Sunfish and PH
- Thread starter redchaser
- Start date
Both longear and bluegill come from a somewhat wide variety of PH ranges but neither seem to be common in extremely tannin stained (low PH) waters. It is common however to see both in streams that are comprised of limestone substrate (high PH).
Generally speaking, PH is ignored with North American native fishes but extremes should be avoided.
Generally speaking, PH is ignored with North American native fishes but extremes should be avoided.
I keep, Obesus, blackbanded, Orange spotted, shadow bass, dollar, Pumpkinseed, and Blue spotted, which come a pretty varied range of the country from where i am in Indiana. The ph out of my well is about high 7 usually, and all the above are kep in the same water, which makes for easy water changes. I notice no ill effects, all seem happy and healthy, good color, and eat like pigs, so either they are very adaptable, or dont care. The most accurate advice though would come from the post above.
That is pretty high ph , what is your source water?? I dont know that 8 would be harmful, however i would do some more investigation if i were you. My well water PH is about 7.6 which is also high but causes no problems im aware of. There are ways to bring that down naturally, if you are concerned, but it will be an ongoing headache to try to keep it there with high ph source water. These fish seem not to be picky about ph, but surely they have some preference when it comes to breeding and successfully raising fry. However this is an area where i have no hands on experience, so maybe not
If the pH is at 8 I still would rather leave it as is rather than playing around too much with pH
Cichlaholics Anonymous;2701749; said:
I agree, several years ago, when i kept chiclids, i was trying to lower the ph for a known low PH loving fish. I was using PH down, with the fish in the tank, I obviously over dosed it and that fish turned instantly Black and shot straight up, hit the tank glass top and was dead.
. Moral of that story, They can adjust to what you have with less stress than if you try to change it and have a rocket fishJim is right, it is always best to leave the pH as is unless you're using a natural buffer. Driftwood for example can lower pH, crushed coral can raise it. Bluegill and longears should both be fine at 8, they're both wide spread, hardy and adaptable fish.