My new tropical fish tank has a pH of 8, is this ok?
30 July 2009
5 Comments
I am just starting my first tropical fish tank and it has been running now for about a week (without any fish so far). The pH is remaining constant at around 8 (maybe slightly below), but everything i look at online is saying it should be lower. Will this be OK? If not how can i lower it slightly?
It should be fine. Most fish at the stores are tank bred or farm raised, and can tolerate ph ranges from 6.0-8.0 just fine. Some species may not breed at a higher ph level, but they will survive fine. The main thing with ph, you want it to stay steady, like yours is. A fluctuating ph, like what usually happens when you try to alter it, and you don’t really know what you’re doing(and it’s more then just adding ph up/down), will just cause ph shock and death to the fish.
Now, if you were going to get wild caught fish, then I would say yes, lower the ph to what the fish had in the wild since that’s what they’re used to.
The problem with just adding driftwood or peat to a tank to lower the ph or soften the water, you have to make sure you do the same to the water you add back in during water changes. Otherwise, when you add water back and it wasn’t cured, then the ph will rise in the tank, causing ph shock. I wish sites and stores would stop focusing so much attention on ph all the time. It’s unnecessary most of the time, and just causes more stress for the fish and the people caring for the tanks.
You could populate your tank with mollies, guppies, or goldfish. Any fish that tolerates or needs a high pH. The high pH is not good for tropical fish requiring a softer tank with a lower pH. They will die.
It depends on the fish you plan to put in it. Some fish like a higher Ph. If I had my fish book I could tell you which ones, but I’m at work.
As for lowering it, you could get something from a pet store. I’d find a fish store in your area and go to them for help. You could also try adding some hardy fish, like Danios and see if that helps. It may be that it just needs some fish to kick start everything. If that doesn’t help, I’d definately go to the fish store and ask as like I said, some fish would do fine at that ph, other’s wouldn’t.
Personally I am setting up a South American tropical tank. They require a low pH (6-7), so I am lowering my pH by using driftwood. I used this site to help me understand how driftwood works and what needs to be done before it is added to the aquarium- http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=857
if your not working with african cichlids or saltwater, then it should be around 7.0-7.5 range.
Lowering ph is very easy, you can get some peat moss from any garden store and add it into your filter.
You can also use a freshwater buffer, to level out the ph to around 7.
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