How high is too high with PH?
I recently bought a high ph test kit from API. It reads 8.0. I live in Florida. I am afraid that is too high. Do I need to lower it? If so, is there a way to do that without chemicals?
If your fish are acclimated properly, if your lfs' water's pH is closely similar to yours, I don't see a problem with that as fish can adapt quite well to various water conditions. Lowering of pH is done by using peat, driftwoods, almond leaves or blackwater extract which is the most expensive method.
As Lupin said if fish are aclimatised properly the Ph shouldn't be a problem. A stable Ph is much more vital than a specific value.
What fish do you have? Some fish actually thrive in a ph of that value for example livebearers and some african cichlids.
lots of people only wished they had 8ph..... dont mess with it like others said.
Each fish has a specific location and preferred PH. That is why most prefer specific tanks to community tanks. Mixing fish from all over can make it near impossible to replicate natural environments. It is true, and I'm not going to argue the fact, that most fish come from breeders and things like PH don't matter as much anymore, however if you ever plan to breed PH is VERY important. Some eggs will melt in different PH values, some fish will never mature properly in different PH values. They will live but not be productive.
Asia seems to have a pretty neutral PH between 6-7. South America tends to be 6 for plecos and SA cichlids. African cichlids tend to be higher in the 7-8 range. North American fish tend to be in the 6.5-7 range but have several areas of low PH and high PH but is generally limited to certain species found in remote areas. Blue Rams are especially prone to high PH, generally perishing in anything above 6.
To naturally lower PH add good pieces of driftwood. DW tends to keep the PH between 6-6.5. Another option if you have a canister filter would be to add peat to the media. peat tends to "blackwater" quickly leeching tannins into the water. To raise PH look for aragonite substrates and limestone rocks.
I also have a pH of 8. My fish are all fine and I do not mess with it. You can use driftwood in your tank to lower it naturally, but be prepared it will probably tea-stain your water as it releases it's tannins. Some people really like it, but I personally didn't. To me the water looked dingy.
What ever you do, don't add shells for decorations. They will naturally raise the pH.
Wow, thanks for all your help. Sorry it took so long for me to get back to all of you when you were so quick to respond!
I like a lot of variety in my tanks and I don't plan on breeding until I live in my own home (right now I am a college student saving money by living with her parents). I have tetras, barbs, hatchetfish, guppies, corydoras, platies, danios, a red tailed shark, a horseface loach, and a couple of feeder fish that were large and I dont know what they are but I figured I would give them a chance in my tank instead of being fish food for something else.
Me lfs do have the same kind of PH my tanks have. So I guess I should be fine.
I live in FL so we have a high PH down here!
Thanks again everyone.
Does anyone see a problem with any of the fish I have not being able to live well in my water's PH range?
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