Hmmm Ph for Bettas?

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carey

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I have a 34g tank ready for a sorority of female bettas but the pH is like over 8.0!!! This cant be good, what is the best level for fresh water fish? I mostly keep salt tanks which are at 8.3 and a cihclid tank which is in the 7's so I am stumped. I dont wanna throw a bunch of fish in that tank if the pH is too high.

Thanks so much!
 
I wouldnt worry about it tbh. They are fine up to around 8.5pH

Itll be a nightmare to decrease the ph and can likely cause problems just with trying to change it.
 
Thanks, I never chase Ph I just was worried about dropping new fish into pH like that, but if they can take it very cool. :)
 
I would slowly acclimate them just to be on the safe side. Also I've had a betta in ph that was 7.8 so they'll probably be fine.


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I filled the tank with regular tap water, would ro/di be a better choice?

Gonna check the pH again, but it was def higher than my salt tanks which had me concerned. I want to "save" some bettas, not kill them myself. lol

Thanks guys, I am a little bit stupid when it comes to freshwater. I've kept them for like 25 years but have only ever kept cichlids.
 
Got a kh/gh reading at all?

My tap water is 8 but it is soft so settles to the mid 7's. If I had very hard water and ph staying above 8 would probably be a bit more careful with fish more from low ph, soft water originally.
 
kh/gh is alkalinty? I have a Hanna checker that I use for my salt tanks, will that work?

I'm not sure if it's important or not, but the substrate is a mix of several things. On the very bottom is regular gravel for freshwater, then there is sand on top and some biggfer gravel in between. Could the sand be buffering the water's pH? I know it does in salt water but I don't have that, that much sand in this tank. Gonna go check the pH in a little bit and see where it is now. Oh and I have a glass lid on top and like zero water agitation, just a small walmart filter for movement.
thanks again!
 
kh/gh is alkalinty? I have a Hanna checker that I use for my salt tanks, will that work?

I'm not sure if it's important or not, but the substrate is a mix of several things. On the very bottom is regular gravel for freshwater, then there is sand on top and some biggfer gravel in between. Could the sand be buffering the water's pH? I know it does in salt water but I don't have that, that much sand in this tank. Gonna go check the pH in a little bit and see where it is now. Oh and I have a glass lid on top and like zero water agitation, just a small walmart filter for movement.
thanks again!


I had a look and kh would be your alkalinity as far as I can tell and gh would be calcium and magnesium mainly.

My own view is fish will do fine as long as somewhere in the range of preference and stress free environment.
 
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