mechtiger Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 I have only set this tank up 5 days ago, I'm guessing still to early to have a good enviroment for fish but I do have a plecosomus and a gourami in the tank at the moment. My problem seems to be when I test for PH it is quite blue I guess meaning up over 7.4 by the colour on the graph. I guess this isn't to helpful for the fish, any ideas to help appriciated.. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 What is the pH of your tap water? If it is a lot more acidic, what else do you have in the tank in the way of rocks? You may have something in there (like a shell for instance) causing the pH to rise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechtiger Posted April 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 Will check the tap water, all I have in the tank is stones, heater and ornament with fake plants on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 Blue might mean you are at 7.4 which is ok in most cases. You really need a kit to tell you how much over 7.4 you are. If your tap water is over 7.4 this will do it and there's little you can do to bring it down other than adding acid. As Caryl says, check for items in the tank containing Calcium... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holiday Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 I have a high ph level in the tap water and i keep my ph levels buffered at about 7 by putting in some peat moss wrapped in a musslin bag. It does the trick just fine. 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 thats a bit quick to introduce fish into the tank after 5 days?! wouldnt have fully cycled by then, but anyways... you would definately find its your tapwater thats causing the pH to be slightly higher (as most tap water is slightly alkaline) try adding a piece of driftwood to your tank to help pull the pH down a bit otherwise take out your stones and measure it again in a weeks time, i gaurantee it will drop. you can mix and match driftwood and rocks over time until you find a pretty good match for pH. oh, and up to 7.5 is generally ok (meaning most fish wil tolerate it) for most freshwater fish (subject to what stores will tell you coz they want to sell you heaps of water conditioners etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Chimera said thats a bit quick to introduce fish into the tank after 5 days?! wouldnt have fully cycled by then I assume that mechtiger is using the fish(hopefully a small percentage of what will be in there) to initiate a cycle as opposed to a fishless cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 yes, an assumption you would have to make, although im not one to make potential sacrifices to living animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 yes there is a potential for harm, but go slow and no problems. I have never been able to detect ammonia when cycling a tank, combination of medium to large tanks and very slow increase in fish load. patience is all it takes to make it safe for the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 good old kiwi tap water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 its normal when you first set up a tank to have the ph high, that ph isnt that bad so dont stress, just make sure you dont have any shells or rocks from the beach. a good way to lower you ph is to use spagnent moss wrapped in a musslin bag(sorry about the spelling) you get it from garden centers, its good bacause it doesnt colour the water like peat moss. dont put alot of fish in your tank ,just play the waiting game then your fish will be happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo w Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 My tank also had a high ph about 7.6 I used proper ph 7.0 and it brought it back down for a while (2 months maybe) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.