Is PH of 7.6 too high for tetras and rainbows? - El Natural

RalphM · 03-16-2009, 07:26 PM

I'm about to set up my first fish tank. I want to make it a NPT. My tap water has a PH of 7.6. The LFS says I should use Neutral Regulator to bring it down toward neutral. Some sites say tetras and rainbows should not have water above 7.5. I don't want to "mess" with the PH unless I must. So, can you tell me if I should use the Neutral Regulator or is 7.6 okay? Thanks in advance for any help.

Ralph Murphy

DonaldmBoyer · 03-16-2009, 07:34 PM

No, you are fine. Your water pH will fall slightly anyways after it has been in the tank for a while. Just keep the water "clean" and you will be fine.

king oz · 03-16-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RalphM

I'm about to set up my first fish tank. I want to make it a NPT. My tap water has a PH of 7.6. The LFS says I should use Neutral Regulator to bring it down toward neutral. Some sites say tetras and rainbows should not have water above 7.5. I don't want to "mess" with the PH unless I must. So, can you tell me if I should use the Neutral Regulator or is 7.6 okay? Thanks in advance for any help.

Ralph Murphy

that 7.0 stuff is crap, they tell you that to make money selling you a product you don't need, the rainbows will love your tap and the tetras will adjust. just because that stuff drops your ph doesn't actually make your water softer, if you desire a softer water tank use ro there's a difference between ph, gh and kh, do a lil searching and read up. but don't waste money on ph adjusters you will just have ph swings when you change water and that's harder on fish than them just getting use to the water you already have, hope i helped a lil with my mumbling and running on.

DonaldmBoyer · 03-16-2009, 08:04 PM

To add, since this is an El Natural, you want to stay away from as many chemicals and additives as possible. It is likely that the LFS has nearly the same water as you do anyways. If the tetras are already used to their water parameters, than you should have no issues whatsoever. Just because tetras have adapted to live in low pH's doesn't mean that they need to. Close to neutral pH is fine.

And as Oz said above, it would be more deleterious to keep adding pH adjusters any time you did water changes. But again, El Natural systems (eventually) should not need water changes, relying mostly on "top-offs" after a few months.

Diana K · 03-17-2009, 08:08 AM

Don't chase pH.
Check GH and KH. If you need to adjust either, then let the pH fall where it may.

"acidic water fish" are not really.
They generally come from water with low GH.

There are some fish that will accumulate too much calcium in their system if they are kept in water with too high GH. In this case I would start with a blend of RO +Tap to better create optimum conditions for them.

For most hatchery raised fish this is not necessary.

RalphM · 03-18-2009, 10:09 PM

Thanks Donald, Oz and Diana. I feel safer now going against the LFS advice. Ralph

Diana K · 03-20-2009, 07:40 PM

LFS advise = Spend more money.

drtechno · 03-30-2009, 10:37 PM

for rainbows, no

if you are going to breed neons - yes it is high

your plants will adjust water chemistry accordinly.

7.0 is an artifical number that is a happy medium for most fish.

rainbows don't like under 7.0 ph

neons like 5.5-6.8

but if your neons don't kill off because of it, they have adjusted, leave 'em alone

if you truly want a low ph enviroment for neons, you must set up a tank with an acidic soil
substrate.

then drip acclimate them into that enviroment.

just remember, the plants and fish make up an ecosystem you are trying to create. after a couple of weeks of setting up the planted tank (plants only no fish yet ) look at the water chemistry as the tank as a whole will dictate what fish will work in that tank.

bartoli · 04-01-2009, 07:31 PM

I believe water pH is very important for fish health. See:

http://books.google.com/books?as_epq...logy+of+fishes

As for the pH level for cardinal tetras, I found the following interesting:

"Cardinal tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi) live in very acidic waters. In a 1992 study of a 720 square mile area surrounding the confluence of the Rio Negro and Rio Demini, Dr. Ning Chao of the Universitade do Amazonas established that the pH of all tested waters within the study area fell between 3.4 and 5.5 [TFH, January 1993]. Baensch/Riehl suggest an optimum pH of 5.8 for cardinals with variances tolerated between 4.6 and 6.2. When cardinal tetras and similar fish are maintained in harder water, they can succumb to internal problems like blockages of the kidney tubulii by calcium salts."

The above was from the discussion at:

http://www.fish-keeper.net/Forum/lof...hp?t13437.html

TAB · 04-01-2009, 07:36 PM

you would be amazed at what fish can actually handle. Having worked for both a LFS and a Fish breeder, unless your trying to breed them, the water normally comes strait from the tap.( or water storage tank where its decloranated.)