High Ph - Should I Be Worried?

[monte]

Hello.

My tank is now set up and I think it's going great. I've done all of the tests and it seems to be going good.

One thing that I'm a bit worried about is my pH reading. It's coming out as 8.5. Should I be worried about this? Also, will this settle down and become more neutral? I've checked my tap water and that comes out as about 7.5

I've got mostly gravel substrate and a little bit of silver sand. It's got a fair few plants in it, some slate and some nice big solid stripey rocks that were labled as african rock. Could any of this be adding to this reading?

I've got some hardy fish in there at the moment but I don't want to add anything else if it stays this high.

Am I panicking for no reason?

Any help/reassurance/abuse would be most appreciated.

 

[Shuggieboy]

Id say the african rocks are making the Ph go up, you have to think about what sort of setup you are going to have and what fish you will be keeping, your Ph would be suitable for african cichlids but too high for certain types of south american cichlids.

 

[riverman444]

How long has your tank been up an running? How many gallons?

 

[Qays]

my water is also very hard, dose with humaqat. And dose ever water change - the tube should say how much too dose it.

 

[monte]

Thanks for your replys. Would the rock really contribute to the pH? They're very solid rocks - I wouldn't have thought they would shed anything that could affect the water.

The tank's 125litres and it's been running for just under 2 weeks.

i haven't performed a water change yet. Maybe a 25% change would be in order?

 

[Bloo]

That's actually quite normal for Thames Water Suppling London - tested straight from the tap. Who supplies your water ?

Mine are usually anything between 7.6 - 8.4 (it does vary over the year!) and very hard water usually around 16-19gH and 11 - 12 kH.

You should try testing a sample that's been standing for 24 hours - that gives a more accurate view.

Edit: but yes your rock could well be contributing to this. Test your tap water to find out / eliminate. To lower your pH, you'd have to add bogwodd - but it's a very gradual small reduction. My tank pH is now usually around 7.6.

What "hardy" fish do you have in there at the moment ?

Be aware that you will probably not have succuss with fish such as neons, cardinals and rams.

 

[monte]

Damn rocks! grrrr. They looked so good and the LFS said they'd be fine (of course!!!!). I think I'll try a few things before ripping them out though.

I put Black Widow tetras and zebra danios in. I chose these because I hear they can withstand quite a range of pH conditions. I really hope I chose right, I'd hate to think they're suffering.

I don't know who supplys my water. I'm in the South East of London so I assume it's Thames water. I think I'll do as you say and let some water stand before testing it.

I'll do a 25% water change tonight and see how this affects the pH.

 

[KingKenny]

Try getting two buckets of water from your tap. Leave them to stand for a day and test the water.

Next add some of your rocks to one of the buckets. Leave for a couple of days and see if there is any impact on the one with rocks in. Test both buckets for PH at the end.

That's how I've done things before.

 

[Bloo]

^^ Good advice

Btw. do you know what your ammonia and nitrite readings are too ?

 

[monte]

cool, I'll give that a go. If I've read right about my current fish, they'll be happy as they are. I won't be adding anything before I've sorted it successfully though - I don't like unhappy fish.

I can't remember what the readings are off the top of my head. Ammonia's at 0 and nitrites were acceptable (according to my guide).

 

[Bloo]

and nitrites were acceptable (according to my guide).

Anything but zero is not acceptable - so hope it is indeed zero otherwise you need to do some water changes till it's down and stays down.

 

[monte]

Thanks. I still have much to learn! But I'm willing