Lowering Ph For Wild Betta

[Platylover]

I’ve been looking into getting a wild betta hybrid, unfortunately the breeder says that they got the pair(that mine will be from) and doesn’t know the species that hybridinised. They are still beautiful and I’d like one, but not knowing the species does constrict me a bit. My ph is right around 7 and most wilds need around 6, so I’ve got to get it down. I will be using IAL, but would prefer another way to get the ph down as I feel like using this method alone could cause the ph to swing to much. I was considering just using bottled water as the tank will be no more than 10 gallon and likely 5g, but have never done so before so I’d like to hear some input on how to select the water/if it’s a good idea to begin with.
Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[DoubleDutch]

What exact is a wild betta hybrid ?

 

[Platylover]

It’s a hybridinisation between two compatible betta species. Like sometimes you’ll see b. Imbellis and b. Splendens hybridinised.

 

[OneLittleBubble]

I think they sell a product from ApI called PH down

 

[DoubleDutch]

OK but wild caught ?

It’s a hybridinisation between two compatible betta species. Like sometimes you’ll see b. Imbellis and b. Splendens hybridinised.

 

[Mazeus]

I add peat to my tank to bring the Ph down for my fish.

 

[Platylover]

Yeah, but I’ve heard that any chemical type things used to lower ph can be pretty dangerous. That’s why I’m serisouly considering the bottled water. Thanks for the idea though!

Dutch-
I’m not certain if the original pair was wild caught or not, I’d assume the pairs parents were though to be able to breed the two species together and make the hybrid. I can ask the seller, but I don’t believe their breeder will know whether or not they were since he doesn’t know the exact species. To me it looks like there may be some imbellis in them, but I will be contacting some Betta breeders and seeing if they have any idea the species hybridinised at some point.

Mazeus-
That’s an idea... I’ll have to look into that as I don’t want to get any of the wild grown pest as I’ve heard the process of getting it isn’t very good for the environment. Thank you!

 

[DoubleDutch]

That would be the way I'd do it. No chemicals (acids) that could cause big Ph-swings.

I add peat to my tank to bring the Ph down for my fish.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Hahaha just what I said about chemicals.

Okay but only asked cause you called it "wild" which I'd thought strange for a hybrid.
I understand !

Yeah, but I’ve heard that any chemical type things used to lower ph can be pretty dangerous. That’s why I’m serisouly considering the bottled water. Thanks for the idea though!

Dutch-
I’m not certain if the original pair was wild caught or not, I’d assume the pairs parents were though to be able to breed the two species together and make the hybrid. I can ask the seller, but I don’t believe their breeder will know whether or not they were since he doesn’t know the exact species. To me it looks like there may be some imbellis in them, but I will be contacting some Betta breeders and seeing if they have any idea the species hybridinised at some point.

Mazeus-
That’s an idea... I’ll have to look into that as I don’t want to get any of the wild grown pest as I’ve heard the process of getting it isn’t very good for the environment. Thank you!

 

[Platylover]

Lol yeah, that would be strange if they just found some random hybrids in the waters. I mean it can happen, but not very often lol.
Ok so for the peat would I get soemthing like this?

 

[Mazeus]

This is what I use .

You'll also need some filter media bags or nylon tights would probably work as well.

 

[-Mak-]

You'll want to check your KH first, if it's really high you'll have a hard time bringing the ph down no matter what.

 

[Platylover]

Those look good, I’ll look into getting them.

Shoot... I didn’t really think about that. I do have that test somewhere around here. I’ll look for it and see if I can get the KH here soon.

 

[BobNJerry]

most natural way to lower your PH is to add Tanins to your water - alder cones, almond leaf, drift wood.

Betta's love their tanins!

 

[DoubleDutch]

The peat mentioned by Mazeus is perfrct stuff to do that to. Advantage is you v
can start with a small amount of peat in your filter and gradually lower Ph that way.

most natural way to lower your PH is to add Tanins to your water - alder cones, almond leaf, drift wood.

Betta's love their tanins!

 

[BobNJerry]

The peat mentioned by Mazeus is perfrct stuff to do that to. Advantage is you v
can start with a small amount of peat in your filter and gradually lower Ph that way.

Yes! so true.. I just recently learned the benefits of Peat moss.

 

[DoubleDutch]

I think that stuff is just peat and not peat moss hahaha.

Yes! so true.. I just recently learned the benefits of Peat moss.

 

[BobNJerry]

I think that stuff is just peat and not peat moss hahaha.

ROFL!!!! haha! what a ding dong. Yes... PEAT .. not peat moss.. two totally different things.

 

[DutchAquarium]

Don't bother lowering Ph, this is when it can get dangerous. Just keep the Ph stable. I've kept wild bettas and discus for years in high Ph water and they've been fine. Only when levels vary can it get dangerous.

 

[Platylover]

Ok, so surprise surprise I couldn’t find the kh/gh kit, but I did test my ph in another tank that has IAL and driftwood in it and the ph is closer to 6.6, so I think that my ph can be lowered easily enough. Hopefully I can still get my exact KH... but that isn’t very likely to happen to be honest.

DutchAq-
What type did you keep if you don’t mind me asking? I thought that keeping fish in to high of a ph could shorten their lifespan? I’d love to be able to just use IAL but really want to make sure that keeping you them in a ph less adcidic than normal would be healthy as I don’t think IAL alone will be able to lower it that much, or at least at the increments I’m able to use.
The levels shouldn’t be changing to much though as I should have the ph where I want it by the time he gets here(towards the end of the month) and at that point I think I’d just need to primarily keep the same amount of ph reducing things in it.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[DoubleDutch]

Why is that your conclusion. The current Ph doesn't really tell something about the possibility to lower it to me.
Is 6,6 not low enough BTW ?

Ok, so surprise surprise I couldn’t find the kh/gh kit, but I did test my ph in another tank that has IAL and driftwood in it and the ph is closer to 6.6, so I think that my ph can be lowered easily enough. Hopefully I can still get my exact KH... but that isn’t very likely to happen to be honest.

DutchAq-
What type did you keep if you don’t mind me asking? I thought that keeping fish in to high of a ph could shorten their lifespan? I’d love to be able to just use IAL but really want to make sure that keeping you them in a ph less adcidic than normal would be healthy as I don’t think IAL alone will be able to lower it that much, or at least at the increments I’m able to use.
The levels shouldn’t be changing to much though as I should have the ph where I want it by the time he gets here(towards the end of the month) and at that point I think I’d just need to primarily keep the same amount of ph reducing things in it.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Platylover]

Why is that your conclusulion. The current Ph doesn't really tell something about the possibility to lower it to me.
Is 6,6 not low enough BTW ?

Perhaps I’m wrong, as I am in a good bit of things, but in the original tank I took the ph from(7) there was no IAL and just a few small pieces of driftwood, so not to many things added that could lower it. If that makes sense. In the second tank I tried was with the IAL as well as driftwood that could/should lower it and it was a good bit lower. If that makes any sense. Like I said I very well may be wrong but that’s just kind of what I thought it meant.
6.6 is still a bit to high for what I want. I really would like for it to be right at 6 or slightly under.

 

[sfsamm]

Why not find out what parameters they breeder is keeping them first and matching that so you have a precise target?
Otherwise yes distilled, RODI are your best starting point and using peat or tannins is your best bet. You can get "tannins in a bottle" that allow you to add a drop at a time to help manage.
If you are looking to keep the pH stable I'd recommend looking into buffering substrates that are frequently used to caridina shrimp. There are varying capacities and they do a phenomenal job at maintaining your pH under 7 at a consistent level so that there are no swings.

The thing with RODI or distilled is that it has zero minerals in it and fish need minerals so you will want to look into a gH booster (no kH) for the health of the fish.

Having the exact parameters would be extremely beneficial to you in this case.. If your making water custom special to this fish it would be most sensible to match the water of your breeder. (pH, kH and gH) TDS would be of slightly less concern as that can vary even between water changes from detritus, ferts, additives, etc.

Don't use liquid additives such as pH down, bad juju in my opinion.

 

[DutchAquarium]

I've kept albimarginata, macrostoma, imbellis, gladiator, smargadina, and brownorum. My tap water comes out at about 7.6 and i've seen no relation to a shorter life span in bettas. When I did start keeping and breeding these wild bettas, I did lower my ph so I have experience with both a high and low Ph. However, i've found that it causes extra problems trying to adjust ph levels than just letting them be.

 

[Platylover]

Thanks everyone, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get the betta this time around for various reasons unfortunately. I was actually considering asking about the ph so I’ll do that when I can actually get one. I’ll also look into those buffering substrates and get another KH/gh kit. You’ve been extremely helpful sfamm, thank you so much!

DutchAq, interesting. Albimarginita and macrostama were actually both that I was interested in getting. I’ll keep your experience in mind, thank you!