Is having too high of a PH worse than having too low of a PH?

Answer 1

Too high or too low either one would not be good, BUT if you are talking about keeping more or less typical freshwater fish, they can and will do very well in a wide range of pH. anything from 6.0 or so up to 8.0 or higher is fairly common and most all common fish will tolorate this range very well. I wouldn't suggest you try to change your pH unless you have rather delicate fish or unless you are attempting to breed fish with very strict requirements.

MM

Answer 2

It depends on what your fish is suited to. A stable Ph is best, one that is constantly the same as to one that changes. Generally it is safer to move a fish into water from a lower Ph to a higher Ph.
In your tank if the Ph is mysteriously rising then you may assume something is leeching into the tank, most likely the the decorations, as water does not do this. If your Ph is falling mysteriouly then you can assume the tank is crashing. It happens when all the buffers in the water are used up, releasing an extra hydrogen atom causing the water to become acidic. The first is called alkalosis and the latter is called acidosis. Both require immediate attention, as Ph crashes are deadly and alkalosis could be toxins leeching. Natural water or just plain H2O has a Ph of 6.8. If you use distilled or reverse osmosis water you need to add a buffering agent because it will not hold Ph at all since there are no buffers in the water. Tap water has the essential buffers but may include other chemicals as well, like chloromines and chlorine. Here where I live the Ph is very high from the tap, and its that way to keep the lead from the pipes from leeching into the drinking water, its somewhere around 9.0. Test the Ph from your tap first, to see exactly what you are starting with. I had trouble keeping fish until I changed to using reverse osmosis water. I felt it was better to start with a clean slate and buff it up to what I needed, that way my fish got only water and salts, and nothing else my city decided to put in the tap water that day. So that's what I know about Ph. My tank of goldfish lives in 6.8-7.0 Ph year round. Also if you have fish that like neutral water (ph between 6.8-7.2), it will help keep some pathogens at bay especially to the slightly acidic side like 6.8. So I think its best to keep fish around neutral Ph, at least goldfish. Other fish require a different Ph, like Discus, and will die if its not right, so check and see what Ph your fish prefer.

Answer 3

Either can be bad.

Most fish will be perfectly fine in a pH of 6-8 - there's no need to be EXACTLY at 7.0. There are fish that even prefer pH outside this range, so it's important that you do your research and find out the requirements for a species before adding it to your tank, and when mixing species, they should have similar requirements.

Ghapy is correct that higher pH increases ammonia toxicity. But lower at pH (around 5.0) aluminum reaches its greatest toxicity. Different heavy metals have differing pH levels where they reach maximum toxicity. So either way can be bad news for your fish, there may just be different chemical "players" involved.

That said, it usually best to test the pH of the water source you intend to use in the long-term and plan your tank around this number. Stability is preferred to fluctuations, and fluctuations will be what you get when using chemicals. You can contact your water company for info on metals and organics that your public water supply may contain. If you have a private source (well, spring), you may need to have this tested yourself.

Answer 4

Yes. The higher the PH is, the more toxic poisons like Ammonia and Nitrite get. An ammonia level of 1 at ph 6 is manageable, while the same level at a ph 9 is fatal.

In addition, PH works on a scale that increases exponentially, so the difference between a ph of 6 and 6.1 is a much, much smaller difference then between 9 and 9.1.

As far as the PH direct affect on the fish, no it isn't worse. Most livestock can handle a wide range of parameters and as long as it isn't too far out either way it isn't too bad. If you have a fish that does best in a PH of 7, it will do equally fine in either 6.5 or 7.5.

Answer 5

Depends on the fish. What will really kill them is using those chemicals to raise, lower or "stabilize" the water at a certain pH instead of doing water changes, because they don't work and pH bouncing all over the place is a sure way to kill your fish.

Answer 6

If you have PH lower than 7 its acidic. Fish such as Discus like low PH like that. African Cichlids like high PH around 7.8 to 8.0. But if you have tetras or mollies or platies, you should keep it around 7 to 7.5. Keeping it high around 8 with tetras and such will burn them to death.

Answer 7

Are you going to conduct an experiment
to find out? By this time there is probably
a digital tester for tropical or
saltwater or goldfish. I would ask an
experienced supplier instead of someone
around here. They might think it funny
to kill your fish by giving you misleading
information.

David

Answer 8

It isn't a matter of too high or too low it is a matter of keeping it at an even level. Flux's in the PH can be more harmfull to your fish than most other tank related problems.

Here, understanding how ph works.

The property of water to resist changes in pH is known as buffering capacity. You can determine the capacity of your buffering system by measuring total hardness. A reading of 4-6 dH or higher is usually adequate to keep the buffering system in place and maintain a stable pH. A reading under 4 dH means there isn't enough of a buffering system and the pH is likely to drop. For higher pH levels, you will probably want to aim for 6-12 dH. Many hobbyists choose to measure only Carbonate Hardness (KH), which is a measure of the calcium carbonates in your water. This test is also effective in maintaining a proper buffer system. When testing for Carbonate Hardness, a reading of 75-100 mg/L is adequate for most aquariums, while a reading of 100-200 mg/L would be desired for higher pH levels. For the purpose of freshwater aquariums, measuring either total hardness or carbonate hardness is necessary, but measuring both independently would not be needed.

You need to know that anywhere in your aquarium where detritus (a fancy term for dirt) accumulates is a source of Phosphate production. As detritus accumulates in your gravel bed and on your filter pads, the Phosphate levels in your aquarium rise. Free Phosphate ions may bond with calcareous buffering material, precipitating calcium from your aquarium, and reducing your aquariums ability to keep pH stable. This is why it is so very important to clean your filter pads regularly and vacuum the aquarium gravel with each water change. In addition, your tap water contains buffering ions. Doing regular partial water changes will help to replenish the buffers which have been lost. This is important in all aquariums, because fish respiration and organic wastes alone will cause a gradual drop in the ability of your aquarium to buffer against pH swings.

Now the question becomes what to do if the fish you want to keep have very special pH requirements. If your fish prefer a pH level which is reasonably close to the pH your aquarium water is naturally buffered to, then I do not recommend you make any changes at all. Unless you are keeping an extremely specialized fish your fish will be fine. On the other hand, if your fish have pH requirements which are far from the values in your tank, then you have work to do.

Let us consider methods of raising the pH of your tap water. There are many additives on the market today which claim to raise your pH. Most of the liquid products on the market today are a 50/50 success at best when used alone only to find the ph will soon return to the normal level of 6. You also need to use a product to increase the buffering ability of your aquarium. To maintain a stable pH in the upper levels of the pH scale for fishkeeping, I would recommend using a buffering substrate such as crushed coral. You can add crushed coral to your existing aquarium. You can place larger amounts of shells or chrushed coral beneath the substraight in the tank. I personally place the crushed coral in a mesh bag and place the bag in my filter. You will want about 1 kg of crushed coral per 40 liters of water to buffer the water to hold a pH around 7.6. This method does not allow for the use of large quantities of crushed coral, but can be effective if you only need to make small adjustments to your aquariums buffering ability. This is why ocean items such as shells and ocean sand should not be used in a fresh water aquarium. It does raise the PH level.

Be assured that attempting to control pH is the most frustrating experience for a fish hobbyist. I would guess that 50% of the problems encountered in new aquariums are a result of the aquarist attempting to change the pH level. Few fish keepers actually need to adjust their pH. For the majority of aquarists your tap water pH will be adequate. The dangers of adjusting the pH incorrectly far outweigh any benefit you may receive by moving your pH a few points on the scale.

Remember, when it comes to adjusting your pH, less is more! Stability is most important. Routine maintenance is the key to keeping your pH stable and your fish healthy!

Also, do not use baking soda in your tank. Over doing the ph plus adding additional salt is not going to do your tank any good. It will also revert back to 6 when the carbon filters pull the Soda out.
Hope this helps