pH and High Range pH

[Lifeoffroad]

The only items that are out of range when I test my fish tank is the pH and High rqnge pH. They are on the higher side. What causes this and what can I do to bring these levels down? If they are higher than the ideal range what is the impact on the fish?

 

[Luna112]

The cause of high ph is usually the kind of water that you use. Meaning that your tap water's ph is pretty high. You can lower it by using neutral regulator. Many people don't like to use this in their tanks but IME/O it works great. You can also try driftwood. If you put a big chunk of driftwood it should lower your ph a bit. High ph ( depending on how high) doesn't always hurt the fish. As long as the fish are properly acclimated most fish should be fine. The problem comes in when the ph keeps changing. You need to keep it stable. So what fish do you have, and whats the ph?

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Also do you have any rock? Because certain rocks naturally raise the pH

 

[Lifeoffroad]

Thanks. I use water conditioner every time I change or top off. Does this not reduce pH in tap water?

I have
2 cories one emerald and one albino
3 zebra Danios
2 Ballon red eye Tetras (wouldn't have bought had I known how Ballon fish are made.)
2 clown loaches
1 bala shark
2 white skirt Tetras
1 sucker

pH is at 7.6
High range is at 8.4 to 8.8

 

[WhiteWidow11]

Water conditioner will not lower the ph, I think its main purpose to remove any chlorine from the tap water.

 

[Lifeoffroad]

Yeah I that sounds right.

 

[Scalare]

Check your Rocks, if you have coral or coral sand in there it will send the ph through the roof, remove each rock and test it, pour a little vinegar on it, if it fizzes dump it. try not to use chemical regulators because it will change the ph quickly and the fish won't like it, if it chages to suddenly they could go into shock and could die and the change will only be temporary anyway as it will revert to it's original level after a certain time. bogwood will make no difference to the ph whatsoever. but first do the vinegar test.

Pete

 

[Lifeoffroad]

Oh wow. Didn't know about the rock test. I will do that first thing tomorrow.

 

[Luna112]

Check your Rocks, if you have coral or coral sand in there it will send the ph through the roof, remove each rock and test it, pour a little vinegar on it, if it fizzes dump it. try not to use chemical regulators because it will change the ph quickly and the fish won't like it, if it chages to suddenly they could go into shock and could die and the change will only be temporary anyway as it will revert to it's original level after a certain time. bogwood will make no difference to the ph whatsoever. but first do the vinegar test.

Pete

What do you mean driftwood won't lower the ph? It lowers mine and hundreds of other people's.

 

[Lifeoffroad]

I have had driftwood before and didn't like it. It grew something funky on it.

 

[Lifeoffroad]

I have had driftwood before and didn't like it. It grew something funky on it.

Might have been a bad piece.

 

[Scalare]

What do you mean driftwood won't lower the ph? It lowers mine and hundreds of other people's.

the only thing driftwood will do for your water is turn it a dirty brown, it WILL NOT alter the ph, it never has mine, any opinions from anyone else?.


Pete

 

[Rosenweiss]

What do you mean driftwood won't lower the ph? It lowers mine and hundreds of other people's.

The tannins in the driftwood can lower the pH, but to my knowledge it's not a permanent solution. to be honest, if your fish are thriving, there's nothing wrong with having a high pH.

Just if you buy any new ones, you'll need to do a LONG acclimation process so they don't die of pH shock.

Also, just in case you were confused, your pH is just 8.4-8.8. It's just that the lower-range one can't read pH that high.

 

[Scalare]

Well Luna I don't want to start a pitched battle so we'll have to agree to disagree over the driftwood.

Pete