8.2 ph

[T-Rexx]

I tested my tank and the ph is 8.2. that's really high right? How do I lower it? I thought about putting some drift wood into the tank because I hear it regulates the ph would that help? or is there something else I have to do?

 

[Link119]

Drift wood does lower the ph but having a stable ph is much better than trying to change it. It is somewhat high, but your ph is fine as long as it isnt fluctuating. What are the other tests (amm. , nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Unless it's in the 9s or 5s it fine. Your fish will already be use to it.

 

[Phranque]

Unless you have Discus or are trying to hit a certain pH condition for breeding, don't worry about it...... 8.2 isn't high at all, & your fish will adapt. Stability is far more important than the number itself. You're more likely to do damage by trying to change it.

 

[T-Rexx]

Well I've noticed a lot of my fish have been dying off. And all of the other numbers are normal except the ph. So I didnt know if that could be the reason alot of my fish arent making it

 

[Phranque]

Well, if you've got fish dying off, then there's definitely a problem.... Start giving us some particulars. What size tank? What is your complete stock? What has died? What are you using to test.... is it an API kit or test strips? Any & all information you can give may be helpful.

 

[T-Rexx]

I have a 60 gallon tank, I use the liquid api tests My stock is an angel (baby new),6 rummy nose tetra, 3 golden wonder killies, 3 black skirt tetra, a balloon pearl gourami, honey sunset gourami, powder blue gourami, a bamboo shrimp.

the recent fish that have died was a german blue ram so I bought a couple rumy nose but a couple of those died so I got a couple balloon rams and one of those died. I havent seen the other one in a couple days tomorrow I will go on a fish hunt for her, so i got 2 angels neither made it but the gu i bought them from told me hed give me another since it died 3 days after i brought it home. and that one is still alive but idk i feel like im having WAY too many fish dying off. my readings were all 0 except for the ph. I do 15% water changes every week and feed them once a day.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

How did you acclimate them? Rummynoses, rams and smaller angels are all sensitive fish. Deaths within a few days or weeks of introduction suggest weak stock and/or improper acclimatization. Are the gouramis or skirts aggressive or nippy. I have had a gold gourami bully a small angel to death.

 

[Hobgob]

You ph is is fine. Stable ph is the best their is. Discus have even breed in 7.8. Now as mentioned above how did you acclimate them. If you just floated the bag in your tank for 30 minutes the ph would not have adjusted. also you shouldn't put the water that came with your fish, just in case there is a parasite in it.
Now you said all your reading were 0 except for your ph. Even your nitrates?

Also how long has the tank been set up for? How did you cycle it? what type of filtration is on it?
I apologize if I have mentioned things that you already know or said

 

[Hobgob]

Also the rummy nose prefer a school and if your skirts are nippy, increasing the school will calm then down.
What's the temperature at?

 

[T-Rexx]

Yes even my nitrates were 0. Isn't there supposed to be a bit in there? I thought it was a bit strange. I thought in a couple days I'll go back and test again to make sure. actually Ill go do it right now! Yep everything is still the same! Well i had a 36 gallon which cycled in april with a marineland bio wheel. But in august I upgraded to a 60 gallon using the same bio wheel plus adding one because it came with a bigger filter that needed two bio wheels. The temp is slowly but surley decresing. a couple months ago one of my fish had ick (nothing serious just a couple spots) so I brought it up to 86.5 (was the highest) degrees to kill it off. it's at 85 right now. I feel like whenever i bring the temp down a fish dies off. so im trying to bring it down super slow so it doesnt stress the fish out too much.

and yes my powder blue gourami and possibly my balloon pearl gourami are a bit of a bully. they attacked one of the angels and nipped all of her fins off. ): poor thing. she didnt make it but toward other fish they seem okay. the two bicker at each other more often they do toward other fish. or from what I could tell. my black skirts are very well behaved they all have peaceful temperment toward one another and other fish. & my rummys i've tried to bring up the amount I almost had 12 but they kept dying off back down to 8. for some reason I cant keep the school up.

How I acclimate them is sitting them in a bag letting them sit for 30 mins then putting them in the tank WITHOUT the water they came in. But it's something I just started doing about 2-3 months ago. Someone told me never to put the water from the fish store into the tank. So I stopped. Is there something more I need to be doing? /:

I hope I answered everyones questions!

 

[Hobgob]

With more sensitive fish you need to drip acclimate them to the ph. Otherwise it could be to big of a shock for them. YouTube has a bunch of videos with how to do this...

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That will acclimate them to the temperature but NOT the water parameters. As said above look up drip acclimating. If your gouramis disagree with angels stop adding them. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don't.

 

[Hobgob]

Very well said if something just doesn't work don't keep trying it... Try something new.

 

[T-Rexx]

Well I havent had the angel gourami issue up until VERY recently. Hes never bothered any of my other angels accept for the one he killed. I may rehome him to my friends tank. As for the drop acclimate is there something I need to buy to do that? I think im going to cool it on buying fish anytime in the near future till i figure out whats going on with my tank. Is it fine that theres 0 nitrates in my tank?

 

[T-Rexx]

And thanks for all your help btw!!!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Well I havent had the angel gourami issue up until VERY recently. Hes never bothered any of my other angels accept for the one he killed. I may rehome him to my friends tank. As for the drop acclimate is there something I need to buy to do that? I think im going to cool it on buying fish anytime in the near future till i figure out whats going on with my tank. Is it fine that theres 0 nitrates in my tank?

Make sure your doing the test correctly, shaking the bottles really well and waiting exactly 5 minutes to read the test. Also check if it's out of date. There should be a manufacture date stamped on it. If its more than 3 years old assume it's too old and buy a new one.
There are videos on YouTube on how to drip acclimate. All you need is an airline tube and a bucket.

 

[T-Rexx]

Okay I will definitely check that out! Ill do anything to have healthy fish! The tests should be fine, I just bought them two days ago. I did all the shaking the paper told me to do and waited. even though the test results didnt change too much. but i left them to sit just to be sure!