can bettas thrive in high ph?

[Sora]

can betta fish thrive in high ph and hard water?

ph 8.0

gh200ppm

(sorry I think I accidentally made two of these

Edited January 25, 2023 by Sora

[jwcarlson]

This may not be well received, but I personally think pH/hardness is an overblown parameter in almost every case (outside of breeding and wild caught fish). 

The bigger concern is keeping things stable.  Most fish can live, grow, and flourish in most water as long as it is clean.  Breeding, however, is a different animal.  I've got discus in basically the polar opposite of what's thought of as "discus water" and they're just fine and thriving.  Mine is a pH of 8.3 and hardness basically through the roof.  Something like 20-22 degrees GH and KH is like 16-18, I think.  

I think a betta is likely to do swimmingly in your water as long as you meet their other requirements like temperature. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Sora]

cool thanks so much!

[Lennie]

I agree with @jwcarlson. Maybe I would add fish that has been kept in very different waters than yours to that exception as well. Tank-bred ones and especially the ones being kept in your local area would perform the best imo.

So I would at least try to get fish locally to match your parameters (incase your parameters match the local shop ones), and this was, assuming fish won't spend lots of time in a bag, you can drip acclimate fish safely by adding one drop of prime (just in case) and help it not stress out and increase the chance of doing good.

Otherwise, when you get fish shipped, drip acclimation has contradicting opinions, and mostly not adviced as when the bag opens and air goes in, you will likely face a direct ammonia spike and fish will hurt very fast. So in shipping cases, plop and drop after getting the bag in the tank water temperature is generally seen as a better option, but different parameters, especially ph differences may affect the fish negatively. And  breeders are unlikely to  breed their bettas in 8.0 ph and ship them with such ph from somewhere far to you.

So I would stay on the safer side, get one from lfs or maybe a local breeder, and drip acclimate it. I always did this with my fish that like soft/acidic water and have never lost a fish once ever. My water is hard and my ph is 8.2. 

I've never kept bettas tho. But Ive been keeping lots of other soft acidic water fish. I can't tell directly about bettas.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Lennie

[jwcarlson]

As long as you're going up in pH (in my experience) it's "OK".  I have no experience in going down, but my understanding is that can cause gill burn and issues because you're going more acidic.  

I have moved to 100% plop and drop instead of opening and adding some tank water every 15 minutes as was the standard when first started.  To be honest, I don't think I've lost a fish (immediately upon intro) since I started plop and dropping.  Including everything from discus, apistos, multiple tetras, CPDs, etc.  Both locally purchased and shipped fish.

Edited January 25, 2023 by jwcarlson

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Getting a fish (any fish) from a local source that has the same or similar water as you is ALWAYS the best bet.