Moderate to high Ph levels.

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bigsteve77

bigsteve77

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2014
11
7
18
Livingston, Texas
I've had ph levels at or around 7.5 to 7.8. I have my 125 gallon tank stocked with New World Cichlids. I would appreciate thoughts, ideas, and suggestions as to how to safely lower the ph levels. I have used API proper ph 7.0 but it hasnt done a damn thing. Thanks in advance y'all.
 
bigsteve77 said:
I've had ph levels at or around 7.5 to 7.8. I have my 125 gallon tank stocked with New World Cichlids. I would appreciate thoughts, ideas, and suggestions as to how to safely lower the ph levels. I have used API proper ph 7.0 but it hasnt done a damn thing. Thanks in advance y'all.
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Why mess with it? Your readings are pretty neutral and should be good.

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Are you trying to breed them? Are they normally from water with a pH under 6.0?

If no to those questions, I'd probably not worry. 7.5 - 7.8 is probably where thousands of tanks are with really no problems.

Trying to adjust it and having it swing up and down is likely to be as much or more of a concern as leaving it at one narrow range.
 
If by New World cichlids you mean Central Americans that water's fine. Even tank raised or properly acclamated South Amercans are good in that water. Unless you are keeping some newly imported blackwater species you should have no issues and even then while they may not breed, if acclamated over time they will be fine too. What is your hardness Gh/Kh in your aquarium? Have you tested your tap water for hardness and Ph? You should test streight from the tap and let some sit over night and test that to see if or how much it changes. What type of substright do you have?

It is best to leave the water alone trying to adjust water chemistry is very diffacult & or expensive long term and not worth the agravation. Unless of corse your gole is to breed Heckel Discus or Altums, U. Ferns etc.
 
Ph is fine. If you want add some peat moss. Put a little in a filter sock or something similar and put it in the water or filter. It's going to turn your water yellow but it will lower the ph


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BuffaloPolypteridae said:
Doesnt driftwood gradually and safely lower the ph?


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Yes it does.

doomiedee said:
Ph is fine. If you want add some peat moss. Put a little in a filter sock or something similar and put it in the water or filter. It's going to turn your water yellow but it will lower the ph


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You have to be careful doing this if you dont' know the buffering capacity (Kh) of the water. You could crash the Ph or have large & dangerous Ph swings during water changes. Unless you know what your messing with it's best to leave it alone or keep fish that are compatable with the water you have.
 
Aquanero said:
You have to be careful doing this if you dont' know the buffering capacity (Kh) of the water. You could crash the Ph or have large & dangerous Ph swings during water changes. Unless you know what your messing with it's best to leave it alone or keep fish that are compatable with the water you have.
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Yes that's why I said his levels are fine. I agree and learned this the the hard way. I also learned of you do small changes every few days instead of one weekly it helps keep the levels in a safe zone for the fish. When I had peat moss in my 90 I would do 2-3 gallon changes like two days apart


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