Ph?

[TorqueWorks]

My tank has been up and running for 7 weeks now. Everything appears to be doing O.K. I had my water tested today, and everything was fine except the Ph. It is 7.6. Is that too high for plants? All my plants are doing alright but my crypts look especially bad. They look great at the store and a few days later they start turning yellow in my tank. I have 2" of substrate and have been using both of the seachem flourish products. My water temp is 78. I have a Current Nova Extreme light with 2-8700 and 2-10000 daylight bulbs.

[Algenco]

although most plants would prefer a PH closer to neutral, they should be fine.

You are probably experiencing "crypt melt" which is common when they are moved, they should come back in a week or two

[TorqueWorks]

Awesome. I appreciate your help.

[smaug]

the lighting you have is a very high k rating for plants.6700 to 5700k is the range that will work best,between that and crypt rot that algenco suggests could be the issue.Of more importance then your ph would be your hardness levels,such as your kH.Do you know what that reads?With a high kh and high ph you will have difficultys with plants.

[TorqueWorks]

How do I test for kH?

[smaug]

Get a kh/gh test kit from API.Gh [generel hardness] is not as important as kh [carbonate hardness].Under 5 is desirable for kh for most plants.

[digital3]

My plants live in 7.6 PH water and are doing fine... Yeah, I would check out your KH/GH.

[TorqueWorks]

Well the crypt is starting to show some life now. When is the proper time to add the flourish products? Morning or night?

[smaug]

Add any fert product in the morning so it will be available to your plants when they start using nutrients more readily due to photosynthesis.

[TorqueWorks]

Thanks smaug.