N00b question please. I have a new 15 gallon tank with 6 neon tetra and 2 glowfish. I just bought a phalert thing (the kind you stick to the inside glass and it gives you a reading) and it says my ph is 8.0. But I can't find anything that tells me what I'm supposed to DO about that. I know fish are sensitive to major fluctuations, so I'd want to bring it down slowly.

Do I need to change the water? (New tank - 4 days with fish, had water in for about a week before I put fish in.)

Thanks for any advice!

Chemically bringing down the pH is an option however that usually is the last option. You can always add stuff such as peat moss to your filter to bring it down a notch. And good ol' water changes can always help as well. But that won't help much if your source of water is also the source of higher pH.

In all honesty though you may not really have to do anything. While tetras may prefer a pH in the 6-7 range they certainly can survive higher. I would watch them for signs of stress and just keep an eye on things. Tetras can be nervous little guys, more so in smaller groups instead of a big school, but if they are showing good color and eating well then you'll probably be just fine.

But that's just my two cents!

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I like big fish tanks and I can not lie. You other brothers can't deny.

I wouldn't try to lower chemically. It is just unsafe for fish. I would suggest you get fish that do better in higher ph values and that would make it easier. That being said, I kept Cardina Tetras (very similar to Neons) in 8.2 water for a few months without any issue. The one thing that is important is that you slowly acclimate them through a dripping process for an extended period.

How are your Neons' colors? If healthy and the high ph isn't impacting them, they should be almost so bright they nearly glow in the dark. What is the ph at your fish source? The simplest way to low your ph is to make 20-30% water changes every week with distilled or deminerliazed water until your ph drops to the desired level. My experience with Neons is that clean water (low Nitrates) is much more important than ph.

Thanks! They are super glowy and seem very happy - smooth swimming, eager to eat twice a day. I'll keep an eye out but so far I think they are fine in the high ph. Ammonia is zero so that's good. I'm going to get a testing kit for nitrates/nitrites.

If the tank is planted a high pH is just a sign the plants are consuming the carbon dioxide. Nothing to worry about.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Update - my 2 glofish died when I did my first water change (3 gal for a 15 gal tank) :(

Tested all the levels:
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite - 2.0 ppm
Nitrate - 10.0 ppm
Ph - 7.8 (down from 8+)

I think it's the lower ph that killed them. The other levels seem to be fine considering it's only a few days into the nitrogen cycle. My ammonia meter says safe.

Do you agree...?

My neon tetras all seem fine. The glofish died within 10 minutes of the water change.

Hello maddie...

Unless you're a professional breeder of rare fish species, you don't need to worry about the pH, hardness or anything like this. Your pH is fine. Tropical fish are very tolerant of a variety of different water chemisty, as long as it stays the same and really prefer water that's more alkaline. A pH as high as 8.5 is very tolerable.

The best thing to do to maintain a stable tank is to remove and replace at least half the tank water every week with just pure, treated tap water.

I would discourage you from doing anything to try to change the natural pH of your tap water. As my friend Dave, who's been keeping fish since the
1960s puts it "The real truth of the matter is, the vast majority of aquarium fish will do fine in the vast majority of public water supplies.

Above everything else, have fun.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

This is not true.

Dagnammit - I wish I hadn't asked the PetSmart lady about the ph. I'm pretty sure it was her advice to use a ph-lowering thing that killed my fish. Should have listened to you guys... #headdesk