chemistry: pH up, down, sideways..does this stuff work?

[Sesos]

My current pH is 7.6. It's my understanding that a community tank is happiest at 7.0. I bought something from Aquarium Pharmaceutcals called Proper pH 7.0 (a powder) and it made a lot of bubbles on my glass but that was about it. I then tried pH down from, oh no, it was the same danged company, called pH down "...just add two drops per blah, blah, blah". This didn't work either. So, here are my questions:

1) Has any of this stuff worked for anyone?

2) Do I really need to get to 7.0(see profile)?

3)If yes, how do I knock it down?

After you folks answer this one, I promise dozens of more questions

 

[justDIY]

don't worry about a ph of 7.6

just go with the flow man - adding chemicals will mess your tank up six ways from sunday!

if the PH is really buggin ya, add some natural driftwood

if you're buying fish from a decent fish seller, their fish should be aclimated to your local water conditions... at least, I believe this holds true for most community type fish

 

[Spy_90]

ya 7.6 is nothing to sweat : )
chems are a bad way of moving PH anyway.
to lower it start doing a few small water changes with distilled water. that'll help bring it down naturally : )
but i wouldn't sweat 7.6

 

[shawmutt]

There is a simple and a complicated answer to this:

Simple: It is more important to have a constant pH than a neutral pH.

Complicated: The reason that your water is not dropping its pH when you add the pH down is most likely due to the alkalinity of your water. If you really want to find out what's going on with your water, buy a test kit that measures kH. Most likely it will be in a high range. Once you find that out, it becomes a task of adding pure water, from distilled in a store or by buying an R/O unit, to tap water to achieve a lower kH. Eventually, through water changes, your kH will drop, bringing down your pH.

Whether you want to take the simple or easy route depends on how much work you want to put in the tank. If you want to breed fish, keep in mind that many have specific requirements for breeding, part of which will involve water chemistry. IME, it's a lot harder than it looks, and a lot easier and less frustrating to just leave it alone. Again, it just all depends on how much time you are willing to contribute to the care of the tank. Good luck!

 

[tkos]

I have kept tetras in my parents tank for over a year and the pH is 7.6. Ideally it would be 6.5 or so but there is nothing I can do about that. Just make sure to slowly acclimate any new fish that come into your aquarium and realize that if you want to breed fish that you will be very restricted. On the other hand if you are super worried then figure out which type of fish work with that pH. MOst of the live berrers love hard water with a higher pH. And African cichlids would be very much at home in that water. Or else make a brackish tank.

But adding chems will more than likely cause you to have wild pH swings and algae blooms more than anything.

 

[Madame_X]

I was worried about my high PH too until I went to the most recommended LFS in town. They have a sign up stating that the PH of all their tanks is 8.0 and that all of their fish have been raised and/or acclimated to this PH.

They carry the best selection of fish in town, and are the only store in town that has discus. They have TONS of them and they're beautiful!

I wouldn't worry about your PH. Mine has been 8.1 every time I've checked it. If you can find a store that acclimates their fish to your local PH, you should be in good shape.

 

[Sesos]

thanks everybody, that's one thing I can stop worrying about