lowering pH

[319]

I got my betta last month and came upon this forum trying to learn how to care for him. I got the API master test kit today and tested everything, all was good except the pH was 8.2. I tried the API pH down, in a 1 gallon bucket, 6 doses of the pH down only brought it down to about 8.0. The colors were very similar though. Is there anything else I can try?

[pittipuppylove]

Probably best not to mess with changing the pH at all - bettas can adjust to most parameters (as far as hardness is concerned), but fluctuations can send them into shock pretty easily. General rule of thumb is that if you can drink the water, it's most likely safe for your betta to live in.
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[shellieca]

+1 with pittipuppylove, do not mess with your Ph.

[319]

Okay, thanks :)

[KCalNeon]

I thought you were supposed to do a water change if you're levels are wrong?

[callistra]

KCalNeon ph is something standard in all water. It should be constant and unchanging.. there's no reason to change water for a certain ph reading. It wont' help anything.

[KCalNeon]

Ok thanks! So what would you do if you're two water has a high Ph? Would you have to consider another water source?

[callistra]

Depends on what you mean by high.. 7.0-8.0 I wouldn't touch it. 8.0-8.6 is okay but you could consider cutting it with RO, imho, especially if it's much above 8. Above that I would cut it 50/50 with RO. If it's 9+ it really needs to be cut. It's not hard, but it's a little tedious and very important to do it precisely and exactly the same each time with exact same water sources, and I would be owning gh, kh and ph test kits.

[319]

Sorry for this dumb question but what is RO and IMHO

[pittipuppylove]

The only stupid question is the one not asked

RO means reverse osmosis - it's a process that removes the vast majority of impurities from the water, which makes the pH neutral. IMHO means "in my humble opinion".
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