pH is 8.8 outta the tap?

[ragin_cajun]

I just set up a new 135 Gal tank. Get it all filled up, sand's in it, no fish yet. Nothing else to do but break open than new API Master Test kit and start testing stuff. And I get a 8.6-8.8 reading on the tank water. I'd just added some "NovAqua" , so I thought maybe that had skewed the results. So I just tested 5mL of tap water, and I got 8.6-8.8 again. 8.8 is the highest the kit can read, so now I'm worried it COULD be even higher than 8.8. Either way, I'm thinking that's too high for SA Cichlids. Any ideas? Best way to lower pH?

 

[darth pike]

Impossible to say without knowing other readings such as hardness, ect.

Easiest/most expensive way is to buy an RO unit.

Well easiest would be switching to CA cichlids instead. That's what I would do with that water. I hate fussing with water, takes a lot of fun and joy out of the hobby.

 

[ragin_cajun]

How much is an "RO Unit"? How does it work? Like fill up the tank, turn on the RO unit, and it turns tank water into pure water at 7.0 pH? I'd be interested. Cause I'm really not interested in playing around with 125 Gallons of water chemistry every week when I do water changes.

 

[darth pike]

Depends on how many gallons per day the unit you buy makes ... usually a couple hundred dollars on up.

It plugs into your faucet, and you run the water through it. It uses filters and various sciencecy stuff to put out water with no hardness, which you then mix with your tap water to lower the hardness and thus making it easier to lower pH. You end up with a lot of waste water though using it.

Like I said, I've always fit the fish to the tap water myself because I don't like messing with it. It takes time away from enjoying the fish when you spend it all mixing up water.

 

[duanes]

I agree with darth pike, that it would be best to tailor your fish selection, to the water you have. Beside the initial cost, an RO unit produces lots of waste water and has maintenance costs throughout its use for resin canisters and the like.
The individual constituents of your water determine how extensive your RO should need to be.
Many Central American fish would be very happy in high pH water, and even some South American species would also, just not the ones from the soft water regions of the Amazon. I keep cichlids from west of the Andes, and from Uruguay, and they are very comfortable in my liquid rock water.

 

[BuffaloPolypteridae]

Try using API PH 7 stabilizer, that's what I do w/ my tanks and my water comes out at 8 and it works great, I just treat the WC water w/ it before I put it in

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[David R]

You're driving blindfolded without also testing your hardness. When I lived in town my tap water had a very high pH, the water companies usually try tweak it up as acidic water can cause all sorts of problems with plumbing I believe. But it also had very low hardness and mineral content and the pH would easily drop in the aquarium. That may be the case for you, or your water may come from areas high in limestone and have equally high hardness along with the high pH, in which case you'll need to look at RO or rain water (or rift lake cichlids!) as no amount of wood/peat/alder etc will drop it.