midnightwolf

my pH is at 7.6, is that too high for guppies because to day i found one of my raised 6 stuck to the filter dead so i was wondering if high PH can cause deth. if its too high i could put in PH down but i already tried that and it didnt make a difference, do i need to take out my carbon? please help me i have faised my now 5 guppies since they were born and i love them very much.

agabr123

IMO it's not too high, but if you want it closer to neutral the best thing to do is add some driftwood, that will lower it slowly enough that the fish can acclimate and naturally

midnightwolf

can it be a store bought driftwood? and will it keep the PH down even when i add new water during WCs?

agabr123

nope, driftwood lowers and it can be store bought as long as it's real driftwood (they have fake ) and yes it will continue to keep the pH down even during water changes

midnightwolf

ok thats great and i know this is off topic but i buy carbon and replace the old when needed, does this creat a minicycle and if so how can i prevent this? i know that i should know this but i never fully understood the filter thing, sorry for the stupid question...

agabr123

nope, as long as you are not replacing the actual filter floss (the part that's kind of like mesh) or sponge (....the sponge, lol) then you won't send yourself into a mini-cycle

midnightwolf

well i use this mesh like bag and replace the carbon so as long as i dont wash the bag all should be fine?

agabr123

yep you just need to rinse the bag every so often in used tank water when you do water changes and all will be well

midnightwolf

thank you soo much i feel so much better knowing i didnt kill my poor guppy, she didnt even have a name yet... thanks again

agabr123

you're welcome

i'm sorry you lost your guppy

midnightwolf

thanks, i hope her 5 sisters dont miss her. i guess i need to get them another friend since theyre schooling fish.

agabr123

they should be okay with five, i have three in my 10 gallon and they're getting on great

ray_sj

I have my guppies in hard water with pH of 8.0, and they're fine. As far as I know, having a stable pH is more important. Most fish can adapt to different pH levels.

pinkfloydpuffer

My tapwater has a ph of 7.8, and my guppies are just fine

midnightwolf

thanks for all the reasurance, i still dont know how she could of died though... i turned down my filter just in case. i still think ill get another i dont want one of them to be left out or picked on.

cerianthus

Try to get different guppies from local breeder, thru local clubs. Massively bred fish from farms are known to just waste away or even cause problem to existing guppies. I always find the broods from local breeders to be stronger and more gentically specific (Pastel, Snakeskin, Half Black, etc).

grump

Hi there you are fine with a ph of 7.6 thats were my ph is and my guppys are doing great... With the carbon you can change that too with out worrying about a cycle crash or mini cycle I change mine every month... You should just sinse it in some tank water first while doing a WC I do that and allways have on both my filters one every 2 weeks and never had a problom...Hope this helps Rob

midnightwolf

i always have mine on too except for when i acidentially turned it off but only for a few secs.

matt11390

I don't think by anything you have described that it was you that caused the guppy death. Sometimes fish just die. They can have health problems, heart attacks, etc just like us people. You may have a strong and healthy fish out of that same group that lives for a very long time. Take solice that you are taking good care of them but some things are out of your control.

midnightwolf

thanks, i guess i never thought of that. i just didnt see any signes but she could of just had a heart attack or somthing...