# PH at 8.0



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

So my caribe has been acting really weird lately....since thursday...and i tested my ph for the first time in a while and its at 8.0...How the hell do i bring it back down?


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## SAFETYpin (Feb 1, 2004)

Dawgz said:


> So my caribe has been acting really weird lately....since thursday...and i tested my ph for the first time in a while and its at 8.0...How the hell do i bring it back down?


You first need to figure out why its so high. I would start by checking your tap water. Do you have any shells or unique decor? What is your substrate? If you remove the problem than it should come back down when you do water changes, provided it not your tap water.


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

Dawgz said:


> So my caribe has been acting really weird lately....since thursday...and i tested my ph for the first time in a while and its at 8.0...How the hell do i bring it back down?


The high pH can be due to bad substrate or very bad tap water, that is if you had not dosed baking soda lately.
I would start checking the pH of tap water. If that is consoderably lower, lets say 7.0-7.5, I would just so frequent water changes more.
Then you might try peat tabs or pellets, or a big driftwood.

Chemical cure means you would have to use acid buffers. There are a number of products for that purpose in lfs. They commonly contain hydrogen sulphates (HSO4-) (=bisulphates). Seachem acid buffer is just one of those stuff.

Harry


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

my tap water reads out 7.6ph...

as for substrate, i have "river rock" substrate that i baught from a pet store (petco) a while back, this substrate has been in this tank for over a year now...it said on the packaging that the substrate will not alter the PH. And i dont see how this could be effecting the water now after a year or more.

NOthing new in the tank accept 2 new plants i baught from SharkAquarium 2-3 days before this started to happen...but i highly doubt plants would do this? One plant has a Led band around it to keep it together, but that wouldnt do anything to the ph either rite?

I have two big driftwood pieces in there and they have been in there for over 8 months now too.

Heres somthing, when i do water changes i use the "wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner that buffers the ph to 7.0, removes ammonia and takes out chlorine and chloramines

Last nite when i checked the water, it was 8.0PH, i added 4 teaspoons of the conditioner (withought water change since my water params are 0 0 10)

then after an hour or so i tested the water it was reading at 7.8

then i woke up today and tested the water right away and it read 8.0ph agian...

damit

when i got home 30 mins ago i added 4 more teaspoons...


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## nswhite (Mar 23, 2005)

I know that some people are sucssessfull at keeping P's at 8.0 pH. Maybe it would be better to keeo them at 8.0pH than to add the buffer and lower it to 7.0. I say this because I know that a stable pH is better than one that flucuates.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

but my caribe has always had 7.4-7.6ish


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

also, he hasnt eaten since thursday, i threw in a silverside today, he didnt even touch it.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

anyone?


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

OK i just did an experiment...

i tested my tank water just now and its still at 8.0ph, i tested my tap water and its at around 7.6pH, then i remembered that i added a massive ammount of Aquarium salt to cure my caribe of first signs of ich 3-4 days before all this happened. I added close to 1 teaspoon per gallon to get rid of the ich. 1 teaspoon per gallon each day for 3 days.
The ich was gone by the second day.

so i retested my tap water and it was at 7.6 like i mentioned, then i added 3-4 salt crystals and shook the testtube up, and behold, the reading was at 8.0ph.

So now my big question is, even with the water changes i have been doing, why isnt the salt gone? is there anyway to remove the dissolved salt? I have never added this much salt in this tank ever.


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## RBPattack (Dec 31, 2006)

First, Aquarium Salt shouldn't effect your pH. Second, no matter how many salt you put into your tank, they will gone with your WC eventually.

For down your pH, you could use peat moss as filter media. It could also soften your water a little bit.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

I never heard of salt increasing pH at least not the 99.9 NACL that should be used. Anyways the increased pH explains the cause of the stress. Another note, ich don't disappear in 2 days. When you don't see it is when the critical point occurs and it is very important to maintain treatment for 7-14 days preferably 14 days. I would take a sample of your tank water to the lfs to confirm pH. Your 2 week treatment for ich without water changes should have lowered your pH actually. Another thing to look at is how much surface agitation you have. If you have alot it will dissipate c02 therefore raise your pH.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

i have a Aquaclear 70 on the tank that creates alot of bubbles in the tank, and basically aggitates the surface....i had a powerhead in there too which i removed two days ago.


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## nameless (Oct 17, 2006)

Remove the bubbling device. (Little surface agitation is enough for O2 development, more will increase Ph). And, maybe your stone after 1 year, began to spread some materials to increase Ph. In general, stones have an increasing effect on Ph. As already mentioned, you can use peat pellets to decrease and buffer the Ph, by regularly checking and measuring Ph. (do not use carbon while using peat pellets)
I don't think salt has an increasing effect on Ph.
Good Luck...


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