Figure out my Ph

Hello everyone Im just starting my first aquarium, right now doing fishless cycling,
Im just confused with my ph using the api freswater test kit, it looks like in the normal range my ph is 7.6 and in the high range the ph is 7.4, so I donk know what is the correct ph, Thank you

 

It looks more like 8.0 to me. It's a pain trying to read them, mine is around the range between 7.4 and 7.6.

 

thanks for your answer, probably the picture is not good enough, but im sure that on the high range scale is 7.4

 

Have you tried laying the tubes down horizontally next to the color ranges? I find that helps me see and compare the colors better.

If you're unsure still, you could try re-testing to see if the results are different (if the first test was flawed at all). If anything, look for hues or color tones - if it's darker, go with the darker number. If it's lighter, go with lighter, more green instead of blue, etc...that's how I discern when I can't quite tell.

Right now, in a fishless cycle, the PH is not extremely important to take note of. At least, not down to the .2 - so long as you get a general idea of where your PH is on average and that is stays constant, that's the important part. You can assume your PH is between 7.6 and 8.0. A little on the higher side, but tolerable for most robust freshwater community fish.

Since you're mentioning you're just starting out and you're new on here, Welcome! and as a personal piece of advice about PH (I like to over-inform), if you need to change it (make it higher or lower) I (personally) dont recommend using liquid buffers, instead try natural methods - like peat/driftwood/tannins (to lower) or crushed coral/coral stone (to increase).

Additionally, researching GH/KH and alkalinity (related to KH) might [be confusing at first] help you understand the whole PH measure better.

I left my entire take on PH on this thread, if you're just getting started out and are unsure of some things about it still.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...-replacement-cycle-issue.463892/#post-4670252

 

Have you tried laying the tubes down horizontally next to the color ranges? I find that helps me see and compare the colors better.

If you're unsure still, you could try re-testing to see if the results are different (if the first test was flawed at all). If anything, look for hues or color tones - if it's darker, go with the darker number. If it's lighter, go with lighter, more green instead of blue, etc...that's how I discern when I can't quite tell.

Right now, in a fishless cycle, the PH is not extremely important to take note of. At least, not down to the .2 - so long as you get a general idea of where your PH is on average and that is stays constant, that's the important part. You can assume your PH is between 7.6 and 8.0. A little on the higher side, but tolerable for most robust freshwater community fish.

Since you're mentioning you're just starting out and you're new on here, Welcome! and as a personal piece of advice about PH (I like to over-inform), if you need to change it (make it higher or lower) I (personally) dont recommend using liquid buffers, instead try natural methods - like peat/driftwood/tannins (to lower) or crushed coral/coral stone (to increase).

Additionally, researching GH/KH and alkalinity (related to KH) might [be confusing at first] help you understand the whole PH measure better.

I left my entire take on PH on this thread, if you're just getting started out and are unsure of some things about it still.
Filter Replacement Cycle Issue Help - | 463892 | Filters and Filtration

thank you for your answer, let me explain my situation, I have 16 days doing fishless cycling the ph was stable 8.0 from my tap water, my ammonia wasnt dropping 2pmm since the beggining I had .25ppm nitrites so I went to my lfs and they told me that the water in our town is hard with a lot of heavy minerals, so they recommend me to do a 50% water change with RO Water So I did it 2 days ago, and thats why im pretty sure that the ph is now lower than 8.0, for me match exactly the color of 7.4 hr but i dont know why on the normal range is 7.6, btw its a 45g tank,

thank you so much.

 

i literally made a post like this yesterday and got a low 7.6 result and a high 74 result and i still dont understand the test results :0

edit: maybe i was reading the results wrong. i was viewing the color through light above the card. but when i press it against the white part of the card the color gets darker. am i supposed to press it?

sorry op i didnt mean to hijack . thats my only related question

 

For a time I had the same issue trying to figure out my ph by testing with the low and high tests. I got tried of worrying about it and called it a 7.6 My Kh is 7 and Gh is 7. So my water is not really soft or really hard, so I feel the 7.6 to be the right ph.

 

Here is another picture of my tests

 

Mmmhmm, this is why I mentioned the GH/KH thing...as Utar mentions, that'll give you a better idea of why the PH is testing where it's testing.

I would agree with you that the RO water has diluted some of the minerals. (GOOD for them that they didn't try and sell you some PH down, thank goodness...trust your LFS :] they seem reputable already.)

The difference is .2, I really wouldn't worry too much about it. I would keep an eye on the PH for the next few days to see what happens with it. If it drops (if you lowered your KH) or if it stays steady.

Best bet, I think, would be that it stays steady. Considering your water is hard, you may want to consider this in the future as you're doing water changes. Perhaps a 50% change of your tank water with 25% replacement being tap water and 25% replacement being R/O water (or a similar ratio) would be better than only using one or the other in the future (so as to not continue to regularly increase or decrease your PH).

It almost does look like it's testing possibly at 7.8. Bring the tube down a bit more so you can compare it to the other oranges. you might see a pink/purpley tint in there. Look for small nuances in the color change. I can't quite tell if its 7.4 or 7.8 though.

You could use that method again if you wanted to decrease the PH further, but I would also recommend purchasing a KH test kit. To make sure you don't lose to much KH, causing your PH to decrease on its own.

 

Best bet, I think, would be that it stays steady. Considering your water is hard, you may want to consider this in the future as you're doing water changes. Perhaps a 50% change of your tank water with 25% replacement being tap water and 25% replacement being R/O water (or a similar ratio) would be better than only using one or the other in the future (so as to not continue to regularly increase or decrease your PH).

thank you for your help.
Definitely thats what im going to do from now on.
I already purchased the gh and kh test kit but they are in the po/box in the US and I have a flight there until next week probably.

one more picture

 

Hmm, thats still hard to tell, the color isn't as opac as I'd like it to be. But, I would probably go with the 7.4 number. So, between 7.4 and 7.6 for now I'd say. Maybe closer to 7.6-7.8, but, I'd just worry about if it changes in the near future. .

 

To be perfectly honest I don't see a problem with your pH. It is better to work with what you have instead of going down the rabbit hole and trying to get perfect numbers by using water from 2 different sources. I would balk at having to buy RO water. Do you know if they re-mineralized the RO water?

As long as your pH is consistent in my humble opinion it is better to work with what you have instead of trying to get to a specific number. I am seeing 7.6 Having the ability to test both high and low pH has caused a lot of confusion for a lot of folks. The reason for the test kit containing both is because some folks do have a very high pH and need the high pH test. I don't see the need in your case to use that test.

 

Here is another picture of my testsView attachment 713235

I see 7.6 or 7.8

 

While I don't believe it's necessary in your case, I use a PH tester for precise measurements. Fyi, it was purchased to test my hot tub, but works for my 4 tanks.
Costs about $30. (Canadian$).

 

To be perfectly honest I don't see a problem with your pH. It is better to work with what you have instead of going down the rabbit hole and trying to get perfect numbers by using water from 2 different sources. I would balk at having to buy RO water. Do you know if they re-mineralized the RO water?

As long as your pH is consistent in my humble opinion it is better to work with what you have instead of trying to get to a specific number. I am seeing 7.6 Having the ability to test both high and low pH has caused a lot of confusion for a lot of folks. The reason for the test kit containing both is because some folks do have a very high pH and need the high pH test. I don't see the need in your case to use that test.

The R/O water that I used has no minerals.
But since my tap water is very mineralized I think is a good idea to use always 50%tap water and 50% R/O, am I wrong? or what do you think?

btw my tap water is always between 8.0 and 8.2 ph, I think is a little bit hight right?

 

The R/O water that I used has no minerals.
But since my tap water is very mineralized I think is a good idea to use always 50%tap water and 50% R/O, am I wrong? or what do you think?

btw my tap water is always between 8.0 and 8.2 ph, I think is a little bit hight right?

I have always felt it is best to work with what we have. If I had to buy water to supplement my tap water my fear would be the day would come when I had to do an emergency water change and couldn't get any of the supplemental water. If you are making your own that may never happen though. 8.0/8.2 is on the higher side but as long as you have fish that are comfortable with that number, it isn't too high.

My water is on the opposite end of the chart. It is very soft with very few minerals so instead of trying to dilute them I have to add them and I also have to stabilize my pH with crushed coral.

 

Hello again, I finally got the kh/gh test kit.
KH= 6
GH= 13
PH still the same on normal range 7.6 and on the high range 7.4

So what do you think?

Thank you all.