High pH - to lower or not to lower

Hey everyone! I was wondering if I could get some opinions on lowering the pH of my tank. I've got a 29g, its been running for about two months now, lightly planted, no drift wood and is currently stocked with some kribensis fry and guppies (I'm stocking it very slowly, I'd like to eventually add a couple bn plecos and maybe a school of tetras.)

Now, to the root of my question. The pH of the tank is pretty consistently at around 8.2, tested with the API freshwater master kit. I thought maybe at first it was from the rocks I added, but upon testing the tap water after it sat and aerated for 2 days, it turns out that the tap water just runs at about that level. I know that a constant pH is better than a fluctuating pH, but 8.2 just seems very high? I'm going to see about adding some driftwood and a DIY CO2 system for the plants, which should lower it some, but would it be worth it to look into more drastic measures of lowering the pH (RO water, peat, etc.)?

EDIT: Well, it occurs to me that this should have gone in the pH sub-thread. I apologize.

 

I would start by adding the driftwood. Not for the purpose of lowering the pH but because your future BN's are going to need it in their diet. Then you can see how much it affects your pH and go from there

 

Welcome to Fishlore

Most fish can adapt to a wide range of pH values. Mine sits between 8.0-8.2 as well and my fish are fine. I agree that you'll want the wood in there for your pleco but I wouldn't purposely try to get it any lower. By the way, I think two bn plecos in this tank size is pushing it.

 

I keep angelfish, and have had them breed and raised their fry at a pH of 8.0. I've also had neon tetras, but they slowly died off. BN plecos have been fine in my experience. I don't know anything about kribensis but the other fish you mentioned should do fine with your pH if you acclimate them properly. Livebearers like a slightly alkaline pH. I think tetras have different pH optima depending on the variety. I don't bother to change my pH because it is expensive and I don't want to mess with things. However, I must say that I feel a slightly lower pH may be a little beneficial, and I've considered trying to use some RO water to test (actually I'm not sure mixing RO water with tap water would change the pH but it would reduce the harness that usually accompanies high pH, and I think this is actually what bothers soft-water fish).

For plants, crypts and jungle Val would do great in your pH range! Even some swords should adapt. You may not be able to get some fussy species to be happy though.

 

Awesome, thank you guys very much, I'm glad to be getting into the hobby! Definitely gonna see if I can get my hands on some driftwood and just leave the rest alone haha. But yes, I have been a little hesitant about a pair of BN in this tank, but the guys at my LFS seemed to think it was enough. I'll play it by ear and see how everything goes I guess!

 

You might want to invest in a KH/GH test. If your KH is low then anything you add that alters the pH could result in instability.

 

Welcome to fishlore!
I agree, a high pH is fine.

 

I have struggled with this decision for months and each time I read about it I give up and decide that constant is better than trying to lower and keep that constant. However, I recently decided to work RO into my water changes slowly (I do pretty small WC anyhow), so it won't be a drastic change. I don't want to get into additives, but I feel I can control the numbers better if I'm just working with water volume ratios. I'm not sure how well this will work.

It's apparently not working with my QT tank. I set up my QT tank with RO water at a 1:6:2 ratio with existing tank water and fresh tap, respectively. After a few days I noticed my new fish had lost some color so I tested the water. The QT tank pH was sky high (think 8.4+), much higher than my tap (7.8) or other tanks (8.0), and I have NO idea why. I was told the pH of RO water should be 6.9-7.0 but when I tested the RO water alone it was 7.4. I'm going to have to clean the test tubes and double check everything before I can put too much stock into this plan to lower the pH. Obviously something isn't going as planned.

I do think driftwood helps a little, but it's negligible. Mine went from steady 8.0/8.2 to 7.8/8.0.