# High PH...



## karmatic1110 (Jun 25, 2006)

I began to notice my fish flashing right after a water change and checked my levels. It turned out that my PH out of the tap and in the tank is 7.8-8.0. Is this going to harm my fish, and why would they flash if the PH is consistent?

I am frankly getting rather frustrated as I feel like I am doing everything right (I researched taking care of piranha for the last few years prior to getting them) and everything is going wrong. If the daily testing and worrying about my fish continues for another few months, I think I am getting out of this hobby. It's supposed to be enjoyable, and all it's become is constant stress whenever I have to leave the house or view my fish looking stressed.

I have a feeling that my fish are going to die, and I won't be able to do anything about it. I am beyond pissed.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

The simpleist solution would be add some peat granules to the filter. Driftwood will lower the ph too a bit. A RO unit would be your best option long term if your serious about this hobby as you can dilut your current water to a lower ph


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## karmatic1110 (Jun 25, 2006)

I did a water test this morning and my PH went up to 8.4. I am at a loss. All I have in the tank is pool filter sand, a piece of driftwood, a plastic plant, and a small Amazon Sword. Literally all my fish have been doing the past few days is huddling around the driftwood and staying in place.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

karmatic1110 said:


> I did a water test this morning and my PH went up to 8.4. I am at a loss. All I have in the tank is pool filter sand, a piece of driftwood, a plastic plant, and a small Amazon Sword. Literally all my fish have been doing the past few days is huddling around the driftwood and staying in place.


 Like said, if your tap water is that high, it should be lowered before adding it or at least add some peat in the filter and just do water changes a bit at a time. 
Lastly liek i said in my first post, if your serious about this hobby get an RO unit as it will produce acidic water to lower the basic pH of your curretn tap water.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Post your water paramaters for GH (general hardness/softness) and kH (alkalinity/buffering capability).

Peat only lowers GH, not kH...if your kH is high, then you are stuck with high pH water unless you use RO/DI water...although you also shouldn't have crazy upward (or downward) pH swings. If your kH is low, then you get those swings.

My tap water at school stinks and all my classroom tanks are probably 8+ pH. I have no problems keeping my rhom and sanchezi there, as well as a tetra tank and SE Asia tank which all have fish that prefer lower pHs. They key is keeping it consistant. If you have RBPs, then I wouldn't worry too much...especially if they are captive bred. What you need to be concerned with is ammonia fluctuations because it is much more toxic in a higher pH tank (even low levels can be lethal).

As long as you can keep the pH at a stable level in your tank with minimal fluctuation from tap to tank (and after), then your fish should be fine.


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

sean-820 said:


> The simpleist solution would be add some peat granules to the filter. Driftwood will lower the ph too a bit. A RO unit would be your best option long term if your serious about this hobby as you can dilut your current water to a lower ph


you can also run co2. But thats moneyyyyy.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

ryanimpreza said:


> The simpleist solution would be add some peat granules to the filter. Driftwood will lower the ph too a bit. A RO unit would be your best option long term if your serious about this hobby as you can dilut your current water to a lower ph


you can also run co2. But thats moneyyyyy.
[/quote]

I If you had the lighting co2 could work then you could plant, but if you dont want to plant i would just go with ro water then yo can use it on multiple tanks.


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