Ph 6.4!

[bettons]

You may already know from the title that my Ph from tap water is 6.4 and in the tank is 6.2 but the ideal Ph for bettas are 6.8-7.0. i have heard stories of people saying that it is better to leave the Ph as it is than to mess around with it. Should I leave it like this?

[twoluvcats]

i have HIGH pH and i leave it (7.6 on R/O water, 8.0 out of the tap)...In my personal experience, I was doing more damage trying to swing it around then just leaving it. Tho as with everything, you'll hear solid opinions from both sides. A betta raised in 7.0 water will suffer in 6.2...so you might want to see what the pH is of the tanks that you get your bettas/other fish from...if they are coming from that low of a pH its not going to be as dire of an issue.

[abm]

Hi bettons,

Bettas are adaptable creatures, and many will "learn" to deal with the water they're stuck in...but that doesn't mean it's good for them. I've read on several sites, and several members have also taught me, that while bettas will adjust to pH problems, it shortens their already-way-too-short life spans , which makes sense to me.

Basically, pH, like other water parameters, should be stable for your fish to stay healthy. When people talk about not messing with pH, usually they mean not using additives regularly creating pH swings. I've read horror tales of adding a pH increasing product, which makes the pH way too high, then adding a pH lowering product, and never actually approaching the ideal 7.0.

I use a product called "Proper pH 7.0" for freshwater tanks...it has virtually eliminated my pH swings, which I believe directly or indirectly caused the death of two of my fish last winter.

My pH out of the faucet is over 7.8, and of course over time in the tank it slowly falls. I age my water before putting into the tank - aging for 48 hrs drops the pH to 7.2 without any additives. (I'm sure this isn't a constant - your results may vary ) When I do a water change I mix the appropriate amount of Proper pH 7.0 into the new water and test it (yep, 7.0 every single time . The product, at least in my experience of about 1.5 years, will maintain a pH of 6.8 - 7.2 in the tank for over a week, and since I have uncycled tanks I do complete water changes and use it every time.

There are other additives out there, pH UP and pH Down, among others, but my experience with them is that they change the pH initially but the change doesn't hold, and of course you want a lasting effect.

Hope this helped a little

[bettons]

great! My betta is doing outstanding, for my surprise my tank also finished cycling today! I think I will give the Ph buffer a try, PROPER ph 7.0. i looked at the FAQs
www.aquariumpharm.com/articles/propPH.asp

just to make sure it won't affect anything in my water.

[SkiTheBerks]

I tested the water in my tank this afternoon. I am using my pool test kit, so I removed some of the water from the tank to test so I would not contaminate the tank. The only thing I can not test is the Ammonia, which I will buy some test strips for that.

I am glad to see that my Chlorine levels are 0. I would be a little scared as I am using bottled water (Poland Spring), which is the same that I drink.

The PH is 7.01, which is neutral and good. If my PH was this low in the pool I would be increasing to prevent corrosion of the pump, ladder, heater, etc.

One item that I do not see talked about is the Alkalinity or Calcium & Magnesium (Water Hardness). Do these have any impact of a fish's health? My test results are on the low end of the spectrum for a swimming pool, which would mean "good". I also tested my drinking water and the readings are slightly different, but also "good". Most likely because the water is being circulated in the tank.

[amanichen]

skitheberks said:

One item that I do not see talked about is the Alkalinity or Calcium & Magnesium (Water Hardness). Do these have any impact of a fish's health? My test results are on the low end of the spectrum for a swimming pool, which would mean "good". I also tested my drinking water and the readings are slightly different, but also "good". Most likely because the water is being circulated in the tank.

You'll want to get numerical results for those and then I can tell you whether the water is suitable for your fish.

[SkiTheBerks]

I learned one thing that pool test strips are meant for swimming pools. I had my drinking water tested & had them test a sample from my tank.

Here are the results:

PH – 7.0
Alkalinity – 15ppm
Total Hardness (Calcium / Magnesium) – 18ppm

[amanichen]

skitheberks said:

I learned one thing that pool test strips are meant for swimming pools. I had my drinking water tested & had them test a sample from my tank.

Here are the results:

PH – 7.0
Alkalinity – 15ppm
Total Hardness (Calcium / Magnesium) – 18ppm

The alkalinity and hardness seem a little low. Are you sure those aren't in degrees hardness and not ppm?

[SkiTheBerks]

The "ppm" is used on the report.

[amanichen]

skitheberks said:

The "ppm" is used on the report.

Hrm. Those are both very low if the readings are indeed in ppm. That's even below the range of soft water fish from the Amazon River system.