Is very very low ph good for fish?

[blackwolf911]

I tested water a guy gave me from the store and the ph was so low it wasnt on the chart. He says it's not bad because there is good and bad ph.. they tested in the store with a digital tester and it was 4.6.. I bought a puffer and he was having trouble acclimating to my water a few days ago. Anyone heard of this?? The fish in the store are all thriving..

 

[piranhaman00]

Wow this is low. I know some fish can tolerate down to 4.5. No idea about puffers though.

 

[tlindsey]

That is extremely acidic but some Amazonian species come from water's near that ph range. Never heard of any Puffer species coming from water's of a PH that low.

 

[MrsE88]

I would be curious to see what the kh is on that water.

 

[blackwolf911]

It's really weird because the fish in the store all seem great.. it's part of a huge filtration system that has multiple tanks on it and some of the fish are massive..

 

[kno4te]

Most puffers need ph close to 7 or a bit higher. Some are coastal and brackish. I don’t recall any Blackwater puffers out there. Ask Fat Homer . Probably slowly add some crushed coral and get the ph up and it should start to settle.

 

[blackwolf911]

Most puffers need ph close to 7 or a bit higher. Some are coastal and brackish. I don’t recall any Blackwater puffers out there. Ask Fat Homer . Probably slowly add some crushed coral and get the ph up and it should start to settle.

He is doing fine now.. it's been 4 days since I brought him home. It's not just about the puffer.. I'm just suprised at the low ph and how they must be going through fluctuations but the fish seem fine

 

[Fat Homer]

Most puffers need ph close to 7 or a bit higher. Some are coastal and brackish. I don’t recall any Blackwater puffers out there. Ask Fat Homer . Probably slowly add some crushed coral and get the ph up and it should start to settle.

Im sure some puffers come from slightly acidic waters but not sure any come from lakes were parameters are down at PH 4 although during dry seasons maybe???

End of the day its probably not too much to worry about as long as the puffer was acclimated properly, as i always thought i had soft acidic water with a PH that hovers around ph 5.5 - 6 and very low GH...

One last thing to mention, if you plan to raise your PH, try to do it using more natural methods (such as the crushed coral method mentioned above) so it doesnt cause your parameters to jump back and forth like crazy stressing out the fish unnecessarily...

 

[Supergeorge123]

That is 1000 times more acidic than ph 7.5. There are very few species that need a ph that low. That could definitely be harmful to fish not evolved to handle that extreme. There is also no such thing as good or bad ph.

 

[blackwolf911]

That is 1000 times more acidic than ph 7.5. There are very few species that need a ph that low. That could definitely be harmful to fish not evolved to handle that extreme. There is also no such thing as good or bad ph.

Yeah I'm not sure what the guy was trying to say. I know the ph in their water was extremely low. I think he was embarrassed I caught a problem maybe... their nitrates were extremely high also which I would expect in a system that has huge fish in it.