I have a new 55gal set up. No live plants, has river jack gravel, no other rocks. Aprox 2 days after I set up tank my fish started dying in my 30gal. I removed all fish from 30 and put in 55. Figured i would give it a shot being I had a prob with 30. It is 2 weeks later and all fish are still alive, but my 55 has remained a constant Ph of 7.6. I figure it must be my tap water. I do not want to use PH down because it is garbage, lasts for maybe 2 days and goes back up from past experience. All else is good on 55 except for PH, Biologically it shoul be ok being I have 2 bio filters on it and plenty of fish for 2 weeks. Is proper PH a reliable product or is it garbage also?
Proper PH
- Thread starter gmcpart
- Start date
pH is easy to increase naturally, but the safest and best way to lower pH is with RO water. However, in almost all cases, maintaining a stable pH/hardness will be your best bet. A pH of 7.6 is really good, and I wouldn't bother with it at all. Fish can easily adapt, plus there's far less work on your part. A pH is maintained by a buffer (the hardness), and no pH altering product can remove this buffer successfully. pH is inconsequential--hardness dictates the pH level, and hardness will influence fish health far more than pH will. I've stated it before, and I'll state is again: pH means nothing when it comes to keeping fish; it's an old idea that just won't go away.
I've written a bunch of stuff about pH and hardness over in the plant forum. You might drift over there and check it out (or search it). I think you'll find everything you ever wanted to know and then some. Besides, if you can create an environment for healthy plants, you can certainly keep healthy fish.
I've written a bunch of stuff about pH and hardness over in the plant forum. You might drift over there and check it out (or search it). I think you'll find everything you ever wanted to know and then some. Besides, if you can create an environment for healthy plants, you can certainly keep healthy fish.