I Need To Know What Ph Is

I have been worried about this for a while and is the thing that really makes me feel weird and that is ph and hear is what people say.
1. Constant ph is good
2. You need to have the correct ph for your tank
3. ph doesn't matter
4. cichlid ph should be at 8.2
I don't get this because multiple people have said to me that cichlids need a ph of 7 to live well but my tank is 8.5 and is constant I really need help I don't get any of this and why I have issues? Any help will be appreciated.

 

What type of cichlids? African vs American have vastly diff prefs.

 

what are they, I'm pretty sure they meant american

 

It’s a little more complicated than the options. A constant ph is the most important thing when the ph is within the range of 6-8.5, anything outside of this range can be stressful for the majority of tropical fish. If you’re trying to breed you often won’t be able to if the PH is outside of the optimal PH range. If you want to create the most natural environment for them then you can add either driftwood to the tank or catappa leaves added to the filter. These will release tannins that will naturally lower the ph of the water but it will also the discolor the water a tea color.

 

I have a rock that people say that will make my ph go up should I remove it and I will be getting some moss that will slowly bring my ph down and stabilize it.

 

If your tap water ph is in the proper range if you just take the water out and do a few mid sized water changes it should go down, that’s assuming your tap water is in the normal 7.0-7.6 range that a lot of tap water is.

 

my tap ph is 7.5

 

Then that will put it in the acceptable range for most south and Central American cichlids usually it’s around 6.8-7.6 for those ones on average. So just take out the rock and do water changes every day or every other day and the ph will get right around the correct range.

 

SA/CA can go down below 6.

 

SA/CA can go down below 6.

Thank you I didn’t realize that they could tolerate such acidic conditions. I know discus could but I didn’t know that most could.

 

so would it be good if I added moss to lower and maintain ph would I still need to remove my rock

 

Yep lol. Wild caught discus thrive in 4 apparently

 

if I can get permission to place a 55 gallon tank I would definitely buy discus their just so beautiful. How do you lower your ph and steady it

 

Yep lol. Wild caught discus thrive in 4 apparently

**** that’s the equivalent of some forms of acids. That’s why I’m not ready to care for discus yet, super sensitive and do best in low ph that I’m not experienced enough to control perfectly.

if I can get permission to place a 55 gallon tank I would definitely buy discus their just so beautiful. How do you lower your ph and steady it

Most people use either large amounts of diftwood or other tannin leaching material to create a blackwater(low ph) tank. The tannins and tap water will form an equilibrium and eventually reach a low point the more tannin leaching material you add the lower the point of equillibrium will be.

 

so even more driftwood and would rocks help

 

Rocks wouldn’t help lower the ph and some will actually raise the ph, can’t think of these off the top of my head, other will just be neutral and not affect the ph at all. But driftwood would help lower the ph lower than your tap water, but unless you are using purigen as a chemical filtration the water will be stained a tea color.

 

rocks will likely buffer the pH up.

 

ok ill remove mine
and see what happends

 

I'd be careful playing the chase the ph game, stable PH even at 8 is safer than changes regularly.. even a change of 1ph can be 10 times as much change on the fish. My water has always been high 7s to low 8s and never had problems with cichlids liks Oscar, jack dempsy, blue acara, blood parrot, angels etc.

If anything focus on good parameters of ammonia, Nitrite, nitrates, and if you go more advanced monitor your GH and KH. KH is a good buffer to prevent changes to PH so you don't get caught chasing the PH and all your fishes die and then you say 'what happened'.

nothing beats good research and a solid understanding, when in doubt search and educate yourself will always come out the best route.

 

how do I test gh and kh all my other parameters are fine just ph

 

Test strips that have GH and KH readings or a API GH/KH test kit

 

Just a warning: never EVER get test trips. They're a waste of money. I use API's liquid GH/KH tests and they work well.

 

thank you so get the liquid tests and more driftwood and remove rock sounds good or naw

 

I learned in science that different enzymes require different ph and temperture to operate fully and effectively and failing to this will result in fish disease and fish death do to their enzymes slowing them down and making them use more of their energy to operate which will slowly kill them so how do I lower ph

 

You want to be careful messing with Ph. As you get below 7.0 the ammonia in the water changes to ammonium and is harder for the first stage bacteria to convert to nitrite for the second stage bacteria. What is your Ph now?

 

8.2 I would just like it to go to 7.5 and I know changing the ph to quickly will also harm the fish even more

 

8.2 I would just like it to go to 7.5 and I know changing the ph to quickly will also harm the fish even more

Without chemicals peat moss would be the way to go.

But the best way is to make use of an RO/DI unit designed for aquarium use. I use this

 

I have sphagnum moss that's alive would that work

 

I use peat moss in my tank. I don’t know about sphagnum moss. Look it up on the internet it might work too!

 

where do you get peat moss

 

should I get the fluval peat moss granules

 

Adding driftwood lowers ph to an extent also

 

ya I have both going to see what happens