How Much Do pH and gH Really Matter?

[theotheragentm]

In just under a year of fish keeping, I have measured pH once, but I don't even remember what the results showed, because that one time I measured I still wasn't going to do anything different no matter what the results showed. I haven't had any problems with my fish or other critters. This got me wondering, how much does pH matter, and what about gH for that matter?

Maybe I am just lucky with what I have kept thus far and have fish that are adaptive to wider ranges. Here's a list off the top of my head of what I have/had.

Platies
Mollies
Gouramis
Ghost Shrimp
Blue Crayfish
Dwarf Crayfish
Panda Cories
Harlequinn Rasboras
CAE
SAE
Neon Tetras (These developed ich and died, early on in my fish keeping career, so it very well could have been just my inexperience.)
Zebra Danios (Same as Neon Tetras.)
Goldfish (Separate from tropicals of course.)
Mystery Snails

 

[Jchillin]

This may help explain it.

I would say that PWC's are the best defensive and offensive steps to avoid these issues.

 

[theotheragentm]

That makes sense. Are there any species off the top of your head, which absolutely need these parameters watched? I know Cichlids may be on that list, but I have heard of people keeping Cichlids with other fish. I'm not sure which fish was acclimated to the others' environment in those cases.

 

[Jchillin]

SA cichlids are said to "prefer" more acidic waters, while Africans do need more alkalinity. Those are really the only fish that are at opposite sides of the spectrum as most others adjust to acclimation. As far as watching, a fishkeeper that keeps up their maintenance routine will not have to test their ph.

Of course, the ball spins completely around when you get into planted and are injecting CO2.

 

[theotheragentm]

So then tanks where you see something like GBRs with other fish are more likely adjusted to the GBR's water preferences and the other fish adjust?

 

[rich311k]

Maybe. Most fish can adjust. The water PH and KH really comes in to play for getting more difficult fish to spawn and for the eggs to hatch. Several folks on here with liquid rock for water have no trouble keeping GBRs. Most GBRs are tank raised so that makes them more flexible when it comes to water. The other big reason to play with PH and Kh is if you have wild caught fish, they generally do not adjust as well to different water than they are used to.

I have very soft water so I tend to get soft water fish. Sometimes it is easier to work with things than against them.

 

[Jchillin]

If you are getting fish from a LFS, chances are good that all of the FW tanks other than the Africans will have the same ph. That makes it easier on the customer and no adjustments are needed. If you get your fish from a breeder, you will need to know what the ph was and acclimate the fish accordingly.

As Rich states, the only time ph is adjusted is if you are considering breeding a particular fish. So, if you have SA cichlids living comfy in a ph of 7.4, the chances of them breeding successfully is 50/50. If you set up a breeding tank, you would probably soften the water to @ 6.4 - 6.8.

In all but the most limited cases, most FW fish can sit back and relax in a neutral environment.

 

[theotheragentm]

Gotcha. Thanks for your replies.

 

[tkos]

An alkaline pH does not always mean hard water either. My pH is 7.6 out of the tap yet my kh is next to zero and calcium and magensium tests show practically nothing either. Water composition is something that isn;t too hard to get checked out and is a useful piece of information.

 

[gheitman]

You could even see about getting a report from your water company about the parameters of your municipal supply. All in all, maintaining good water quality through regular partial water changes has got to be the most important factor in keeping fish healthy. After that comes pH, GH, KH, etc.