High pH

[Dred]

Hi I'm a complete newbie after some help and advice.

I have a tank which has just completed cycling (approx 8 weeks old).

Ammonia and Nitrite levels are 0, Nitrates are between 0 and 12.5, but our pH is between 8.5 and 9.0!!!

I have just checked our tap water and that is 8.5 so I don't stand alot of chance.

How can I drop the pH in the tank to a reasonable level without having to add chemicals. Would bogwood work?

My Black widows don't seem to mind it too much, nor does my spotted raphael catfish, however my spotted corries who are real characters and normally very active are very subdude and sad.

I have just lowered the temp of the tank (4 days ago) following a suspected white spot outbreak and started a course of Mixyzin (2 days) because my catfish has whiteish string poo (the Mixyzin worked on the black widows when they had the same). I called Waterlife to check that the Mixyzin was OK to use and would not affect my plec or corries before starting the treatment. Should I stop using the Mixyzin?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[WILDER]

You higher the temp with whitespot, you can lower ph using quite a few things, I no you can add peat to your filter, also white stringy poo can indicate that your fish has internal parasites.

 

[Dred]

Thanks for the super quick response.

The higher temp did seem to do the trick for the whitespot (if that is what it was, only two fish were affected and only had one spot each). I haven't seen any new spots for approx 5 days.

I am treating the white string poo (internal parasites) with Mixyzin (as it worked for my black widows). But could this be what is making my corries sad or is it the high pH or is there something more sinister going on?

 

[WILDER]

It could be the meds, as cories are abit funny with meds, just keep an eye on them, or can you issolate them in anyway.

 

[Dred]

Hi

I think I will stop the meds for the moment, until I can get a quarantine tank set up.

What I would really like to know is if my pH at 8.5 is acceptable or not, should I be trying to get it down?

Thanks

 

[rvm]

As long as your fish are OK, then I wouldn't bother mucking around with the Ph. Your fish will prefer a high stable Ph to a low reading that keeps fluctuating as this is what will happen if you try to alter it with chemicals.

 

[andyM]

I live in the South of England, and have a Ph of 8-8.5. I have never tried to change it and the tank has been running now for 2 years with no problems.

 

[babyfish]

I'm assuming you bought your fish locally... in this case they will
be used to the local water conditions anyway and changing them will stress the fish further.
It is more than likely the medication that's causing the cories to behave funny... quite sensitive little fish.

Planting your tank will help to lower the ph over time, as will adding bogwood, but not by a huge amount.

The only really safe way to alter ph is by R.O water.... that way you know it's right every time.....bit expensive for community fish tho'

Most lfs will have a sign on the tanks if the fish are in anything other than local tapwater.