Hey everyone, I just moved down to Florida and Im setting my tank back up. Well, I want to keep SA Cichlids again but the pH here is very high. Currently in my tank, with peat moss/soil/whatever its called, the pH is at 7.6 but straight out of my tap its 8.6, now I know SA cichlid need the water acidic. But, how exactly am I going to go about doing water changes with 8.6 out of the tap? Florida water here just sucks haha. Any ideas?

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**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

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The simplest way to lower your ph is to make extensive water changes with Distilled Water. You are simulating rainfall. Talk to your Local Fish Shop and find out how they lower their ph.

Do nothing!!!!!!!!!!

High pH is caused by lower carbon dioxide.

so if you fish are fine do nothing.

But then I use plants and they suck out the co2. Which results in my planted tanks with peat moss having a pH of 8.4-8.8. Fish that "need" pH of 7 or less thive and live for years and years.


my .02

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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

Maybe so, but 2 things

one, I have no fish in my tank. Its still cycling, I only have a few shrimp to help move it along.

secondly, I had no issue with this in New York, I was able to keep my pH at 6.6 if not lower when I lived there. That was with both running a high performance filter and an aerator. So, that comment doesn't make a lot of sense.

just on the side about the peat, its not a plant, its a soil my friend gave me when he had his discus in order to lower the pH, it worked fine in NY.

__________________
**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

http://www.youtube.com/user/SeverumProductions
MY Youtube Channel.
Visit-View-Subscribe

the peat is not the plants but the substrate.

My point is not the precise pH value but how the pH got to that level.

In all my tank I have a very high pH level even though they (with the peat) start with pH values of 6.5 or so. Then in a few week as the plants suck out the co2 the ph rises to high levels.

In tanks where that doesn't happen then pH can stay low.

And it tanks where co2 is added low pH values happen also and tank problems can occur if the pH drops down too much.

my .02

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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

Where exactly in Florida do you live? The water treatment plants for South Fl are extremely precise with treating water and they don't let the pH go higher than 8.4. My tap water is actually 7 on the dot.

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I am in Winter Springs. Near Orlando.
I am using an API Master kit to test my water, I can post pictures of it if you would like.

I want to do angelfish, but not at the risk they arent going to live happy lives due to pH issues.

__________________
**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

http://www.youtube.com/user/SeverumProductions
MY Youtube Channel.
Visit-View-Subscribe

Hmm... I'm not surprised. When traveling up to your area, I never drink from the tap. Can you test if there is ammonia in your tap?

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Try doing this.....take a sample of water and test it.....then take some water and set it aside and test it 24hrs later. See if the value is different. Given a chance, water can change over a little bit of time. This would be just to see if your water does this.

If this ph level bothers you a little you could always add in RO water during your water changes. This is probably one of the safest methods but can be costly, depending on how you go about doing. Not saying you need to, but if you wanted to go about it safely there should be minimal risk.

IMO
if you want lower ph you can either wait it out, purchase/make a CO2 system,or buy chemicals to change the Ph. that was in order of what i suggest highest to least.

I set aside the water for 24 hours, no change in pH

Ammonia is at 0 in the tap

Yesterdays water change killed 3 of 4 shrimp in my tank. Water was treated with stress coat before being added like always, temp was matched to the best of my ability.

Something clearly isnt right here. Theres something in the water.

RO is out of the question. I do not have the money for that.

What about a Brita filter, to filter out the crap in the water?

__________________
**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

http://www.youtube.com/user/SeverumProductions
MY Youtube Channel.
Visit-View-Subscribe

Fish can usually do fine in any pH if you acclimate them properly. Drip acclimation will help them get used to a different pH over a longer time period than just adding water to a bag then putting fish in the tank. I've got Cardinal Tetras in water with a pH of 7.6-8.2 (hard to tell - I have the high and low pH tests... and they kinda read somewhere in between.)

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

I think you should do Jrman's test.

If it stays the same, you can buy a bottle of those pH changers and do the same test, just this time with the pH changer and see if it stays at a low pH. I'm guessing it's not going to stay low and it's just going to rise back up and it's better to have fish at a stable pH than a changing pH.

So, you will probably have to test drip acclimation like Holly suggested. There's a sticky thread on how to do it.

You can try with the Brita if you feel it's necessary. I think it will remove minerals tap water has which is beneficial to most plants, but it might remove whatever mineral is causing the water pH to be so high. I would buy it anyways since I don't consider the water in your area trustworthy... <.<

Just curious, have you tested the water from different sources in your home? Like the shower, bathroom sink... kitchen sink etc... Most faucets have their own tiny filter that just removes the heaviest minerals, maybe your water source could be missing that.

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@ pigeonfish, Yeah I left two one gallon jugs of water on the counter for 24+ hours, tested the pH with no change.

Ive only tested it in the kitchen, Ill test it in the other rooms and see if it changes. ---- TESTED: All the same.

I always drip acclimate my fish, Ive noticed a huge increase in survival rates when I started doing it.

I would also like to have plecos, who most need driftwood, would that help lower it? They need low pH do they not?

@ NeonShark666, I talked to the guy at the LFS yesterday, he says the pH in the store is between 7.6 and 8, however, he did not give me a reason to why it was that low and how they maintain it. It was also in a different city about 10 miles away, I am sure a lot could change in that wide of space.

He was telling me for his SAC tanks he treats the water with pH down before adding it to the tank. I guess I could do that.

I still want to know what the heck is in my water. Its got a sulfury smell to it so I know something in there is no good. I don't drink the water. Cant keep my nose to the glass. Its disgusting.

If I were to go down the road of using bottled water, I heard distilled is no good, which would I use? Spring or the mineral enhanced one or whatever its called?

I would like to figure out something. Tank is empty and boring lol

__________________
**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

http://www.youtube.com/user/SeverumProductions
MY Youtube Channel.
Visit-View-Subscribe

If your tap water smells like sulfur, it could mean you have sewage leaking into your water. I have a feeling this could be raising your pH, whether its actually sulfur or an ionized form ammonia that you can't detect with the regular ammonia tests. You should call the water company that supplies water to your house and see what solutions they offer.

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Well heres the thing, it smells like that here in Winter Springs, smells like that out in Oviedo, 10 miles away, and also smells the same out in Clearwater, 120 miles away. I think its Florida water to be honest with you.

__________________
**TheNewSeverum**
=29 Gallon Tank=
1- Striped Pike
1- L-52
1- Clown Pleco
1- Salvini
- Aquaclear 110

=20 Gallon Long Tank=
1- Blood Red Cornsnake

http://www.youtube.com/user/SeverumProductions
MY Youtube Channel.
Visit-View-Subscribe