High ph

[bilwith1l]

My Ph level is around 8.4 in the tank, and my tap water is about 7.2. I have 2 pieces of slate I bought from Petco, a piece of bamboo, fake plants, and a fake log. Play sand is on the bottom with colored gravel on top. What could be causing the rise in Ph, and what would be the best way to lower it?

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[hungvanvo]

The slate rock raise the PH. Just take the rock out and do 50% water change and it bring down the PH. If you need PH low quick just go Petco by the buff for low PH. hope it help.

[morpheus]

i personally never had problems with slate elevating pH. all the items listed i think are inert. can always check by setting aside a bucket of water, take a pH reading, and submerge the item in it and see if over time the pH rises

why are you trying to lower it? are you trying to house certain species that require lower pH to thrive? what fish are in there?

IMO it is more important to have a stable pH than a "perfect" pH. many fish are adaptable to higher pH ranges, and as long as there are no wild swings, will do fine. siome species though need lower pH

what is your water hardness reading (KH/GH)? it will definitely impact how to lower the pH if that is what you want. If you have very hard water, it will resist pH change and no matter how much "pH down" or whatever chemicals are out there will have a temporary effect and be dangerous to the fish. the pH will just go back to its stasis level. i dont recommend chemicals anyway for pH.

you would need to soften the water first (if the hardness is high) so the pH will actually move and stay there. methods such as adding pete moss to the filter is one option to soften water

[bilwith1l]

Right now I have a pleco, tetras, and ghost catfish. I don't have any test for hardness. Water is hard though guessing from the scale buildup in the sinks and tub.

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[bilwith1l]

I think it may be sandstoneuploadfromtaptalk1392151213033.jpg

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[morpheus]

that is definitely not slate. slate is generally flat and solid grey. sandstone or other sedimentary rocks do generally have some sort of binding agent to keep the rock together, so they dont crumble over time...if limestone is used in the rock, or another carbonate emitting stone, then that is a reason why pH is rising

i live in NW houston and my KH is around 6-7 out of the tap. i have cichlids though and do use limestone to buffer the pH up a little more.

you can buy a hardness test kit at petco, petsmart, etc...generally is separate from master kits. most common methods to soften water to lower pH are driftwood and peat moss. some use RO systems.

[mnemenoi]

I have seen tap water Ph raise over time. Try pulling a 5 gallon bucket and allow it to sit for 2-3 days and test it again. My guess is that there are factors (carbon dioxide and trapped gases) that are giving you a different reading freshly out of the tap and after it is given time to off gas the components and the minerals buffer up the water again. The hardness/minerals are still there, but the gas is no longer artificially buffering it lower. Its my personal opinion that rock/limestone takes awhile and highly acidic water to show any strong buffering ability and with your parameters would not account for that shift. I'd bet the water is just bouncing back to its true Ph after a bit of releasing its gases held under pressure. Let us know what you get, I'm intrigued to hear the results

[morpheus]

forgot to mention my pH out of the tap reads 8.0...so if you are NW houston like me, we may have similar water params and the above explanation of pH settle after the tap is a possibility

[bilwith1l]

Yeah I live off of Jones and 290.

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[bilwith1l]

I'll try letting the water sit and test it over the next few days then.

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[troy tucker]

I agree with Roy. It's not the rocks reasing the PH. It's out gassing of the water. We have a high PH but even with all my SA fishb I have no need to soften my water. Peat bog, almond lives, and driftwood can help but give you new probbums. RO/ID is the best way to soften water.

[troy tucker]

and slate comes in more then one color.

[bilwith1l]

I know ro is reverse osmosis, but is ID distilled water?

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[mnemenoi]

I think its just a bit of fast typing (I have it happen often, note all mnemenoi's edited posts lol) RO/DI Reverse Osmosis Deionization. Pure water with 0ppm TDS. This is essentially what distilled water at the stores are.

[bilwith1l]

I think they will have to get used to higher ph.

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