High pH .::

[Coraline22002]

I recently lost my first Betta and I know of a couple of things I did wrong that led to the demise of my little guy. I'm working to correct those things before getting another fish. Today I was checking my water as I still have three Nerite snails in my tank. I checked the ph and it is 8.4. A couple of months ago when I check it, it was at 8. I asked my lfs and they said that's how the water is here and it shouldn't be a problem. I also tested my tap
Water and it is 8.2. What I hear online is different than what my LFS says. It's all very confusing with the conflicting information. Help!!_ thank you!

 

[Rocky998]

I recently lost my first Betta and I know of a couple of things I did wrong that led to the demise of my little guy. I'm working to correct those things before getting another fish. Today I was checking my water as I still have three Nerite snails in my tank. I checked the ph and it is 8.4. A couple of months ago when I check it, it was at 8. I asked my lfs and they said that's how the water is here and it shouldn't be a problem. I also tested my tap
Water and it is 8.2. What I hear online is different than what my LFS says. It's all very confusing with the conflicting information. Help!!_ thank you!

Whats your water hardness and ammonia levels at?

 

[Coraline22002]

Ammonia is 0. General water hardness is 30.

 

[Rocky998]

Ammonia is 0. General water hardness is 30.

Like, its 30ppm? Or it took 30 drops to make the water turn color?

 

[Coraline22002]

Oh sorry. The GH is 30 ppm and KH is 240.

 

[Rocky998]

Oh sorry. The GH is 30 ppm and KH is 240.

Thats strange water... Usually when ph is high, the hardness is as well... To help the PH go down to a 7-7.5 you can add almond leaves or driftwood... The tannins help the ph drop

 

[Coraline22002]

I should probably add that I live in a rental and it has a water softener.

 

[FF_Member146894]

water softeners make the water unsuitable for your fish because they are salt based
is there any way to bypass the water softener?

 

[Coraline22002]

I wondered about that and asked the question at my lfs and was told it wouldn't harm them. It has stuck in the back of my mind that it's not good. There is no way to bypass other than buying water from the store, which I might have to do.

 

[Rocky998]

I wondered about that and asked the question at my lfs and was told it wouldn't harm them. It has stuck in the back of my mind that it's not good. There is no way to bypass other than buying water from the store, which I might have to do.

We'll that just sucks

 

[Byron]

One thing you've learned here, and that is you cannot trust advice from a fish store employee. Many have similar stories.

 

[itiwhetu]

Be careful of your generalizations remember @Colin_T was a fish store employee as was I.

 

[NannaLou]

Be careful of your generalizations remember @Colin_T was a fish store employee as was I.

Yes, but you both know what you’re talking about now you’ve ‘growed up’

 

[itiwhetu]

Yes, but you both know what you’re talking about now you’ve ‘growed up’

And these little people need a chance to grow up, please be kind.

 

[NannaLou]

And these little people need a chance to grow up, please be kind.

They do, but we hear so frequently about wrong advice, even from independent store owners (who didn’t mention cycling to me but were happy to sell me two Betta at £25 a go that just kept dying). You wouldn’t say the same of a doctor - you’d expect them to have a good enough grasp of the basics and then have their work checked and overseen by an expert…

My first reply to you was in humour, I‘m not looking to spoil that