What is ideal PH for Angel Fish?

[greenday04]

My dad had kept a fish tank ever since I was a little girl. There is currently an at least 4 foot long & 2 1/2 foot high tank at their house. My dad passed away in April and now my mom is left to take care of things. She took a PH reading tonight and it was yellow. Unfortunately she doesn't have the color chart that came w/the test. I know my aquarium Pharmaceuticals master kit indicates that a yellow reading is 6.0.

She has 2 angel fish, maybe some zebra somethings, my 7 yr old thinks about 13 or 14 fish in all (no neon tetras, i now that as they are my favorites). She had a plecastomas (spelling?) in there but this am he was dead. He was about 5 inches long and has been there for years. Old age?

Anyway she can't remember if angel fish like more alkaline or more acidic water. Does anyone know? I would think any fish would like neutral or at least a little more alkaline than acidic. But I am no expert!

Any help would be great!! I will probably take my master kit over tomorrow to test for everything as she only tests for PH and GH.
Thanks again guys!!

 

[Vitaliy]

That is a bit too low for Angelfish, they need Neutral pH (7.0).

 

[ArkyLady]

I'd definitely test it for her if you can. How often does she do water changes? That would be my first recommendation. If she hasn't done one in a long time and her pH really is only 6.0, it's possible the pH is crashing on her.

Test her tap water also. If there is a large difference between pH of the tap and tank or if you can't get the tests done to be sure, she should do a few small water changes (20% or so) over the next week to get things back on track.

Let us know what you find out

 

[Mako]

My condolensces(sp?) to you and your family. I lost my dad recently as well, it is a tough battle. He is missed, for sure.

I have to respectfully disagree with Vitaliy. Angels come from the Amazon river (at least, their wild ancestors did) where the pH is pretty acid, way lower than 6.0 at times. I've seen angels at 5.6 doing quite well. Serious angelfish keepers sometimes use peat moss in filter bags to acidify the water and stain it with tannins to replicate an amazonian bog. Angels flourish in that kind of setup.

The pH of 6.0 is fine for angelfish (though not all community fish like it). However, 6.0 doesn't just *happen*. I'd suspect an ammonia problem, which sometimes results in a lowered pH. If your mom wasn't used to caring for the fish, she may well (or even *likely* to be) way overfeeding them. Ask her to feed them one day as she normally does-- if any food reaches the bottom and isn't eaten within a minute or two by somebody, it could contribute to ammonia buildup. Make sure the filters are cleaned and the tank isn't loaded with fish.

If ammonia is the culprit, hit the water with an ammonia-neutralizing product like ammo-lock. It won't remove it, just detox it so the fish can breathe easier (literally). Clean the filters and tank and do a 30-50% water change the day after using the ammo-lock.

 

[greenday04]

Thanks Mako! I am going over to test her tank on Wednesday for all the elements as I know she (and my dad for that matter) didn't. We will get some figures and write back.

Just think our dads are in a much better place where the fish take care of themselves.

 

[qtaquaman]

Test the level of nitrate too(old tank). Ph of 6 is fine but make sure you haven't just gone off the colour chart. Your plec, if a common one should have gotton over a foot so it was not old age.

 

[Gunnie]

Angels come from acidic waters in the wild, but domesticated angels which were bred in a tank could come from a much higher ph and do just fine. I have 7 angels I got from a breeder friend and his ph is around 7.8. Mine is 7.6. I think a steady ph is more important than a specific number ph, and it is more important right now to determine whether the ph in the tank is close to the same at the tap. As long as the ph is stable, the angels should be fine. If it was my tank, I'd determine if there was a significant ph difference between the tank water and the tap, and if the tank ph was much lower, slowly bring it back up with small water changes.