New House Has High Ph!

[GouramiFanatic]

Well, I'm finally moved in and settled into our new house, but now I've got a problem. I set up my tank last night and then I ran the tests a few minutes ago. My Ph is very high!! My old house was around 6.8, but the new house is at 7.6! Luckily I don't have fish right now so I don't really have to worry about them adjusting, but now I'll have to get this under control before buying new fish which I was hoping to do Friday.

Now for a couple of questions...

1 - Anyone have an easy and safe ways to lower Ph levels?

2 - How long should I wait to add fish?

3 - What will happen when I do PWC now if the Ph in my tank is ok, but the water is so high?

4 - Forgot to mention that this is well water. Are there any extra precautions I should take using well water?

 

[tbonem91]

I wouldnt worry too much about the elevated ph - it isnt really that high. Just make sure you acclimate the fish and keep it stable. An ideal ph level isnt as important as keeping it stable and avoiding swings.

1) driftwood, peat moss and CO2 injection naturally lower it, but watch your KH levels as it can crash

2) till your tank is cycled lol

3) this is part of the reason you might want to keep it where its at - because it will be swinging with water changes. If you do lower it, small changes made more often will help keep the swings in check.

4) watch your PO4, NO3 and Fe levels in the water as they can lead to algae problems

 

[GouramiFanatic]

I wouldnt worry too much about the elevated ph - it isnt really that high. Just make sure you acclimate the fish and keep it stable. An ideal ph level isnt as important as keeping it stable and avoiding swings.

1) driftwood, peat moss and CO2 injection naturally lower it, but watch your KH levels as it can crash

2) till your tank is cycled lol

3) this is part of the reason you might want to keep it where its at - because it will be swinging with water changes. If you do lower it, small changes made more often will help keep the swings in check.

4) watch your PO4, NO3 and Fe levels in the water as they can lead to algae problems

Thanks for the info. It just scares me when my tests come back a bit different than what I'm used to!

Now to comment on your bits of advice..

1 - So, should I just try it out as it is and closely monitor the fish and Ph levels without trying to adjust anything?

2- My tank is cycled. I did a fishless cycle before I moved and kept everything in water while it was being moved. I also waited to the last possible day to start breaking it down.

3 - I'm not planning on going on a PWC frenzy, but when I do the routine water changes I don't want to shock the fish.

4 - I didn't have time to test for everything earlier so I still have a few tests to do. Here are the results of all of the other tests though: Ph = 7.6, Ammonia = 0ppm, Nitrite = 0ppm, Nitrate = 10ppm. Will update again later.

Thanks again!

 

[tropicfishman]

yeah its all about stability, if you do decide to alter the Ph try and stear clear of the chemical route, its not healthy for the fish plus its not a permanent solution, to permantly lower your PH I would get a reversis osmosis unit, expesive, but well worth the money

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I wouldn't worry about your pH unless you are trying to breed. I am keeping Angels, Rams, Rummies, and Serpae's in a tank with a pH of 8.2. They are doing beautifully. The Africans are breeding like crazy too!

 

[RoK]

Just slowly acclimate the fish. They should be fine.
If you don't have one already, your pleco will like to rasp on some driftwood. Plus, it'll slowly lower the pH naturally.

 

[F-18 TECH]

I have found that I have the same problem with my PH in my home. The others are very correct in saying the purchase of a RO unit would be a good idea. I am still trying to convince my wife to allow me to buy one. However in the mean time I would try and use a natural acidic compuund. I have found success using distilled vinegar. The Ph is stable for about 6 weeks than it begins to bounce back to about 7 or so. Seems to be a temp fix. As well you could use RO water from your local grocery store. TRY those things it may be good for you.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Well, I decided to just leave things alone and see how it goes. Today I went to the lfs and bought myself a pair of Bolivian Rams (both about 1.5") and a Yo Yo Loach trio (all about 1.5 - 2"). I acclimated them very slowly and so far all is well. All of the fish are active, especially the YoYos.

I originally didn't want to get the Rams so soon, but their Gouarmis weren't looking very good and they were not for sale. One of their Golds had badly damaged fins and what appeared to be a very bad case of Ich. It looks so bad that I don't think it's possible to be Ich. It looks almost like someone wiped paste or something on it and it dried and started to crumble. Definitely not what I want to start out with.

I'll upload some pics as soon as I can. Still have a little bit of unpacking left to do!