there!

thanks for the reply as well tony