I have a 20 Long tank thats bean running for about two years. The problem that I am having is that my PH is always at 8.0 and I am trying to get it down to 7.0. I do not have any ammonia or nitrite problems I do not over feed my fish I clean the gravel with a gravel vac every mounth and do a 10% water change and I am using fake plants and an air pump with 6 inch air stone. The PH of my tap water is also at 8.0. I use water conditioners before I put the tap water into my tank and I also put in about two table spoons of aquarium salt. I am currently using API PH down but it does not lower my PH at all even with double doses what can I do to fix this problem.
2007-01-21 11:16:30 · 7 answers · asked by CAPTAIN GENIUS !! 5 in Pets ➔ Fish
should i do a water change to take out some of the PH chemicals?
2007-01-21 11:50:27 · update #1
As said before, 8 is fine unless you are breeding. Bringing down the ph is much more difficult than raising it. A large sudden change can kill the fish and a ph that is unstable and has swings can also kill them.
2007-01-21 11:48:15 · answer #1 · answered by bzzflygirl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check the water coming out of your faucet. If it's normal, then something in your tank is causing the higher pH. Remove one piece of decoration at a time to see what's causing it. Also, old heaters that have a ceramic coating that's wearing down can cause higher pH. Try replacing an old heater. Make sure your gravel is specifically non-pH altering. Finally, make sure none of your filter medium is the culprit.
Usually a pH of 8 is ok, except for those fish that are especially sensitive to it.
Normally, bad water conditions cause lower pH, so it's unlikely that's the cause. It's good you're conscientious of the water quatlity.
I don't really recommend the use of water pH treatments. Problem with them is that they tend to fluctuate the pH a lot and that's damaging to fish, moreso than a slightly out of range pH level. Try padding your filter with some peat-moss. It may add a slight tint to the tank, but it really helps and it keeps the pH steady.
Finally, if you're really dedicated, get an R/O filter. I live in an area with extremely hard/high pH water and that nearly completely cleans it out. Of course, you want to use some sort of R/O conditioner.
Good luck!
2007-01-22 16:06:28 · answer #2 · answered by resistnzisfutl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Naturally high pH means hard water and its pretty difficult to get rid of without adding lots of other chemicals which can make your water nasty. You could try dilluting your tap water with distilled water, this will help to lower the pH some and make the water less hard. The bog wood and peat are also other good suggestions, they create what is called a blackwater environment which is what some fish are used to in nature. It sorta makes your tank look like tea, a light yellow to orange color.
2007-01-24 13:17:32 · answer #3 · answered by SP 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you need to get it down to 8? Is is a grow out tank for Ram or Discus fry? Otherwise there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Ph of 8. Trying to change it all the time will cause much more harm than good.
2007-01-21 11:20:55 · answer #4 · answered by fish guy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most likely you have very hard water. This makes it difficult to change the pH. Personally I'd check the hardness, and if it's hard. I'd specialize in hard water fish like molly, and other live bearers.
2007-01-21 11:50:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
take some rocks out, that lowers the ph, and if u add rocks that raises the ph. ph doesn't really matter
2007-01-21 11:20:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
get driftwood
2007-01-21 11:41:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋