# REALLY high PH



## KrBjostad (Jun 21, 2008)

I've never had the "right" PH for my p's but it was super soft at the old house (7.4) and its really high here (8.4)
I've heard its better stable than not but is this high enough to be a problem? is there a way to stabalize it at the right PH? I've heard stuff about peat moss and leaves and such, can I put them in my filters?
the rest of the params are:
ammo .1 (down from .25)
nitrate 20
nitrite 0


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## notoriouslyKEN (Jul 31, 2003)

My tapwater comes out at 8.4 as well. I bought some discus buffer at the fish store and have been using that to lower the ph to about 6.8-7 . The more you put in the lower the PH will go. It makes water changes more of a pain because you have to test the water before adding it back in. There is also a product that will stabilize your PH to 7 no matter how much stuff you put in. I think it's just called 7 or something like that, check your LFS and they will have something similar.


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## KrBjostad (Jun 21, 2008)

I'd rather not use chems, for anything. If theres not a natural way I'll prolly just leave it.


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## notoriouslyKEN (Jul 31, 2003)

Natural way would be peat moss or driftwood...Depending on your filter, you can load it with peat moss however it will definitely tint your water in the process.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

I just left mine alone. My water is between 8.2 and 8.4 in rapid and 8+ back home. My rhom and some south american cichlids don't seem to mind.

I think peat will drop pH, but it makes your water cloudy. Driftwood will some too, but a huge piece only seemed to drop my 125g around .2 at the most. (I'm sure that will vary from piece to piece though) I think someone said almond leaves will help it too. To my knowledge, anything with tannins in it will drop the pH, but they cloud water.

You could put in CO2 and a pH controler to drop it too. I have know idea how much that would cost or just how much you can drop a ph with it. Maybe one of the plant guys can chime in and fill us in on the missing info here.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

They don't cloud the water but they will tan the water to almost like a piss colour.

If you can add peat to your filter I would


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

You need to find out what your alkalinity is b/c if it is real high you will never be able to lower your ph permanently. At least untill the problem is addressed !


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Ba20 said:


> You need to find out what your alkalinity is b/c if it is real high you will never be able to lower your ph permanently. At least untill the problem is addressed !


Exactly...I had to sell a couple of p's so I could move my classroom p's to my house. The school pH had gradually changed to 8.4-8.6 out of the tap and the kH was off the charts. All other water parameters were perfect...nitrates were kept under 10ppm. My rhom had a tank full of driftwood and it did squat other than darken the water. My rhom and sanch started to look the worse for wear (graying of the head behind the eyes). I think that is the main reason I could never heal up a few of the HITH pits my rhom came with back in '06. He's been home less than 2 months and the craters are already starting to fill in. The only natural way to fix it is with RO/DI water, and then use RO/DI water adjusted to the proper pH with water changes. Captive bred reds though should be fine as they tend to be less sensitive than wild caught serras IME.


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## bigshawn (Dec 29, 2005)

I have this same problem my ph is 8.0 and I do have some ph down that we use to change the ph on water we use on plants but I worry about uesing on my fish maybe peat is the answer I don't know, I have Pirayas and the river they come from has high ph what do you guys think?


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## alexandar75 (Dec 18, 2007)

I live in the city where the water is different in each part of town!! Part of the city where I live now have water with ph almost 8.5...it drives me crazy. I will try to start with peat, and adding CO2 in the tank, I planned purchase of devices ro too. Thats the only way to stop ph madness. I think in that direction, and it was possible my advice to you.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

I have tried peat this last week and that only dropped it around 0.2-0.4. I guess its better than leaving it at 8.2+









Also does anyone know if using RO water in planted tanks would be a bad move? Seems like removing all the minerals and what not from the water would be working against yourself with plants.

EDIT: Actually forget the RO thing. Good reason to put CO2 on the tank and up the lighting!


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## alexandar75 (Dec 18, 2007)

Yup...removal of minerals from the water and adding clean water from ro device is not good for plants. Ro water obtained from the device must be mixed with water tap.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

you'll kill your fish if you dont add GH(minerals) and KH to RO water, trust me


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Not really a big deal. Personally I wouldn't mess with it. High and stable is better then causing rapid swings up and down by trying to mess with it.


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