Ph Question

[backtotropical]

Hi,

My tap water has a PH of 8. Is this normal? I am trying to keep a community tank so need it to be around 7. I know driftwood reduces the PH but i dont like the brown colour it makes the water. I also dont want to add any chemicals if i dont need to. Is there anything else i could use other than driftwood? Any comments appreciated.

Andy

 

[Watersprite]

Hi,

My pH is high at 8, which is the same as my tap water. My tank has had fish in now for about 6wks ( after doing fishless cycle) and so far they all seem to be doing well. Reading other members comments it seems that it is more important to keep the pH stable than to try and lower it with chemicals which could cause it to go up and down. Obviously wouldn't be able to put fish in it that like a low pH. Hope that this helps and good luck.

 

[Tiger Barb]

I agree - trying to lower pH can get difficult, and avoiding sudden changes is more important. I too have a pH of 8 in my tap water and in my tank. I keep a community tank with barbs, tetras, rainbows, corys, SAEs and BN plecs.

Remember that if get buy fish from a local source, they are likely to be using similar water, so the fish will be acclimatised to it.

Try some bogwood - you can avoid the brown colour by soaking and boiling the wood first (for as long as you can be bothered).

 

[loachman]

I have hard water at a pH of 8. Never seemed to matter.

 

[backtotropical]

I'll give it some thought. Maybe try some bog wood. Thanks

 

[-germ-]

Wouldn't a peat sachet added to the filter do it? Although it would stain your water....
If what i have heard is correct then when using this 'natural' (term used loosely) method any PH shifts are fairly gradual. May be wrong?

 

[fishlette]

unless you have the fish that absolutely require an exact pH, a stable pH is the most important thing

however, adding some wood to your tank will lower your pH

 

[rdd1952]

One of the issues you generally run into when trying to lower water with a pH that high is that it usually also has a very high GH/KH which means that things such as driftwood or peat won't have much of an effect on the pH as there is too much buffering capacity. One possibility is mixing RO water with your tap water or even boiling tap water which should remove most of the buffering capacity.

Having said all that, I agree that most fish will easily adapt to the pH you have The key is that it is stable.