My pH level is at 8.0, what can I do to lower it?
High Ph Level.
- Thread starter Joshwainwright
- Start date
Adding carbon dioxide (CO2) will lower the pH a bit but isn't the safest way to do it in a new tank. You can add peat to the filter but it is slow to act.
The quickest way to drop the pH is to add something like "pH down" in a powder form, available from the fish shop. It normally contains sodium biphosphate and you add a small amount to a container of tap water and aerate the mixture for a while. It will lower the pH permanently and then you use the water with the lower pH to do water changes on your tank.
eg: you have a 10litre bucket with tap water in. You add half a teaspoon of pH down (sodium biphosphate) and aerate the mixture for an hour or so. Check the pH and it should have dropped a bit. You want the new water to be about 7.0 - 7.2. Then you use this bucket of water to do a partial water change on the tank. Each day you make up some new water in the same way.
Over a week or so the pH of the tank will become about the same as the water you are adding.
When the tank has finished cycling you can stop using the pH down and let the pH in the tank go back up to what it is from the tap.
The quickest way to drop the pH is to add something like "pH down" in a powder form, available from the fish shop. It normally contains sodium biphosphate and you add a small amount to a container of tap water and aerate the mixture for a while. It will lower the pH permanently and then you use the water with the lower pH to do water changes on your tank.
eg: you have a 10litre bucket with tap water in. You add half a teaspoon of pH down (sodium biphosphate) and aerate the mixture for an hour or so. Check the pH and it should have dropped a bit. You want the new water to be about 7.0 - 7.2. Then you use this bucket of water to do a partial water change on the tank. Each day you make up some new water in the same way.
Over a week or so the pH of the tank will become about the same as the water you are adding.
When the tank has finished cycling you can stop using the pH down and let the pH in the tank go back up to what it is from the tap.
Would it be safe just to ignore the high pH level?
yep you can ignore the pH but make sure you keep the ammonia levels low. If the ammonia levels go up in that water (with a pH of 7.8) the fish will suffer and possibly die.
Josh,
just like your last thread, I'm going to move this from the Scientific Section to Tropical Discussion where it will see more traffic and you'll get more help.
Unless you want to discuss something more in depth (and your 13 word first post doesn't give any indication that you are looking for something very in depth), please refrain from starting posts in the Scientific Section.
This is a rather unique part of the forum reserved specifically for discussing things more in-depth and in detail. The line between general discussion and scientific discussions is of course blurred, and posts do get moved back and forth, but unless you are seeking an in-depth discussion, please start these types of posts in Tropical Discussion. You'll get more responses in there anyway.
If you want to start a discussion on why your pH is high and the science behind the techniques to lower pH, then we can either start a new thread in the scientific section or I'll move this post back, but at this moment, this thread fits much better in Tropical Discussion.
just like your last thread, I'm going to move this from the Scientific Section to Tropical Discussion where it will see more traffic and you'll get more help.
Unless you want to discuss something more in depth (and your 13 word first post doesn't give any indication that you are looking for something very in depth), please refrain from starting posts in the Scientific Section.
This is a rather unique part of the forum reserved specifically for discussing things more in-depth and in detail. The line between general discussion and scientific discussions is of course blurred, and posts do get moved back and forth, but unless you are seeking an in-depth discussion, please start these types of posts in Tropical Discussion. You'll get more responses in there anyway.
If you want to start a discussion on why your pH is high and the science behind the techniques to lower pH, then we can either start a new thread in the scientific section or I'll move this post back, but at this moment, this thread fits much better in Tropical Discussion.
I'll just do that then.
Even though mums complaining already about the water bill.
Even though mums complaining already about the water bill.
tenohfive
Always room for one more tank...
On your size of tank it won't make any difference to the water bill. Depending on where you live 1 cubic metre of water costs about £1.40, and thats 1000 litres. So even with regular water changes its going to cost less than a fiver a year.
As for the pH, alot of people who live in hardwater area's have a high pH. There are loads of ways of lowering it, some more effective than others, but in my experience unless you're trying to breed certain species of cichlids it won't make any difference - a stable pH is more important than a suitable pH.
ok thanks
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