[scottysgirl]

Our pH is around 8.2, our oscar (who is my sweetheart) is soon going to move to his big tank, and I've been thinking about the water issue. He has been living in this pH (as have our other fish--rams, angelfish, rasboras, dwarf puffer) for several months with no ill effects. I know ideal pH for oscars is lower than this. What can I do to lower it/should I lower it? I know it can be hard to fiddle with pH and keep it steady so it is not flucuating, any recommendations?
Thanks

 

[Lupin]

What's your KH?

 

[FDStation152]

I'm suprised the rams are coping with the high pH. And i have one general question for everyone here. Everyone seems to mention kH while utterly ignoring gH. The general hardness is equally important to some fish as the alkalinity. If you were to decide to lower the pH id suggest using a product designed to buffer the pH at a lower value rather than using a product like pH down. It tends to preserve the kH value while lowering the pH as opposed to the pH down which lowers the kH drastically before the pH shifts.

 

[scottysgirl]

Well, I don't know what the kH is, I need to go buy a new test kit. The rams seem to be doing pretty well, as of now one pair is going through elaborate courtship rituals/moving pebbles around. However, if they would do better in nuetral water I would like to lower the pH. I'm just concerned that in lowering it, doing water changes and keeping the pH from flucuating would be difficult. The little test strip that you dip in the water says water is 'very hard' and has an 8.2 pH.

 

[FDStation152]

kH is the buffering capacity of the water and is what stabilizes the pH of the tank. A high kH makes changing the pH very difficult and usually only temporary. Rams actually do best in somewhat acidic water. The water also generally has to be pretty soft for breeding. If you were to find that the kH value is particularly high you may wish to attempt diluting the tank water with reverse osmosis water gradually to make adjusting the pH easier to achieve. I'm a big fan of Seachem's Neutral Regular (powder) when it comes to slowly adjusting pH to 7 from either high or low and holding it there.