I tested my Ph and its at 8.8 + i am aware that the water is hard. I was wanting to add tropical community fishes. However I'm concerned about adding fish with a ph and hardness that high. Should i start useing ro water or will the current water be ok?
Ph/Hardness Concern
- Thread starter joseph13
- Start date
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librarygirl
Look It Up
What fish did you want to get? Most fish will adapt to your PH as long as it's stable. Messing with PH can often do more harm than good.
BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 5,011
pH, Hardness, Alkalinity
Hello Joe...
If you're keeping and breeding rare fish, then you'll need to know a lot about the acidity or alkalinity of your tap water. If you're keeping fish that most of the rest of us keep, then don't worry about the chemistry of your water. All you need to do is remove the chlorine and chloramine that the city people put into the water to make it safe for us to drink and perform regular water changes.
The water changes maintain the water chemistry for your fish. The stability of the water is much more important than whether you have acidic or basic water.
B
Hello Joe...
If you're keeping and breeding rare fish, then you'll need to know a lot about the acidity or alkalinity of your tap water. If you're keeping fish that most of the rest of us keep, then don't worry about the chemistry of your water. All you need to do is remove the chlorine and chloramine that the city people put into the water to make it safe for us to drink and perform regular water changes.
The water changes maintain the water chemistry for your fish. The stability of the water is much more important than whether you have acidic or basic water.
B
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Depending on where you get your fish will determine whether you need to adjust your water. In most cases, the wholesalers and pet shops have already acclimated their fish to their water's chemistry. However, ALWAYS!!!!! ask what the shop keeps their water chemistry at before buying fish. This can get tricky if you uy from out of state places or online.
Back in the 1970's, I brought a breeding trio of Angelfish from NJ to FL when I moved. NJ water was soft and acidic and FL was hard and alkaline. The fish survived the trip and adjusted to the new water but never bred again.
I just recently purchased fish during a trip back to NJ and brought them to FL. I used a combo of distilled water and the extra water I got from the shops at first and am slowly acclimating the fish to my hard alkaline water. Keep this in mind if you buy outside of your area. Gradual change is always best.
Hope this helps
