- Absolutely measure the tap water. The pH will not go any lower than your tap without a lot of chemical addition that are stressful to your fish. Playing with dynamite is less dangerous than playing with the pH in an aquarium, You are asking for a pH crash which will probably destroy your tank.
New Tank, mess with Ph adjustment? (noob)
I have a newly setup 45g tank, with fish in it for three days now, with only plastic plants. Just received my test kit, and got Ph=7.8, Ammonia=0.5ppm, Nitrite=0ppm, Nitrate=10ppm. We started with tap water, used Prime, waited 24h, used API QuickStart and added fish (2 guppies, 3 neon tetras).
I think that makes the Ph a bit high, but wonder if it makes more sense to just monitor until the fish have been in the tank for more than a few days. (I suppose I could measure the Ph of tap water to see what our water supply is...)
Advice for a newbie? Thx.
I think that makes the Ph a bit high, but wonder if it makes more sense to just monitor until the fish have been in the tank for more than a few days. (I suppose I could measure the Ph of tap water to see what our water supply is...)
Advice for a newbie? Thx.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
The ph of the tap water is around the same - 7.6 or 7.7.Absolutely measure the tap water.
So... don't mess with it? Even though it's not in the 'ideal' range for a community tank?
A stable pH that's slightly out of range is better than one that fluctuates. There's a lot more that has to be taken into account, hardness, TDS, the only reliable way to change the pH is to start with RO, gives you a blank slate. Changing the pH of tap water is difficult at best, deadly at worst.
um... What's "RO"?the only reliable way to change the pH is to start with RO, gives you a blank slate.
Reverse osmosis, removes all the minerals from the water. Hardness stabilizes pH, hardness is the mineral content. You adjust the pH, then remineralize to stabilize the pH.
pH rises as carbon dioxide goes down.
So your "high" pH probably means low carbon dioxide. Which the fish should appreciate.
getting a particualr pH value with chemicals can change all that..
my .02
So your "high" pH probably means low carbon dioxide. Which the fish should appreciate.
getting a particualr pH value with chemicals can change all that..
my .02
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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