Water Ph Level?

[Linway]

Hey all,
 
So recently bought a tank and I've just been and bought all the decor etc... Got it all in and it looks great
 
However, I've just gone to test the pH of the water and I'm having a little bit of a hard time understanding the actual reading
I'm using the API Fresh Water Master Test Kit and I did 2 tests, one with the pH test and one with the high pH test... Here are a couple of pics for you lovely people to help me read the damn thing lol
 
http/imgur.com/a/3GlS6
 
The left tube is the pH solution and the right tube is the high pH solution. Me and my girlfriend are undecided on what we believe the readings are hence asking you guys. We both feel that pH test is around 7.6 but with the high pH test she feels it looks around 7.4 where as I feel its a bit higher.
 
If we do have a high pH what does this mean with regards to stocking the tank with fish?
 
Thanks

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Could you hold them in front of the chart and take a pic? It would be a lot easier to compare

 

[Linway]

Hey, yeah sorry it was a ball ache to get them in the same pic... Done just for you though
 
I've just done a new test and added the images to the same album as above
 
http/imgur.com/a/3GlS6
 
Cheers

 

[Shelster]

I would say 7.8

 

[fluttermoth]

If your low pH test is off the scale, which yours is, forget about it and go with the higher one.
 
I would say your pH is about 8, although it's hard to be certain from a photo. Make sure you read tests under natural daylight. Also, have you let your tap water stand for 24 hours before testing? Some water suppliers adjust the pH to help prevent corrosion in the pipes, which wears of after a day or so.
 
It would also help if you could find out your hardness levels. That's actually more vital for fish than exact pH. You should be able to look it up on your water suppliers website.
 
If your pH is that high, all it means for your stocking is that you'll want to avoid anything that likes very soft water; mostly the South American cichlids (rams, angels, discus), some tetras (the neons/green neons/ cardinals) and some of the barbs.
 
Look at; African cichlids, rainbow fish (some beauties in that family), most barbs and livebearers. There are a lot of tetras that don't mind slighter higher pH levels as well. You will need to research each species individually though; there are always exceptions in nature!

 

[Linway]

I would say 7.8

 That's what I'm thinking now looking at the second test...
 
How easy is it to lower the pH? A few of the fish we're thinking of getting (once the fishless cycle is complete) only go to 7.5... Would 0.3 over that kill them? Is it easy to lower it by 0.3-4?
 
 

If your low pH test is off the scale, which yours is, forget about it and go with the higher one.
 
I would say your pH is about 8, although it's hard to be certain from a photo. Make sure you read tests under natural daylight. Also, have you let your tap water stand for 24 hours before testing? Some water suppliers adjust the pH to help prevent corrosion in the pipes, which wears of after a day or so.
 
It would also help if you could find out your hardness levels. That's actually more vital for fish than exact pH. You should be able to look it up on your water suppliers website.
 
If your pH is that high, all it means for your stocking is that you'll want to avoid anything that likes very soft water; mostly the South American cichlids (rams, angels, discus), some tetras (the neons/green neons/ cardinals) and some of the barbs.
 
Look at; African cichlids, rainbow fish (some beauties in that family), most barbs and livebearers. There are a lot of tetras that don't mind slighter higher pH levels as well. You will need to research each species individually though; there are always exceptions in nature!
 

 
No I didn't leave it 24 hours, I genuinely didn't know about this ... I'll test it again tomorrow night... Yeah I'm just glad to hear there are still options for higher pH tanks, I was worried that after spending so much on the tank I would be stuck with just snails or something haha
 
I'll take a look on my water supplier's website for the hardness, I assumed the master kit would have a test but it didn't so I'll check the website before ordering one
 
Thanks for the advice

 

[Shelster]

Do you have any access to RO? You could potentially mix with RO water to soften it?

Alternately I think you will be ok if you acclimatise them properly by either dripping tank water into bag over a period of two hours, similar to what you'd do with shrimp?

My tank I have to use RO, it's a pain buffering the water for this, and as a result my PH does fluctuate, but touch wood, all fish have been fine, and I've been using RO for nearly a year now.

 

[fluttermoth]

You're very welcome
 
If the pH is that high, after letting it stand for 24 hours, then I would seriously look at fish that like higher pH levels. Lowering pH and hardness (unlike raising them!) is a fiddly business and not worth the faff, IMO.
 
Plenty of beautiful fish to choose from, whatever your levels are

 

[snazy]

The difference between 7.4 and the higher ranges is that 7.4 is kind of beige when you look at it in person in a test tube. 8 is purplish in person, rather than brown. 7.6 and 7.8 are kind of organge.
So based on that I'd go with 7.4 for your water.
Ph is still not indiction of whether the water is hard or soft. The water company could be adding stuff that buffers it up.
I'd test the Gh and Kh instead. This can't go wrong and will tell you what type of water you have. You may ask the fish shop if you don't want to buy more tests.

 

[fluttermoth]

The difference between 7.4 and the higher ranges is that 7.4 is kind of beige when you look at it in person in a test tube. 8 is purplish in person, rather than brown. 7.6 and 7.8 are kind of organge.
So based on that I'd go with 7.4 for your water.
Ph is still not indiction of whether the water is hard or soft. The water company could be adding stuff that buffers it up.
I'd test the Gh and Kh instead. This can't go wrong and will tell you what type of water you have. You may ask the fish shop if you don't want to buy more tests.

Agreed.

Also, unlike ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, hardness levels don't usually vary much, so once you know what you have, you can work from there.

 

[Linway]

Ok so I found the information on my water company website. If anyone can make sense of this an explain it to me that would be great

 

[levahe]

Generally fish adapt pretty well to pH and hardness levels and you can keep most fish in most types of water. In my experience the only time you need to worry about ph/hardness is if you are trying to breed certain types of fish. Your water stats aren't extreme so you could get pretty much most types of fish without being concerned with pH/hardness.

 

[snazy]

Ok so I found the information on my water company website. If anyone can make sense of this an explain it to me that would be great

 
As it says, your water is slightly hard, or not very hard in other words.  Gh is 7.28 according to this. This means you can keep almost anything you want.

....providing the tank size allows it of course..

 

[tmoney7]

Yeah my tanks pH is at about 7.4 and my water is fairly soft kinda hard kind of like yours and i keep pygmy corys which usually have a very high range of pH and other things like Gh, most fish are usually the same like levahe said and will adapt pretty easily as long as it is not a huge leap.