Confused about PH levels?

Question

Could someone explain to me about PH levels? how do you test for them? how does it affect the fish and the tank? what will happen if you do nothing about it?

Answer 1

Entire books have been written on the subject of pH, it's control and effects on aquatic life, but here goes in a nutshell.

pH is measured on a scale from 1 to 14, 7 is considered neutral, anything below is acidic and anything above is alkaline.

Testing the pH is done with a pH test kit. These are available at any pet store for just a few dollars. They come in 2 forms, dry test strips and liquid reagent kits. I highly recommend the liquid style kits as they are more stable and far more reliable.

Hard water contains chemicals (usually carbonates) that create a buffer that neutralizes pH lowering chemicals and makes it much more difficult to adjust the pH level in that water. So hardness and pH play hand in hand. Generally speacking, hard water will have a higher pH than softer water.

The most improtant pH related effect you would need to know about is a sudden change to the pH. This is very rare in a stable aquarium and would only be the result of attempts to alter the pH in almost every case. There are however some things that can alter the pH of a tank slowly and over time. The most common are coral or concrete decorations which will raise the pH and Peat Moss and bog or driftwood which will slowly lower the pH.

The best answer to controling and adjusting the pH in most cases is simply don't. Most fish will do fine in a wide range of pH values and your tap water is most likely within this range. So in answer to your question of what happens if you don;t adjust it, usually that answer is all will be well. The only time to be concerned about pH or attempting to adjusts in significantly is for the care and keeping of very sensitive fish such as Discus, a few quite rare gourami and a few others known to be highly sensitive to pH values.

I hope that helps and if you have further questions about pH or water chemistry in general feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 2

You PH is a measure of the hydrogen ions in your water. It reflects whether your water is considered acidic or basic in nature. The higher the number, the more it is acting like a base. The lower the number, the more it is acting like an acid. It runs on a scale from 1-14, and in the middle at 7.0 is what water generally is. Tank water can vary between low end 6's to up to high 8's. Each species of fish has a preference from years of growing up in certian enviroments, they have evoloved body chemistry that is used to certain condtions. This is why it is important to know what your water ph is, as well as in most new tanks, the ammonia can get very high until the nitrogen cycle gets completed. At higher ph's ammonia reacting with the free hydrogen causes the toxicity of the ammonia to be even greater then if the ph was lower.

It really depends on what kind of fish and how new your tank is as to what happens if you do nothing. Your best bet is to just get a liquid testing kit, and take a few readings and see if you get the same results. Once you have an established reading, compare what the needs are of the species you want keep. If you are going to adjust the ph up or down for the fish you want to keep, you need to do so prior to adding those fish.

JV

Answer 3

Don't worry about ph, it does not matter, just like others have stated. To mess with the ph, especially with bottled garbage, is to ask for trouble. Don't even waste your money on the tester. The only concern you really have is ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and this will only come into play when you add fish. You should know about the cycle, otherwise do google "aquarium cycle" so you can get an understanding before getting fish. If you do measure threatening levels of ammonia or nitrite in the tank, the only way you should be lowering them is by doing partial water changes to remove foul water and replace with fresh. Every week you should be doing these water changes anyway, and you can do more if you need to. Nitrates only come into play once the tank is cycled. Then you test them every now and then just to make sure your weekly water changes are keeping them at nice and low levels. Fish can tolerate nitrate in the water, some more then others, but as close to 0 as possible is most ideal for any fish.

Answer 4

PH level refers to the amount of acidity in the water. Acidic water has a PH less than 7 and alkaline water has a PH greater than 7. Neutral water has a PH of 7.

depends on the type of fish, some fish prefer a low PH and some prefer a higher PH. i saw your last question and you have a Betta. Betta fish can tolerate a wide range of PH, from 6.0 to 8.5 should be fine for them.

as for testing, you can buy a liquid testing tube to test for PH. below is a link of the product i am using for my goldfish and Betta.