Do not use API proper Ph with plants?

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FishPish

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May 31, 2010
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Mistakes i made on my new starter tank. I've had fish my whole life, but recently got back into it.

I was using API proper Ph with a couple anubis in the tank despite the fact the bottle says it neutralizes heavy metals which the plant may need. I read somewhere that the Anubis would be fine but the plant feed neutralization can't be good. The bottle also says not to use it with live plants, but the nana seem fine.

As an alternative and since some time has elapsed I figure I will go get the proper Ph up and a bottle of Ph down.

Will this be ok? I dont want to spend alot of time setting up moss and such.



-I also kept my mardel live meter too long and freaked out when I saw the green ph. I quickly dis affirmed this with a liquid test and assumed its two weeks were up lol
 
Do not use API proper Ph

That pretty much says it.

I had to learn this too...
Don't fight the ph, you won't win and neither will the fish. They typically will live in a somewhat wider range than the "ideal" ph. They'd rather be acclimated to it, even if not ideal, than you fooling with it up and down to try to get it perfect. Your plants will be happier too.

Instead, choose fish and plants that fish are compatible with your tap water. Many (most?) LFS just use dechlorinated tap water anyway, so your fish should be acclimated to it already.
 
I don't use any chemicals to change the Ph value of my water. It is what it is. The plants do soften it a bit but not to the extent of making it unsafe for fish. Weekly water changes help to maintain that level. I try to caution people against the use of trying to adjust the Ph based on original in-the-wild values. Many fish don't need wild values due to being tank bred and raised. The only time I would worry is if I had wild-caught fish.
 
The water is normally fine from around here as it comes from everglades national park water table. The only problem is it tends to spike sometimes to 8.0 levels which my barbs don't like. For the most part it is stable 7.0-7.2 and I like to keep Ph adjusters for emergencies. Any idea of a good commercial product?
 
I don't use any chemicals in my tank water at all. I age my water for a few days before a water change and have some on hand in case I should need to do some type of emergency water change. But my tanks are pretty stable.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Wes
 
wespastor said:
I don't use any chemicals in my tank water at all. I age my water for a few days before a water change and have some on hand in case I should need to do some type of emergency water change. But my tanks are pretty stable.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Wes
Click to expand...

This seems like something that is simple. Will the aging lower or raise Ph stats. The water is normally fine, but when it spikes to 8.0 what can I do?
 
Not sure why the water would spike to a higher pH, you would typically expect a lowering due to waste, nitrate accumulation and therefore a reduction in pH. Is your substrate causing a bounce up? Not really certain on the answer but something does not seen right. Does the water company do something to alter the pH?
 
It is a learning experiences that using chemicals you will not maintain a changed PH in water that is normally high or low. The only thing that will offset a waters naturally occurring PH is that tanks substrata which my be high in calcium or with PH neutral substrata like glass silica the use of driftwood, also as a tank gets older and there is more permanent accumulation of Bio in the sand, ornaments and filter, PH will tend to be lower. But all of these non-chemical methods much more gradual whereas with the use of chemicals its not so much the difference in PH as the rapid swing that can hurt.

While data on fish species like to point out ideal PH temperatures, what you buy locally that has been in stock for at least a week has already been acclimated. My 6" Gold Vail Angels for example used to suffer at my hands trying to maintain 6.5 PH for them and it was only after I gave up and let that water regulate itself to its constant 8.0 PH that they began to breed.
 
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