Ph Levels?

[Aven]

Can someone please explain to me what levels of Ph are good for Bettas and how do you control and measure it?

[frogipoi]

Ph is good between 1-10. But it is bad to use Ph down if it is still between. Fish adapt to it. There is Ph down and Ph up. That is all I know.

[Aven]

I did some moe looking around and found that the level will settle, and water changes will prevent it from changing.

[JKfish]

uh, Froggie, that was a bit incorrect.

Ph ranges from 0-14. 0-6.9 is acidic. 7 is perfect, neither acidic or alkine. 7.1-14 is alkine.

The perfect Ph for bettas is around 6.6- 7.5? I think. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong,

You should not try to control it, bettas will adapt to different ph levels.

You can measure the with liquid water testing kits or strips. Strips are often inaccurate, but cheap. Liquid tests are more expensive, but last longer and are more accurate.

edit: are you sure you aren't thinking about ammonia? Ph is in the water, and can't be taken out with frequent water changes because that's the way your water is. Ammonia is excreted into the water and can be taken out with frequent water changes and by cycling the tank...

[frogipoi]

Someone told me that somewhere on this forum. I meant 5-10 but I didn't know. Someone else told me.

[JKfish]

Well, that'd be incorrect. I know because I studied PH and stuff several years ago in school.

Here's an arcticle you could read if you want :) http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/184ph.html

[Aven]

JKfish, Yes actually I was wondering this but I got my info here: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pet...quipment14.htm

[Lion Mom]

Do NOT mess with the PH levels - it does more harm than good, IMO/E!!!

I have hard water with a PH of 8. My bettas do fine as do my angel fish. Heck, I even used to raise angels in my water! :)

[Oldfishlady]

I agree-leave the pH alone unless it is causing problems, most Bettas will adapt to your source water pH and be just fine, but those sudden pH swings can be deadly.

IMO/E-the only chemical additive needed is a good dechlorinator if on city water supply that takes care of chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals.

Most of the fish we get today are farm-bred/raised and have never seen the pH that they come from in the wild

[JKfish]

Aven: that looks right. I assumed you were talking water changes in general aquarium upkeeping. The water changes you were talking about were for aclimatizing (sp?) a fish to your tank before releasing him/her. Yeah, that's right. The arcticle is actually very good :)