[duluoz]

Hey, forum. How's it goin'?

I recently found out the Ph in my tank is way higher than I thought. Apparently my other test wasn't working correctly.

I noticed when BD got these black marks on some of his fins, and began spending more time near the bottom of the tank than he normally does. Other than that he is basically his old self, though. I'm not concerned he's going to kick it soon, but I would like some advice on the fastest way to get my Ph down to 7-ish.

My big problem is that I put some Ph down in yesterday and it didn't seem to do anything. I had an issue before (a while ago) where I put Ph UP in and it seemed to go down instead of up. So I feel like I'm missing some key to this equation.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[registereduser]

Links removed
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/how-can-i-lower-the-ph-in-my-betta-fgish-tank-3617317.html

 

[Mo]

What's your PH. Usually you shouldn't mess, and alter the PH as an unstable PH is far more harmful that a PH that is slightly out of the fish's prefered range

 

[bettanova2]

I usually use blackwater extract to lower down the pH a bit as I believe it may make the water softer and natural for betta to adapt, but got to make sure do not use it exceedingly (betta can't tolerant to the drastic drop of pH.

 

[thekoimaiden]

If you want to mess with your pH you need to know the KH of your water. A high KH (carbonate hardness) will not allow you to move your pH much because the carbonates in the water buffer the pH. There is really no need to move your pH in your betta tank as they are highly adaptable and will tolerate the normal ranges (between 6.0 and 8.0). Using pH altering chemicals is dangerous for your fish and can kill him. Mo is right. A stable pH is better than a slightly higher pH.

 

[vilmarisv]

The chemicals in your pH down will do more harm than good to your betta.
Forget about treating the pH, your fish will adjust.
I too use IAL to naturally lower the pH.

 

[duluoz]

It's hard to tell what my Ph is, since 6.0-7.0 is labelled as yellow-green, but anything higher than that is basically the same shade of blue. It could be 7.2 or 8.5.

But, I appreciate the advice. I'll hold off on using chemicals, and hopefully can get something to naturally adjust it (if I do anything).

Do any of you use something to measure Ph that you find particularly useful?

 

[Mo]

API liquid test kits

 

[thekoimaiden]

It's hard to tell what my Ph is, since 6.0-7.0 is labelled as yellow-green, but anything higher than that is basically the same shade of blue. It could be 7.2 or 8.5.

But, I appreciate the advice. I'll hold off on using chemicals, and hopefully can get something to naturally adjust it (if I do anything).

Do any of you use something to measure Ph that you find particularly useful?

You're supposed to read the pH tests immediately after you add the drops. This is going to provide the best result. I can see a pretty clear difference between the lower pH readings. The API drip test kits are the best available for reading water parameters. It sounds like you need to get a pH test for the higher ranges (the normal one just covers lower pH). The API freshwater master kit included both the high and the low range pH tests.