No Wonder My Ph Is High!

I let a gallon of water sit for 24 hours with an air stone in it to get a true pH reading. 8.2! I feel so defeated right now. This is a well system, I have a water softener, filters, uv sterilization, fancy new water heater, the works. But the solution I'm finding online is an acid injection system. As you can imagine, that's super cheap! Ha!

At least now I know, but I'm feeling like its not even worth trying to keep an aquarium, let alone 2.

Anyone else deal with this?

I have read about lowering pH with peat moss and driftwood, but I can't imagine it's healthy to do that and then spike the pH with water changes.

 

I let a gallon of water sit for 24 hours with an air stone in it to get a true pH reading. 8.2! I feel so defeated right now. This is a well system, I have a water softener, filters, uv sterilization, fancy new water heater, the works. But the solution I'm finding online is an acid injection system. As you can imagine, that's super cheap! Ha!

At least now I know, but I'm feeling like its not even worth trying to keep an aquarium, let alone 2.

Anyone else deal with this?

I have read about lowering pH with peat moss and driftwood, but I can't imagine it's healthy to do that and then spike the pH with water changes.

My first question is do you need to lower the PH? Many fish will adapt to a higher PH as long as it is stable.

If you do need to lower the ph then driftwood, indian almond leaves and peat (not peat moss) can help. I use fluval peat Fluval Peat Granules | 500 g granuals in one of my tanks, not because I am particularly worried about PH, I am trying to bring down my GH and KH a bit to soften the water.

 

You just have to find the right kinds of fish that will like that pH

 

There is nothing wrong with having a pH of 8.2. All but the most sensitive fish can adapt to a pH between 6.0 and 8.4 or so. So I wouldn't worry about it, but if you were worried, think about keeping fish that prefer a higher pH.

 

A stable PH is much more important than a specific number. Most of the fish available to us will be alright with your PH level as long as you acclimate them to it.