PH question

[holbritter]

Hi all :)

Question about my PH. Straight out of the tap, it is 8.0
I have well water and no additives.
It took about 2 weeks for it to start coming down once in my tank, so I'm concerned about my water changes.
I know the steady level of the PH isn't as harmful as the flucuations.
Anyone have this problem? What do you do about it?

I don't want to have the fish go through such a change every time I change the water.
Thanks

[Cichlid_Man]

Hello.
I also have well water but my PH is 6.0.
You are ok with 8.0 as the fish will adjust to it.
Consistency with PH is more important than the actual PH unless it is really bad like mine.
What I would do is try to maintain the 8.0.
You say it comes down after being in the tank?
What type of fish do you keep?
What is the size of the tank?

You could add some crushed coral into the filter to maintain a PH of 8.0.

[Fishguy2727]

If it takes 2 weeks for it to start to come down, that's fine because water changes should be big and weekly. What fish are you keeping? What size tank?

[holbritter]

It's a 55 hex, and I only have 6 danios right now. I can't decide on what fish would be good with a hex, so I haven't purchased any.

Yes, it has gone down to 7.6 on it's own. That makes sense though....the water changes should maintain that PH.

[Fishguy2727]

My water holds at about 7.8. My 40high community tank includes many barbs, glofish (danios), platies, among many other things. Those specifically listed should be fine in the higher pH. For a cleaner you could use a Synodontis eupterus.

[jman]

Trying coral and keeping consistent water changes the water should be easy enough at 8 to be adjustable for the fish.

[Neithan]

Or you could just take the easy route and get fish that will do well in your current pH.

Driftwood btw lowers pH in the tank, do you have any of that in there?

[jman]

kind of what i was thinking as well!

[Fishguy2727]

If it takes two weeks for the pH to drop form 8.0 to 7.6, you should not need to pull out the current substrate and add crushed coral, you just need to do weekly water changes (the way it should be anyways). Stick with fish that are fine in your pH like the ones I listed, do frequent water changes (see my post about water changes), and you should end up with a variety of fish that do well in your tank.