Ph is very low.

[Samantha1801]

So my cycle finished about a week ago. I decided on ram cichlids. It's been about 3 days I've had them. I decided to go ahead and test the water. I feel I'm worrying too much and hovering but better safe than sorry. I tested the ph to see if it's Ideal for what they prefer and its testing low at 6.0 and ram cichlids from my research prefer around 7.0 and up. Should I act and do something or am I reading too much into things? I did regular ph not high range.

Nitrate is also around 40 ppm. Don't know if that is too high or not. I didnt see much on what nitrates should be for them.

 

[Autumnsky]

Are they Blue or Golden Rams or Bolivian Rams?

I have Bolivian Rams, home bred from a friend, and they have lived in low 6 pH to low 7 and been fine at all the times. I think she had higher pH when they bred for her. Mine are in with little fish that eat like sharks so if they ever had eggs or babies they would be eaten immediately.

Blue / Electric Blue and Golden Rams are very sensitive to anything but perfect water conditions. Home raised may be more adapted to your local water parameters, but the store fish are more sensitive imho.

 

[Samantha1801]

2 are German blue rams and 2 are Bolivians. Sadly something seemed to be wrong with one of the Bolivian rams. It wasn't swimming or eating this afternoon so I was keeping an eye on it and it died about an hour or two ago. I didn't know prior that mixing the two is complicated because of water preferences. The lfs told me I could. The 2 German Blues and the 1 bolivian seem to be doing well together and okay. They're swimming around and eating and interacting. I just know I read that German Blues prefer a higher ph and temperature so I was worried when I seen the low ph.

 

[Autumnsky]

Sorry to hear you lost the one. The GBR can take low pH. Do you know what your KH/GH is?

 

[Autumnsky]

You might need to add some calcium if the KH is really low. I use Kent's Marine SuperBuffer dH KH, it is just calcium and is safe for FW and easy to use. If you need it... Follow directions and just add a little if needed to get the pH to maybe 6.6. 6.8.

 

[Autumnsky]

Here is a really good article with so much info on water chemistry
https://users.cs.duke.edu/~narten/faq/chemistry.html

 

[Samantha1801]

Thank you for all the information. I'll be sure to look into that article. No im not sure what my kh gh is. I will make sure to take a look at it tomorrow and see what its at.