New tank, high pH - too soon to adjust it?

[eosha]

Hi all, I'm new here. A few days ago, my family decided to up our aquarium game from a single old goldfish in a 20-gal tank. Here's what we've done so far this week:

1. Fill 55-gal tank with city tap water
2. Add 2 new sponge filters
3. Add appropriate amount of water conditioner
4. Let it bubble & degas for 2 days
5. Add some old substrate & decor bits from the old goldfish tank to kickstart nitrogen cycle (the goldfish will stay in his old tank until the new tank's all good)
6. A day later, add some new gravel & small anubias.
7. Last night, add a dozen black neon tetras to get some nitrogen cycling.

Which brings us to today, when the Amazon fairy brought my water test kit. To get more familiar with the contents of the whole test kit, we did all the tests. Unsurprisingly, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate were all nil. However, the pH was 8.4, well outside the range I found for the tetras and pushing the goldfish's range as well. I wondered if it was a factor of the new gravel, but the water in the old goldfish tank tested the same.

How worried should I be? How should I find the line between "it's good enough, leave it alone" vs. "it's too high, but give the new tank a while to stabilize before changing things" vs. "ye flipping gods, that's way too high, add acid now!" The tetras all survived their first night in the tank (and the goldfish has survived almost a decade), but I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell whether they're fine or struggling.

Edited January 6, 2021 by eosha
a word

[Cory]

I'd say leave it alone. Fighting against pH is work. Most not all, but most fish can be adapted easier than changing pH's around all the time.

 

[AdamTill]

Goldfish THRIVE at that pH, they love the hard, high pH water. Look up Zhao’s Fancies...his water is harder and higher pH than yours.

I can also attest that I’ve grown out some lovely goldfish with water that seems almost the same as yours.

Also, if the goldfish is the intended inhabitant of this tank, you can just move him and his filter over. The amount of bacteria you need is proportional to the waste being produced, not the tank size. So as you wait for the sponges to populate the old filter can be handling his waste. Just a thought.

Edited January 6, 2021 by AdamTill

[JettsPapa]

Black neon tetras are one of my favorites, and I have about a dozen apparently thriving in my 8.2 pH water.  I'm no authority, but I wouldn't think that extra 0.2 would make much difference.

[Gregmk2]

I have the opposite problem, Fluval Flex 32 gal set up before xmas. Have tap water at 6.0 ph. Have  put crushed coral in the filter and am at 6.4 now, only added 10 Neon Tetra and 6 Cardinal Tetra with 3 Borneo/hillstream loach. Am doing a water change about 25% every 2  to 3 days. All seem to be ok so far, planted tank and snails reproducing and small amount of hair algae so far. Will let it run for a few weeks more before adding anything else.

Was thinking to add a pair of Angels if I can and about 6  albino cory cats, does that sound ok?

Having just thought about this I will substitute the Angels for Gourami or Platies.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Gregmk2
Change of fish species

[lefty o]

11 hours ago, Gregmk2 said:

I have the opposite problem, Fluval Flex 32 gal set up before xmas. Have tap water at 6.0 ph. Have  put crushed coral in the filter and am at 6.4 now, only added 10 Neon Tetra and 6 Cardinal Tetra with 3 Borneo/hillstream loach. Am doing a water change about 25% every 2  to 3 days. All seem to be ok so far, planted tank and snails reproducing and small amount of hair algae so far. Will let it run for a few weeks more before adding anything else.

Was thinking to add a pair of Angels if I can and about 6  albino cory cats, does that sound ok?

Having just thought about this I will substitute the Angels for Gourami or Platies.

just a thought. you are trying to get minerals into your water with crushed coral, but you are changing the water every 2-3 days. might consider giving it longer between water changes to give the coral a chance to do something. with every water change, you are removing the minerals you are trying to get into the water.

[KaitieG]

I agree with what others have said, at least from my personal experience.  I also have water that sits between 8.2 and 8.4 in the tanks.  I haven't had trouble with corys or tetras so far (the neon tetras are pretty new though--only been here about 4 weeks, but no losses or odd behavior), betta, or livebearers (which isn't surprising since they at least are made for hard water and are known to handle high ph).

[Larrimore]

Old boy's made it this long with that PH in the old tank...leave it be.

[redmare]

I'll just add another vote for letting it be. 8.4 isn't insane and if all your other parameters are good, everyone should be perfectly happy