pepsi057

hi, my 10 gal tank has just finished cycling and I need to add some water, its getting low. when I first filled the tank I used bottled water with a pH of 6.2. I have bought more water from a different store and it has a ph of about 8.7. They are both very soft, If I put the new water in will it raise the ph of the whole tank? Could I put ph down in the water before adding it? I would like to keep the ph where it is ,so if I ever have an ammonia problem it will be ammonium and won't harm the fish.




Thanks,
Travis

Lucy

I'm not sure I can answer your question, but I'm curious as to why you're not using your tap water.

pepsi057

I use bottled water because I have well water and it is very hard water.

Brackish_zygote

Think of pH as if it were temperature (dont think of it like that for any situation, just this one). Adding hot water to ice water will warm the water. As such, adding a high pH solution to a low pH solution will raise the pH. There are other variables that need to be considered, too though. If your tank contains alot of buffers (wood, shells, etc.), you will need to add more higher pH water to your tank water to change the pH. Maybe next time you could use the same brand of bottled water?

I know this post was somewhat old, but I felt an answer could help others as well as the op.