pH too high?

[UGAfan2001]

okay, so i was checking my water tonight, and as i did the pH test, i have a low pH, and a high pH test, i did the low first, it immediately jumped to 7.6+, i decided to do the high pH test after that, well never doing it before i thought maybe my pH was like 7.7 maybe judging by the low test, well i took no time and it was like 8-8.5. now i dont have fish in yet but im wanting kribs,
is this gonna work? could the fact that i filled 90% of the tank with the water hose from outside? i have a couple pieces of driftwood in there from before and one piece is pretty much sunk, and the other is hopefully on its way. doesnt driftwood lower pH? i dont really want to add peat for the fact i dont want to shoot for a yellowish color. my substrate is play sand and i cleaned it really good before adding it in, could this be a factor? HELP ME OUT!! i want kribs and i hope this will work out.

Brad

 

[Orion]

Don't mess with a good thing. I would love to have water with a ph around 8.5. But of course I keep fish from the rift lakes too so..

What is the pH out of the tap inside the house? I don't think that using a water hose is going to cause a big difference in the pH. I have heard of several people who made a DIY Python using water hose with no problems before. Can you also post your KH and GH resuts.

Driftwood can lower pH, but it really depends on the KH of the water. The higher the KH is, the less likley driftwood is going to lower the pH. And the playsand we can rule out. I use it in several tanks and it has never affected the water like that.

I forgot the size tank this was Brad. 29 gallons? Sounds like you water may be great for some rift lake species from Tanganyika. Most of the shellies will breed very easily like the multies, brevis and occies. And you could add a rock dweller like some of the smaller julies or a pair of Alto calvus or comps.

 

[UGAfan2001]

so will a pair of kribs work in this high pH? ive never kept cichlids from tanganyika before, are they difficult to find?

Brad

 

[Orion]

I'm sure it would work, but they would do better with a lower pH.

I have found that the difficulty in locating Tanganyikans depends on your LFS, and any local clubs you may have. In my area, I have only seen two species and one of these was a special order for me. I think they are quite rewarding and worth the money and effort to find them.