Best Way To Control Ph?

[LuanaNeko]

Okay, so I thought my 6 gal tank was cycled... All the levels looked right, PH was at 7.2, slightly over where I like to keep tanks (I usually aim for 7.0), but not unreasonable. I decided to try adding a couple of lil dwarf frogs to make sure everything would stay that way once the betta I got on aquabid came in the mail... The levels are all staying good, except for the darn PH! I keep adding PH down once a day to try and keep it in check, but each day when I check its back at 7.6 ... Whats the best way to get the ph to come down and stay down? I'm thinking a partial water change is in order, but figured I'd ask first.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Used Ph down once, but its a pain if you keep having to use it. There could be something in your tank which is buffering the ph up?

Personally, i'd let it be at 7.6, unless you have critters that absolutey require a lower ph. Never had a problem with bettas and ph. Received bettas from a shop with ph of 8 and ours is 7.6, but there have been no ill effects to the fish.

Your more likely to cause more stress if the ph is going up and down, rather than being stable at 7.6

 

[constantine03]

You can always do a water change without any problems. It's good for the little guys. IAL also lowers pH, but like bronzecat said, 7.6 should be fine anyway.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah for a betta and a couple of adf's 7.6 shouldn't be a problem. adjusting pH is generally pretty tricky, the link in my sig , pH and KH will explain some more

 

[Amunet]

Don't mess with the pH. If it's staying at a steady reading then LEAVE IT ALONE. 7.0, 7.2, 7.whatever.... so long as it's steady, your fish will adjust to it just fine, Just acclimate them really well if you're worried.
The last thing you want to do is put that useless crap in to the tank to try to lower it and have the pH swinging all over the place stressing out the fish and whatever else is in the tank.

 

[newfishy]

the ph of my local water is in the 8's naturaly. it causes my bettas no harm whatsoever. the only problem it presents is when breeding, bubble nests dont stick very well. to fix that I add a large Indian almond leaf....which will slowly soak and lower the ph to a good level.

 

[LuanaNeko]

Phew, that makes me feel better, I don't like having to mess with the pH so much My parent's had a lot of tetras, platys, and sword tails in their tanks which usually prefer 6.8-7.0 (or so we were told), so they always freaked if we saw the pH end up in the upper 7s... I'll try the Indian Almond Leaf if I try getting into the breeding bit later on, where do you usually find those?

 

[newfishy]

yes some fish prefer a certain ph, but most can aclimate and adjust to a wider range of ph's. bettas are pretty togh little fish as well, so they adjust pretty darn good.

 

[Annalina]

The Indian Almond Leaf can be bought on ebay or Aquabid ^^

 

[Phoenixbaby]

my ph is 6.5 lol