How Do I Lower My Ph?

I have a 40 gallon cycled aquarium, I keep it very clean, do regular water changes ect, but this past week my Ph level has been a little on the high end and I can't figure out why. A few days ago I did a full, 100% water change and my pH is still at 8.2.
I have 2 logs in there, plus 2 moss balls, the tank is heavily filtered along with some air pumps. The rest of all my parameters are clear
Ammonia-0
Nitite-0
Nitrate-0
Alkalinity is at 80ppm
Water hardness is at 75ppm (not sure if that has to do with antthing...)
But my pH is at 8.2, and I just can't seem to get it down, or figure out why it's even up that high. Any ideas?
My tank is a 40 gallon, it contains 8 rasboras, 2 guppies, 1 betta, 5 cory cats, 1 pleco, 1 twig cat, and 1 half-banded eel.

 

What’s your tap water PH? Your fish will adapt fine to that.

 

I just tested a cup of water from my sink, it's at 7.8

 

HI NancyD,
Rather than "alkalinity" do you mean your general hardness (GH) or your carbonate hardness (KH) is is 80ppm? pH is the measure of acidity/alkalinity in your water.
If it's your KH, your tank pH may drop on it's own over time. Check the pH/KH of your source water (the water you do water changes with) to see if those measurements match the pH/KH of your tank just before your next water change. The KH is the measure of dissolved carbonates and bicarbonates in the water that help neutralize acids and stabilize pH. When your KH is high, your pH tends to be higher and more stable as well.
Your rasboras and eel prefer a lower pH but would probably be fine with 8.2.The Cory's though might do better with it even lower than 8. However, the rest of the fish should be fine with 8.2. I've read you can lower pH with Sphagnum peat moss added to your filter but I'm not an expert on tweaking pH down. I just get fish that like my source water like it is lol! I'm sure someone else will get on here with some ideas on that. In the mean time do the tests on your source water and your week-old tank water and see if your pH doesn't slightly 'self correct' after it's been in the tank awhile.

 

I meant the KH, sorry.
None of my fish seem stressed with it and I'm not having any problems but I do prefer to keep it lower than that.
Thank you for your input, I feel better about the situation now, I might try the peat moss thing if it doesn't go away soon.

 

The only safe reliable way to lower PH is with reverse Osmosis or distilled water,

 

Care to elaborate on that?

 

I have a 40 gallon cycled aquarium, I keep it very clean, do regular water changes ect, but this past week my Ph level has been a little on the high end and I can't figure out why. A few days ago I did a full, 100% water change and my pH is still at 8.2.
I have 2 logs in there, plus 2 moss balls, the tank is heavily filtered along with some air pumps. The rest of all my parameters are clear
Ammonia-0
Nitite-0
Nitrate-0
Alkalinity is at 80ppm
Water hardness is at 75ppm (not sure if that has to do with antthing...)
But my pH is at 8.2, and I just can't seem to get it down, or figure out why it's even up that high. Any ideas?
My tank is a 40 gallon, it contains 8 rasboras, 2 guppies, 1 betta, 5 cory cats, 1 pleco, 1 twig cat, and 1 half-banded eel.

Hello Nan...

The pH of your water isn't important as long as it stays constant. It's the same with the hardness and all the rest of the chemistry stuff. It's best for the fish if you don't try to get creative and try for a specific water chemistry. Fish you get at the local pet store are likely living in the same water you have in your tap. Most aquarium fish will be fine in water with a pH of 6 to 8.5. So, if you change at least half the water weekly, the chemistry will stay constant and your fish will stay healthy.

Old

 

Okay, that's awesome. You are all awsome, last time I had a question on my water parameters people started yelling at me and telling me that I had no business owning fish and ever since then I've been very paranoid with my water parameters, as if it were a serious issue for them to be off by .1ppm, but this actually helps.
So I'll keep doing my weekly water changes as usual and stick with a routine that these guys are used to and just keep a close eye on my pH in case it gets higher, but by the sound of things it looks like I'm still in the green zone

 

Okay, that's awesome. You are all awsome, last time I had a question on my water parameters people started yelling at me and telling me that I had no business owning fish and ever since then I've been very paranoid with my water parameters, as if it were a serious issue for them to be off by .1ppm, but this actually helps.
So I'll keep doing my weekly water changes as usual and stick with a routine that these guys are used to and just keep a close eye on my pH in case it gets higher, but by the sound of things it looks like I'm still in the green zone

I do hope the people yelling at you were not on this forum.

But for complete control of your water NickAu is correct. RO/DI is the way to go.
Depending on your needs it can be as simple as buying it from a store or building a system like mine. If you do go RO/DI or distilled water remember to remineralize it to prevent a pH crash.
I Finally Got Around To Doing A Writeup On My System.