ok so it is hard..getting PH Down

[jttt3]

The PH of my water here is apparently 7.8

I had a fresh water kit that stopped at 7.6, went out and bought the master kit with the high range PH and the other misc other tests and got the correct number.

I've tested it 3 times and still the same, just to make sure there was no error in the way I was doing the test.

Tried the PH Down stuff, but it I didn't see any change. Let it sit for a few hours too.

Any suggestions? I want to make sure I can do stable PH water changes, so I need to get a good way to do this.

Thanks ahead of time

James Tucker

[Chrona]

What fish are you keeping/planning on keeping? 95% of the time, you don't need to mess with the pH. In fact, it's bad to use the pH Down stuff because your water is probably well buffered and will bounce right back up, causing the fish a lot of stress. Most fish you get have already adapted to whatever your local tap water is like at the LFS, so you don't have to worry about it. Realistically the only way to keep pH down is to use an RO unit. I've tried acid buffers like Seachem Acid Buffers and it was a PITA. Maybe if you have a digital scale or something to measure it with precision....

[gm72]

Agreed with Chrona, and most of us will also agree. Adding chemical garbage to your aquariums will not solve the problem. Most commonly kept fish are adaptable to a wide range of pH conditions. Stability is FAR more important rather than having a "perfect" 7.0 pH. Don't worry about your pH, you are not in a danger zone for most common fish.

[xoolooxunny]

and to add to the other 2 posters here, go ahead and have the lfs employee check the current ph level at the store while you're there, to keep him/her from giving a 'good' sounding number, aka BS'ing you!

[jttt3]

yeah, the only stuff I really wanted to add was the stuff to remove the chlorine and chloramines.

I'm not entirely sure if the PH of my water is that of the area in which my fish will come from, as I will be buying my fish from a store 9-10 miles away. I will ask the shop keepers and see if they will let me test the PH of their water before I buy the fish lol.

Is 7.8 PH is ok to keep things other than cichilids and gold fish?

I've had my tank chilling out for the past 48 hours and the PH is probably, and will more than likely stay, just about 7.8, and seeing that the ph changer did squat, I'm sure it will stay at 7.8 still. I wanted to come here and ask before I continued though.

Ammonia is at 0, nitrites are at 0, and nitrates are at 0, is it ok to just let it chill out for a week or so?

Thanks for the advice.

James

[gm72]

If you don't have fish in your tank and do not add ammonia, your bacteria culture will die off and you will have to start over your cycle. 9-10 miles away doesn't really mean much if you are on the same water system. Fish are able to adapt with little difficulty to a different pH so long as the stability is there. 7.8, as we have said, is fine for most commonly kept fish.

[Chrona]

yeah, the only stuff I really wanted to add was the stuff to remove the chlorine and chloramines.

I'm not entirely sure if the PH of my water is that of the area in which my fish will come from, as I will be buying my fish from a store 9-10 miles away. I will ask the shop keepers and see if they will let me test the PH of their water before I buy the fish lol.

Is 7.8 PH is ok to keep things other than cichilids and gold fish?

I've had my tank chilling out for the past 48 hours and the PH is probably, and will more than likely stay, just about 7.8, and seeing that the ph changer did squat, I'm sure it will stay at 7.8 still. I wanted to come here and ask before I continued though.

Ammonia is at 0, nitrites are at 0, and nitrates are at 0, is it ok to just let it chill out for a week or so?

Thanks for the advice.

James


Hey James - I would read up on fishless cycling in the sticky in the general/beginner forum, or download the free ebook on the left menu.

7.8 will be fine for most fish. You have a very high carbonate content, which is why the pH down isn't doing anything. You would have to add A LOT of it to really bring it down and frankly, it wouldn't be stable enough for fish. I would just aim for livebearers like platies or guppies that will thrive in alkaline, hard water. Most other common tropical species that technically prefer soft acidic water will do fine as long as you acclimate them slowly (float for 30 min, pour 1 small cup of tank water into bag every 10 minutes for 1-2 hours, making sure to empty excess water into the sink, then net and release)

[gm72]

...and just to add to that very good information, do not allow the water in the bag from the fish store to enter your aquarium in any amount as it can contain contaminants/bacteria that you do not want. Just saying it in case it wasn't clear. Typical new aquarist mistake is to acclimate but then dump the whole bag of water into the aquarium. Also agreed with the fishless cycling suggestion. That is the way to go, for sure.

[Fishguy2727]

My community tank holds that high and I have platies, barbs, danios, tetras, loaches, plecos (including a gold nugget), sterbai cories, and golden wonder killies. I do not use a buffer or anything in that tank. I have lost some (may or may not have had anything to do with the pH), but you can definitely end up with a nice setup.

[jttt3]

I'm thinking my tank will be mostly Danios and Barbs, so I'll go forth with cycling the tank then. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going run into a nasty problem down the road before I got too far along.

I've read through the guide actually, and a lot of the articles on this website about cycling, etc, but I generally like live feedback from inviduals. I can read all the books in the world, but I rather have live feedback when it comes down to it. I appreciate you all taking the time to answer my questions as I am sure they seem very repetative to you, but it truely is appreciated.

Now that I have a much better handle on what my situation is, I'll start with the danios as I hear they are rugged (after I cycle the tank).

Once I get a better handle on things, I might look toward less hardy fish, however my father though I only seem him once evey 2 to 3 months as he comes into town, use to do water treatment work. I'm sure he has some Reverse Osmosis equipment he has been hanging on to and can get me filters at super cheap prices.

I hope this filtration system thats in there can hold up to the tank. I'm dying to see as I've used all kinds of systems before, but none like this. Guess we will see!

I'll post some pics up on the forum once I get everything up and running, and I'm sure, I'll have more questions later. =)

Thanks again all, greatly appreciated.

James Tucker

[A340]

Like most others have said, a stable pH is better than a perfect pH. 7.8 is fine for most community fish. But if you really do want to bring it down and soften the water, you could add peat pellets to your filter media. However, this does murk up the water due to the tannis content in it.