Ph For Angels

[Sesshis_grl]

Curious question

What is the appropriate pH for angelfish? I have read that they prefer a lower pH around 6, but have had LFS tell me that they do great at a 7-7.2..which one is right?

Also if the lower pH is better how do you lower it? I've had a piece of driftwood in my tank for a month but my pH is still at 7. I've read that water changes work also but isn't it bad to do it more than once a week? I'm debating using API pH down but not sure how a chemical like that will affect the fish

opinions apprecaited

 

[Tolak]

Bred thousands at 7.6-7.8, domestic angels are far removed from wild caught, which are found in water that is softer with a lower pH.

Adding chemicals to lower the pH of tap water is a sure way to cause yourself problems and spend money at the same time. To do this reliably & safely you have to start with ro water unless you are blessed with water that is extremely soft. You drop the pH of the now mineral free water, add a bit of minerals to increase hardness & stabilize the now lower pH. Hardness stabilizes pH, you may see a temporary decrease in pH, but it will quickly rebound. Hardness is dissolved minerals, you are dissolving yet another substance in your water, which will increase total dissolved solids, which do include the minerals that make water harder. There is much more to water chemistry than tossing in some acidic powder with a bit of minerals to buffer hardness to lower your pH.

As long as you have tap water that is fairly consistent in pH & hardness, as well as do regular water changes you can change as much water as often as you like without any harm.

 

[ajs2294]

Appropriate pH for angels is 6.5-7.8 its best to keep your pH constant, its swings in pH that will harm angels. If you have tap water in that range just use your tap water, of course you could pin point and say 7.0 is what you need bu as long as they are acclimated it isn't worth fussing over. As far as Driftwood goes its not that effective for regulating pH, water changes won't necessarily work as you pH is basically the pH of the water out of your tap. To determine your local tap water pH fill a container with tap-water and wait 24-48 hours for it to settle and then test, that's your tap water pH. If your tanks stay at 7 you have nothing to worry about at all 7 is neutral and for most freshwater fish especially angels I'd call it perfect. The only reason you'll really ever hear of people dropping the pH to 6.5ish is usually for breeding purposes. My rule of thumb is if you can do it with out chemicals and messing do with out it! Having PH different from your tap water is constant work to maintain making water changes more of a chore and much more testing so stay were your at at 7.0

And as Tolak stated water hardness comes into play when changing pH, so unless you really must get in depth messing with chemicals or natural alternatives like peat you its best not mess with your tapwater. My pH in my angel tank has been as high as 7.6 in the past with no problems. One last thing, if you google your local areas water statistics you may be able to find information and time lines of the pH and stability in your area which may be worth looking at just as a precaution.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

lmao thats a lot of info! but I'm glad to hear it, I wasn't too fond of the idea of putting pH stuff in there to begin with.

I moved my betta out of the main tank and decided to do an all angel tank with a few bottom dwellers. I just wanted to be sure before tramatizing a whole herd of angels I do have RO water so the pH seems to stay at 7-7.5 so they should be fine.

Thanks a bunch for responding so quickly and helping me out