High PH water issues

[Romero.92]

Hello!

I have started a 75 gallon long planted tank when I moved into my new house ( 5 months ago). It has Java ferns, jungle val, 3 Angel fish, 8 LG Tetras, 1 Hill stream loach, 5 panda catfish, and some old guppies ive had forever.

I am struggling with the water PH and the best way to control it.  The home tap water I use is VERY High PH. I did not realize this at first and my plants were struggling and I have a beard algae issues.  Once I realized the PH was so high (at first I was not checking the high PH kit I was only using the regular range and thinking I was in the clear) I started trying to treat the water I was adding during water changes to lower it to closer to 7. I test it compared to my tank PH before adding it to try to get it as close as possible to the same ph.   Plants are doing better now, have some new growth and in general look less stressed. Far less black algea is growing and some greener algea (minor) has started growing. My fish have never shown signs of stress that I have noticed. Have only lost one Vail Angel fish that I have had for 2 years now  and it has happened after I started trying to ph balance my tank before adding it to my change outs. Died about 5 days post water change ( no disease noticeable).

Any tips or tricks people have for making the water I add during my water changes a safer PH for my fist and plants? I'm afraid of accidently sending the ecosystem into a ph. rollercoaster since I have to artificially alter it for every bucket of water I add. 

 

[Stash Beardsley]

In my old apartment we had water with ph issues. I tried using the ph up and down water treatments. But the buffering of the water would always put the ph back to where it was. It ended up being worse for the fish because it was always going up down up down. Here's some info. I found from aquarium co op.

"If your pH is above 7.8 and you need to lower it, unfortunately that is a much harder task. We recommend using an R/O filter if you absolutely must lower it. An alternative would be to use a planted tank and stop changing water. This will lead to acidification of the water over time. When the water gets to the level you'd like, you can then do very small water changes periodically to maintain that level and safe parameters for your fish."

pH In Your Aquarium

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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We generally like to run all of our tanks at a pH of 7.0 to 7.8. If you don't have this range, it doesn't mean it can't work for your fish. It's just a great range...

 

[JaredL]

I have this same "issue". I say issue in quotes, because I've had a tank of fish all classified as needing soft water with a ph over 8.5 and very high kh and gh for over a year. The fish have been perfectly healthy over this time. I've never heard of high ph leading to BBA(black beard algae) problems. If the BBA is your only concern for the high PH, you may want to check some other factors like phosphates, nitrates, and amount of light you're giving your tank.

That being said, I have gone through the process of lowering my ph just for experimental reasons. Through all my research, the safest way I found to do this is mixing RO(reverse osmosis) or distilled water with my tap water. In a small batch, I tried different ratios till I got the parameters that I liked. Then I mixed up larger batches and used this to do 25% weekly water changes on my existing tank. This took several water changes till my tank got to the desired parameters, but I didn't want to change it too fast and stress the fish.

I chose this method cause all the chemicals and stuff scare me, and I feel like I have alot more control this way.

Hope this helps!

[Colu]

In stead of fighting  pH get fish that suit you local water conditions

[JettsPapa]

Can you define "VERY High PH"?  My pH is 8.2, and I have a wide variety of plants and fish thriving in it.  As mentioned above, most fish will do better with stable pH, even if it's outside their ideal range, than they will with it going up and down while the fish keeper chases the "perfect" pH.

[varanidguy]

The pH really shouldn't be an issue, it sounds like your plants were simply having the "Oh you changed my parameters!" melt before adapting. The vast majority of fish we keep are also extremely adaptable. For instance, I keep wild caught two-spot catfish that come from peat swamps, in a pH of 8.2 and dKH of over 5, and they're doing perfectly well. Naturally they probably don't experience anything over 6, and even that could be high for their natural environment.

Insofar as plants, they are also surprisingly adaptable at times, especially the ones you list. For example, I grow blyxa japonica like it's nobody's business, when on paper it likes low KH with a neutral to acidic pH.

I'd say give it time, rather than chasing parameters, let things settle in for a couple of months and see how it goes.

[Yet Another Aquarist]

On 12/4/2020 at 4:14 PM, varanidguy said:

Insofar as plants, they are also surprisingly adaptable at times, especially the ones you list. For example, I grow blyxa japonica like it's nobody's business, when on paper it likes low KH with a neutral to acidic pH.
 

Do you have any tips on the blyxa japonica?  I have it in a low tech tank with hard water.  At first, it looked like it was doing okay and transitioning to my tank.  But, now, a few months later, it appears that it failed to grow any significant roots and it's floating.  I'd like to rescue it if I can.