ph tap water lower than tanks.

Flyfisher · #1 7th November 2009, 02:22 PM

i just tested my tap water out of interest and its a definite 7.5 my tank is 8 and my daughters little tank with only gravel and a few plastic plants is 8 too. Im puzzled. Any ideas?

paulacg · #2 7th November 2009, 02:29 PM

Take out some of the gravel and put it in vinegar - if it fizzes it contains limestone and is the cause. Whether this is a problem or not depends upon the fish you are keeping and the pH they tolerate.

Paula

smileyshaz · #3 8th November 2009, 08:44 AM

Hi, did you leave your tap water for 24 hours before testing? I seem to remember reading that water companies often put something in the water to keep the levels at around 7.5, but that the water reverts to it's "normal" state after 24 hours.

Otherwise it could be that your gravel is raising the levels.

syd4444 · #4 8th November 2009, 09:25 AM

I live on the East Coast of Scotland. The water here is very soft and when I test my tap water it can very from 6.4 up to 7.8. I've started to use RO water and re-mineralizing it to keep the readings stable. Also to act as a buffer in case of a PH crash I keep cuttlefish bones in the filter.

Flyfisher · #5 9th November 2009, 07:50 AM

thanks all. Smileyshaz, strange though it sounds, i have a feeling you may have hit the nail on the head. Im going to test the tapwater in a glass ive filled, and see if it reverts to 8 in a day or so. East coast of scotland. If tapwater can vary, whether that be temporary or permanent, and it doesnt surprise me, then surely so long as were not doing huge water changes, the actual changes in ph to the full tank should be minimal and hence ok for the fish, no? By the way, my fish all seem very happy and healthy, no signs to concern me at all really. Cheers

Flyfisher · #6 10th November 2009, 09:07 AM

smileyshaz, you were right. I just tested the tap water thats been stood in a glass for a couple of days and guess what, its close to 8 now. My tank water after a 40 to 50% water change on saturday is now reading below 8. Its hard to tell what its exactly at but 7.7 or 7.8 it looks. One thing i did do at the weekend was turn my filter down. Its been running full blast from day one, and my main reason for this was maturing the filter sponges but ive always had sediment flowing in the tank from the soft silver sand. Now it doesnt happen. Maybe this has affected the reading too. Ah, who knows. Healthy happy fish, why should we worry so much. In their natural habitat, they encounter changes in temperature, flow rate, visibilty, and definitely ph. This is like a holiday, in my living room lol :-)