PH problem

[boowoo]

Hello,

I have a 26 gallon tank with 17 fish in it (guaramies, neon tetras, glofish, catfish, otocinclus)

I want to add a few more neon tetras but my PH is high and when I put the new neons in, they'll die in a few days.

Water is cycled. 0 chlorine, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, little nitrate (in the safe zone), soft water, PH is high (8.2+).

I went to fish store and the sold me the Tetra 7.0 PH pills. They did nothing to the tank. Went back and they sold me the PH Down *#&$. That did nothing either. I was so pissed. It was suppose to be 2 drops of PH down per gallon of water. I had to use about 20 drops to get the PH down to 7.0 out of the tap water. Went back to the fish store and they tried to sell me another chemical to make PH neutral. I didn't trust them and didn't buy it.

My fish are not dying but I like to put more in the tank. I don't want to spend more money on buying worthless products that lowers the PH down then increase it right back up the next couple days.

I believe I did the homework. Read many different forumns and here are some suggestions I've received and results. I would like more opinions or recommendations on getting my PH neutral.

Automatic PH adjuster pills - Tried and made absolutely no change
PH Down - Tried by formula and absolutely no change. Had to increase formula by 10 times to get ph down. 20 drops per gallon instead of 2 drops
Decrease the air bubbles - Turned air stones from 4 down to 1 line. Still made no change. Liked the tank more when it had more bubbles
Baking soda - Didn't try. Don't trust this so much because very limitted information about this
Driftwood - Didn't try. Don't want to spend more until I hear more info

Thank you so much. Sorry it was long. I hope i gave enough information

Thank you

 

[KcMopar]

Your pH is fine, dont waste your time chasing it. What you need to do is acclimate you fish to your water for about 30-60 minutes. This link has info on acclimation: Acclimation Procedure for Aquatic Life: Welcoming Home New Arrivals . The problem is not your pH its the sudden shock of the difference in pH from the store to your tank water. pH stands for the Power of Hydrogen, and yes Hydrogen is very powerful. The difference between 8.0 and 8.1 is TEN times the difference!!!! Its scaled like Richter is for earthquakes. So imagine if the store has pH of 7.2 and yours is 8.2, thats 100 times the difference in Hydrogen!!!

 

[boowoo]

So I used the whole bottle of PH Down and decreased the PH down to 7.6. Then I put the 5 new neon tetras in. Then I added extra Stress Zymes in for them. For the next few days, I continued to use PH Down to decrease it but would be 7.8 then 8.0 then 8.1 then 8.2. The tank has been settled by itself at around 8.2 for the last week and all the fish have been fine. (Except 1 guarami but i think that's a different problem).

 

[OrangeCones]

Adjusting your pH with chemicals is very stressful to the fish and a temporary change. If you do not remove the buffering ability of the water, it's pH will ultimately return to what is 'normal' for the composition of the water.

Why do you feel the need to change the pH?

 

[boowoo]

I wanted to add new fish to the tank. Before what I did at the above replied, all new fish introduced to the tank dies within a few days. Acclimate the new fish to the water doesn't seem to help. The only way that helped for me was doing what I did. In my head that wasn't really safe but that's how they survived. They've been alive for a week now at the 8.2 PH level.

I would like to have the best environment possible for the fish and these fish are all neutral PH level eventhough they survive at high PH.

So I guess the next question is how do I remove the buffer? What do I use to remove it besides the RO unit because that can cost hundreds of dollars.

 

[KcMopar]

If the acclimation didn't work it was done to fast perhaps. Acclimation works, I do it all the time since I have set-up my 150G. I have been adding fish to it weekly or bi-weekly. The pH in my 150G is 8.4 and dkh is 12 and I acclimate for 45-60 minutes or until the pH and dkh match which can better then an hour. I have a small 25 watt heater I use in the acclimation container as well, its rated for a 3-5 gallon tank I think.
A good RO system can be bought on eBay for pretty cheap, I got mine for 159 dollars there but, Freshwater fish need minerals that are removed by the RO unit that need to be replenished to have health fish. pH does not kill fish, its the sudden rise or change in pH environment that kills the fish.
When I get fish I have the store put the fish in a HUGE bag so I have plenty of water to put in my acclimation container.

 

[boowoo]

Hmm I will try that next time. I will put a bit of tank water in every 5 minutes for two hours.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I looked into keeping pH different than my water is normally some years ago. As implied by others already it is sort of like pointing at something with a snake. Also as stated by others many fish will do fine if the pH is stable and not so well with pH swings.
I find it much more reasonable to keep fish that tolerate what my water happens to be.
As with all else in fish keeping, you can keep your tanks any way you wish. If you do fight the pH of your water and come up with a practical method, please keep us posted.
Wherever you buy fish it is possible that their water is going to be different than your tank water. Slowly introducing the new fish to your home water is a good habit to get into.
Good luck.