Low Ph help !!!!

[tropicalfishlady]

Hi guys, im relatively new on here, ive been looking around and getting great advice about getting a Betta fish for the 1st time.
I have a 10 gallon ready for him, its an established tank that recently went through a mini cycle, my fault for adding too many fish, i payed very dearly for my stupid mistake and i lost some fish . its all good now though and ive recently become interested in Bettas and ive fallen in love with these beautiful fish, previously i had a few endlers and a few cory habrosus which very sadly i lost in mini cycle but i do have in the tank a Cory Julii which i have had for 2 and half years from a previous batch of fish i had,had 3 Juliis and he has lived longest, how he has survived mini cycle i don't know,bless him but he has and he is fine phew !!!!
If anyone can help i always seem to have trouble keeping my Ph up its currently and has been for a while 6ppm,highest maybe 6.4ppm,i have tried API's PH UP, but its short lived,ive read that its better to be stable and i know cory's are okay with low Ph as they are south american but what will it need to be stable at for a Betta ? please if anyone can help ive read while i was researching as i always do with the fish i want that Bettas are okay with a range of 6.5 and 8.0,so will 6 be a little too low for them ?

Thanks if you can help !!!! my tapwater Ph is 7.0ppm Neutral

 

[librarygirl]

Typically most fish can adapt to your PH as long as it's stable. You mentioned your tap water is 7....is that right out of the tap? if so that can sometimes differ from what the tank's PH is as often the water's PH will change as it gasses off. Take a glass of tap water and leave it out for 24 hours (stir it up occasionally); after 24 hours test the PH. This is your true PH and what your tank's PH should be. If it's mid-6's like your tank then that's your normal PH and it's fine. lf it differs from your tank's PH by a lot then something in your tank is lowering PH or you might need to increase water changes or add some crushed coral to help buffer the water. But leave the water out, test it and let us know what it reads and we can go from there. Typically adding PH adjusters is a bad idea as it can cause instability and fluctuations which are not good for the fish. Also are you using strips or a liquid test kit?

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Typically most fish can adapt to your PH as long as it's stable. You mentioned your tap water is 7....is that right out of the tap? if so that can sometimes differ from what the tank's PH is as often the water's PH will change as it gasses off. Take a glass of tap water and leave it out for 24 hours (stir it up occasionally); after 24 hours test the PH. This is your true PH and what your tank's PH should be. If it's mid-6's like your tank then that's your normal PH and it's fine. lf it differs from your tank's PH by a lot then something in your tank is lowering PH or you might need to increase water changes or add some crushed coral to help buffer the water. But leave the water out, test it and let us know what it reads and we can go from there. Typically adding PH adjusters is a bad idea as it can cause instability and fluctuations which are not good for the fish. Also are you using strips or a liquid test kit?

Thanks librarygirl,i will give that a go,yes straight out of the tap is 7,neutral i use API Liquid test kits,ill do that test and let you know how that goes cheers

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Thanks librarygirl,i will give that a go,yes straight out of the tap is 7,neutral i use API Liquid test kits,ill do that test and let you know how that goes cheers

I do a 25% water change every week

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Typically most fish can adapt to your PH as long as it's stable. You mentioned your tap water is 7....is that right out of the tap? if so that can sometimes differ from what the tank's PH is as often the water's PH will change as it gasses off. Take a glass of tap water and leave it out for 24 hours (stir it up occasionally); after 24 hours test the PH. This is your true PH and what your tank's PH should be. If it's mid-6's like your tank then that's your normal PH and it's fine. lf it differs from your tank's PH by a lot then something in your tank is lowering PH or you might need to increase water changes or add some crushed coral to help buffer the water. But leave the water out, test it and let us know what it reads and we can go from there. Typically adding PH adjusters is a bad idea as it can cause instability and fluctuations which are not good for the fish. Also are you using strips or a liquid test kit?

Hi Librarygirl,ive done the 24 hr gassing on test,its actually gassed out more alkaline than out of tap,its more darker blue , between 7.2 and 7.6 so my tank is very low as i say i do a 25% waterchange ev week

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Hi Librarygirl,ive done the 24 hr gassing on test,its actually gassed out more alkaline than out of tap,its more darker blue , between 7.2 and 7.6 so my tank is very low as i say i do a 25% waterchange ev week

Just done a waterchange and ph has come up to 6.6