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My pH is chronically high. Do I need to add peat to the filter, or otherwise alter pH before I put acidic water fish like cories, emperor tetras,cockatoo cichlids, or rams. It hovers around 7.5-7.6.

Usually 7.6 is a pretty neutral pH and alot of fish can be kept. But some fish can and can't handle it. If you are too far towards alkaline, then fish that like acidic waterwill not tolerate it and vice versa. It should be fine for most south american fish.

By they way i have kept cardinal tetras and bolivian rams in this pH,and a few more SA fish.

Last edited by Nameless at 14-Jul-2005 20:45

Are emperor tetras, rams and cockatoo cichlids ok? I know the shark, angelfish, and my cories will be fine, because they are already in there.

My pH is locked steady at 7.6 and i have kept many fish even cories. Id say 7.6 isnt that high of pH since most fish can tolerate in. I even have cardinal tetras that usually perfer acidic water and a pH of 5 or 6.

Ok thanks, just got new lights for the 55 gallon tank. I'm going to put in plants, and another piece of driftwood, and planning to put in 10 emperor tetras, 3 aeneus cory, 3 trilineatus cory, 1 flying fox, 1 small pleco or other algae eater such as otocinclus, and 1 angelfish.

Currently I have the angelfish, the flying fox, a platy and two aeneus cories in there, and I wanted to know if changing pH had a big effect on the fish's health, as I didn't want the fish to die, nor did I want to really mess with the chemistry lest I kill my fish.

PS: how to add kudos? I can't figure it out.

i have a ph of 7.6 and a few hours ago my rams bred in it! they should be fine.

well.that also depends on how ur lfs where u took the fish aclimated those fishes....lfs dont alter their pH (for convenience...and thats how my lfs-bigals', petsmart, pjs, walmart..and other small lfs do here)...there r fish now that r tank raise...and so...they can take what pH they were raised.

kankushok
How sensitive are fish to ph?
The answer to that question is easy "Very"

Different species require different ranges to maintain good health.

Some species can only breed (in the wild & in capitivity) when the Ph is correct. This means they live happily at one PH but breed at another PH level.

This is the reason when keeping a comunity tank it is strongly advisable to keep the fish within the same PH range.

Saying that there are species that can live in a wider range of PH levels.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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I highly disagree with keith. I haven't found ph to be that important even in breeding fish. Many fish that would come from a ph below 7 in the wild will still breed in my 8.0 water. It's only important that your ph be steady and not very far in the extremes. The only problem I've found breeding fish in high ph is that the eggs tend to fungus more and fewer hatch but as for getting them to spawn I've had no problem spawning otocinclus, cories, black neon tetras, Congo tetras(they won't stop laying eggs), emperor tetras, threadfin rainbows, and rams. Even my yoyo loaches have paired off into male and female and showed spawning behavior but I have yet to see any fry. This is kh 15-20, ph 7.8-8.0. My well water changes through the seasons. Clean water and frequent water changes are much more improtant than ph as well as trying to mimic what happens in nature around spawning time.

Most fish are relatively tolerant when it comes to pH values... Especially now that Discus fish grow up even in pH=7,4!!! What they fear the most, is sudden pH ups and downs. Baking Soda whould sort things out for that...
Yet, a pH value close to the one in their natural habitat, combined with the right GH, would trigger the fish's spawning instinct!

Some species can only breed
sham
I can assure you some fish cannot breed unless the ph of the water is correct I am mainly refering to fish in the wild which I stated.
Sorry if there was a misunderstang.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I haven't found ph to be that important even in breeding fish. Many fish that would come from a ph below 7 in the wild will still breed in my 8.0 water.

I have to dissaggree. There are some, but not many that will spawn in this extreme difference. And, most of them have been spawn so many times in the aquarium that they have actually addapted, and are many times removed from the wild. Wild Kribs will not spawn in levels exceeding 0.5 either way on the scale. The domesticated fish are a different story.

The only problem I've found breeding fish in high ph is that the eggs tend to fungus more and fewer hatch

This is more likely due to the elevated hardness of your water. As the egg shells are absorbing the hardness and becoming too hard to hatch the fry. Thus, they die inside and then quickly fungus.

Clean water and frequent water changes are much more improtant than ph as well as trying to mimic what happens in nature around spawning time.

Clean water and frequent water changes are very important, but IMO ph is just as important. But, as for mimicing nature to get spawning activity, sometimes bad water is the key, as well as causing drastic fluctuations in ph. There are fish that come from areas that have heavy rainy seasons. In some of these areas, to get some of these fish to spawn, you need to drop the ph 1-2 points over the course of a couple of days. As this is what happens in nature and is the trigger to get them to spawn. At the same time, in many areas, the water quality becomes poor and this tiggers them to spawn. In some areas, during drout season, the water quality changes with the decrease of oxygen and an increase of carbon dioxide, which is what causes some fish to spawn. That is what is so cool about this hobby, is there is a large difference in behavior amoung it.

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...

Dropping the ph a small amount gets my otos to spawn but it doesn't matter if I'm starting with 8ph or 7ph. I know there are some fish that will only spawn in certain ph but none of the fish I find at the fish stores around me wouldn't spawn in higher ph water provided everything else was met. For the purposes of keeping fish aside from very sensitive species coming from the wild I don't think ph is going to make any difference. Now if the original poster is looking for a specific wild caught fish to spawn then they may want to look up the ph but from what kankushok was talking about ph 7.6 is not going to make any difference in keeping those fish.