BillyJBryant Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 (edited) I live in Washington (Kent area) and my tap water has a pH around 7.6~7.8. Most of my tanks; however, usually maintain a pH of 8.0~8.3. I use tap water with Fritz complete during water changes and I treat with Fritz 7 to maintain bacteria. I dose with Co-op easy carbon to stave off algae and my planted tanks with easy green to promote plant growth. I have one community tank, one community and shrimp tank and three Betta tanks. The tanks that I have the highest pH in are my three Betta tanks that have no live plants (other than Frogbit and Duckweed). I have been trying to lower pH in my tanks but nothing seems to be working. I've tried pH Down, doing water changes with Distilled Water and I've also tried Diluted Distilled White Vinegar. My concern is whether or not I should be worried about pH, or if it should be ok to hover where it does. Edited August 27 by BillyJBryant Spelling correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 11:39 PM, BillyJBryant said: My concern is whether or not I should be worried about pH, or if it should be ok to hover where it does The question is what is coming from your tap water. If it’s high. Then you probably want it to stay high. The question is not just about ph. But also your gh and kh. Which are measures of your water hardness. Most fish will completely adapt to hard water. Honestly kind of surprised you would have hard water. Usually around Seattle it’s very soft. Maybe something in the tank is raising the ph? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJBryant Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 On 8/26/2024 at 8:39 PM, BillyJBryant said: my tap water has a pH around 7.6~7.8 Tap fluctuates there. I haven't tested Gh and Kh for a while but Kh usually floats between 3~4 and GH between 4~5. I haven't tested the GH and Kh of the tap in quite some time. As all of my tanks have, or have had, mystery snails, I occasionally add in Wonder Shells. My Betta tanks no longer have any snails; however. As far as for something in the tank, the three are entirely different in deco, the only thing they have in common is floating plants (Frogbit mostly). One is a beach theme tank with white sand and soft vinyl and rubbery plants with a plaster cave. One is a dark water tank with Imagitarium Gravel substrate, Mopani wood, some fake plants and a plaster hobbit house "cave". The third has cut gem-like and stones of various sizes for substrate and a Betta cave with fake plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 If your fish are doing ok, I wouldn’t worry. You can use your water to your advantage by keeping fish that like high pH like livebearers, African cichlids, shrimp/snails etc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJBryant Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 One of my Bettas struggled with Fin Rot for a while as well as some other symptoms eventually including signs of swim bladder issues, and ultimately we decided to euthanize. I'm starting to see signs of fin rot on one of my female Bettas now too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 (edited) You can try a course of maracyn2 for fin rot ph down is mostly a gimmick. Your ph is up, I’m guessing because of the wondershell. Usually wouldn’t be that high for a kh of 3-4. But if that’s where you’re at, @EricksonAquatics has it right. If your fish are happy, you’re good. Not something to be horribly concerned about Edited August 27 by Tony s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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