I have set up a five gallon planted tank which has been running on a fishless cycle for 2 weeks. Everything seems to be at the right levels, except the PH. I have a relatively constant PH of 8.2 to 8.4, and I know that that is way to high for most fish. My tank isn't big enough for most fish that can cope with high levels like that (like African Cichlids), so I'm kind of stuck at what to do. I have put in some driftwood which might lower it, but then the treated water that I add during water changes would cause a PH swing, as the tapwater is at 8.4. I really want to get a betta, any advice on what to do?
A captivity bred betta should be able to adapt to a wide range of pH. A wild caught betta, maybe not. My aquariums ph sometimes gets up to 8.2, everything's fine.
Get a ph testing kit with the bottles that contain the stuff to lower and raise the ph level of ur tank water. But usually betta fish will do fine in ph between 7 and 8. God my first betta i owned (when i was 10) lasted for 6 years. His name was Mr. Fishey.
I agree with aquatickeeper as long as your PH is stable it will be fine for your captive bred betta. Also please don't get PH down or anything like that, that will cause unstable PH which can kill fish. Really with PH the issues arise when the PH is not stable usually 6.0 or below. This means the PH may constantly change, and you may not be able to even cycle a tank with such a low PH. The other issues is with wild caught, or sensitive fish like Discus they usually need more of a specific PH. It's kind of why salt water tanks usually go for RODI water to get a specific ph for the sensitive salt water fish.
