Ph Tablets. Are They Worth It?

[SakanaLover2009]

Hello there, I have posted in this forum before about getting a new tank. Well I have bought a new tank (10 gallon) and currently have 3 little zebra danios racing around in it like race cars.
I have city water which I use to fill the water tank. I waited 2 weeks and bought the 3 fish (been told you only buy 2 to 3 fish first just in case of any tank problems). Once I bought the little guys I tested the pH and it read 7.6. My boyfriend told me to chill since I was going into hysterics (I was told that you should have at 7.0) I waited a couple of days and tested the pH again and it was 7.5. His mother told me to test the tap water in the sink and it was 7.8. My boyfriend is still calming me down saying give it a while perhaps the fishes' poop can help pH levels. Also the fish have been in there for a week and are as hyper and crazy as they were when I first bought them.
Well....just because I am still freaking out I was wondering if any of you knew of pH tablets which dissolve when dropped in the tank make the pH water 7.0. If you have any comments on this product I would love to hear them or would love to hear simple advice about keeping pH levels balanced.
Thank you!

 

[Truck]

dont adjust it PH 7.8 is fine for most fish (tank bred!!)
dont adjust the PH it will come to haunt you

 

[rdd1952]

Your boyfriend and truck are both right. Most fish can adapt to a wide pH range. The key is that it's stable. When you start using chemical adjusters, all you do is throw it into a constant up and down swing pattern which is much harder on the fish. The danios will be fine with the pH you have.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome SakanaLover. As has already been said, don't panic over pH in the 7.6 or 7.5 range. Most fish will be fine with that pH. In most of my tanks the pH is between 7.6 and 7.8 and I keep a wide variety of different fish. I don't think you will find your tap water will limit your fish choices very much.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with the above.

How many days have your 3 danios been in the fresh tap water?

What sort of kit do you have to test the pH?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[backtotropical]

+1 about the pH. Keeping it stable is far better than fiddling with it to obtain an exact value. Steer clear of pH adjusting chemicals / tablets unless absolutely necessary (which it isn't in your case).

Far more important than pH are the levels of ammonia and nitrite if you have recently started the tank by adding some fish (we call it a fish-in cycle). Do you have a test kit to test these parameters?

Cheers

BTT