Some of my fish have been dieing recently, so I used an indicator to test a sample of the water and it was more basic. I can't remember if the water is supposed to be completely neutral, slighlty acidic, or slightly basic. can someone please help me here?
2007-07-11 14:22:58 · 4 answers · asked by Your Every Nothing 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
This would really depend on the species of fish that you're keeping, but most species are perfectly fine at pH levels between 6 and 8.
Could you provide some additional information as to what type of fish you have, how large the tank is, your water chemistry (including pH, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate if you know these), and how long the tank has been set up? There's a pencil icon beneath your question that you can use to "add details".
You're really better off not trying to adjust your pH - you'll be fighting a constant battle to get to an "ideal" level and all the changes will be more stressful for your fish than just using what you natually have, provided it stays constant and isn't extreme.
2007-07-11 14:28:50 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As Copperhead stated, it depends on the fish. There are African cichlids that live in the craters of active volcano's that need a pH of about 2.5-3. Then you have your rift lake cichlids that like a pH of 8-9. As you can see, we need a little bit to work with here. One of the biggest misunderstandings that I repeatedly run into with new fish keepers is their obsession with pH. I am not quite sure where this comes from, maybe from the old-school angel and discus keepers. Most aquarium fish that are cheap are farm raised either in Florida or Asia. These fish are in water with a pH of about 7.5-8.5. You need to be worrying about ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. By the time you are having issues with pH, your tank is so screwed up that pH is the last of your worries. Siphon your gravel, use dechlorinator if you use tap water, figure out what fish you want and their requirements, and get a good test kit.
2007-07-11 23:51:26 · answer #2 · answered by fivespeed302 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The pH of a tank isn't all that important as along as it is stable. Anything between 6.0 - 8.0 is normally fine for aquarium fish.
2007-07-11 21:38:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it really depands on the fish some fish like the water acidic basic or neutral thats why u have to research on the fish first
2007-07-11 23:02:59 · answer #4 · answered by goldfish 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋