# pH is always 7.6 on API test kit



## Volt

I've had my filter running in my aquarium for about 3 weeks now, the pH always reads 7.6+ on the API test kit. I am changing about 40% of the water weekly with tap water. 

I've read that the high pH comes from tap water and also that API test kits are not very accurate. I know that I should not use pH up/down chemicals because they may stress the fish. 

I want to maintain a normal 7.0 pH before I get any fish. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?


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## aunt kymmie

I find the liquid API test kit to be very accurate. Is that the one you are using, or are you using strips?
What fish do you plan on keeping? Many don't require a ph of 7.0. Just wondering why 7.0 is the number you want to aim for. 
I have to use API's high end range test, due to many of my tanks being 7.8. Are you using the that one, or the regular ph test kit? 
You can add peat to your filter, which will bring your ph down, and there are other ways to buffer the water. You are right in not to use chemicals.


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## kcormier

I don't think that is too big of a deal. From what I understand (and I'm relatively new to this too), fish are much less sensitive to PH than most people think. In a natural environment, ph is not static. It fluctuates, sometimes heavily and quickly. For example, during a rainstorm, ph in a river can fluctuate up to an entire point (ex 7->8 or vice versa). In a drought , the ph can move in the other direction. I forget which way brings it up and which way brings it down, but as long as you're close to the natural environment, you should be ok. The trick is to acclimate the fish so that you don't shock it with an immediate change.

When adding fish, you should be sure to float their bag in your tank for a while to acclimate them to temperature. 5 or 10 minutes usually is suitable. Then you want to gradually begin adding water from your tank to the bag. I typically do this 3 times, spaced 10 minutes apart. In the end, I've just about doubled the amount of water in the bag. You don't want to leave them too long else ammonia will build up and they can also run out of oxygen. I don't know what "too long" is though. The last bit of advice, is do not dump that bag full of fish and water into the tank. The water from the lfs may not be healthy and you probably don't want it in your tank. I have a small 2 1/2 gallon tank that I empty the bag into and then net the fish to put them into my tank. Like I said I am new, and today is actually my first day at this forum. This is just what I've collected from a different forum. Definitely wait for a confirmation of this stuff from someone smarter than me!


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## Volt

Thanks for your responses...

@aunt kymmie
I am using the normal small test kit. I have read on the internet that if you test the same water with the low end kit and the high end kit (the one you use) both tests will give two different results (about 0.2 away from each other). This is why I asked if API kits are accurate enough. I am aiming for pH 7.0 because I've read that is standard for tropical fish. Another problem is that the low end kit only goes up to 7.6 so it is possible that my pH is higher than that.

@kcormier
Hey, I am new at this too.  I don't have any fish yet though. I like I said before, I want to make sure everything is perfect before getting some fish in there. I'll sure to be careful when adding them. I've researched all I could and once I solve this pH issue, everything will be set.


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## aunt kymmie

Volt said:


> Thanks for your responses...
> 
> @aunt kymmie
> I am using the normal small test kit. I have read on the internet that if you test the same water with the low end kit and the high end kit (the one you use) both tests will give two different results (about 0.2 away from each other). This is why I asked in API kits are accurate enough. I am aiming for pH 7.0 because I've read that is standard for tropical fish. Another problem is that the low end kit only goes up to 7.6 so it is possible that my pH is higher than that.


Since your test only goes to 7.6 I would still get the high end ph and test. My ph is 7.8, so getting the high end was what I needed to do. My water would test 7.6 every time on the standard ph. What if your ph is actually 8.2?? I'm not saying it is, but it would be nice to know without a doubt what your actual ph really is. If your water is anything higher than 7.6 the only way to know would be with the high end test. 
There are many, many tropicals that can be kept in ph ranges from 7.0 all the way up to 7.8.
Properly acclimated there are many, many tropicals you can keep. What fish are you interested in??


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## Mikaila31

7.0 is neutral pH, there is no "standard pH for fish" The normal range for fish is 6.0 to 8.5ish but that doesn't mean any specie can live within any pH in that range. All depends on what you are keeping. Generally though the rule is don't mess with pH. Doing so causes more harm then good.


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## amazon21

What fish do you plan on getting? There some pretty cool and hardy fish that can withstand a high pH too, like african cichlids.


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## amazon21

aunt kymmie said:


> Since your test only goes to 7.6 I would still get the high end ph and test. My ph is 7.8, so getting the high end was what I needed to do. My water would test 7.6 every time on the standard ph. What if your ph is actually 8.2?? I'm not saying it is, but it would be nice to know without a doubt what your actual ph really is. If your water is anything higher than 7.6 the only way to know would be with the high end test.
> There are many, many tropicals that can be kept in ph ranges from 7.0 all the way up to 7.8.
> Properly acclimated there are many, many tropicals you can keep. What fish are you interested in??


Your pH is 7.8? Just wondering, how do you keep your discuss's tank pH low enough.... I wanted to try an amazon tank but i was to scared because of the pH:-(


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## aunt kymmie

amazon21 said:


> Your pH is 7.8? Just wondering, how do you keep your discuss's tank pH low enough.... I wanted to try an amazon tank but i was to scared because of the pH:-(


Ph is 7.8 out of the tap, the discus tank sits at 7.6 without me doing anything. It's heavily planted, lots and lots of driftwood. The diurnal shift drops it to 7.4. My discus are all tank raised (second generation) by a local breeder in the same water as my tap, so it's no problem for them at all. 
There are fish I would never attempt at my ph (German Blue Rams, for one) and I'm not skilled or patient enough to buffer and keep a tank at a lower Ph. What's your water's Ph??


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## Mikaila31

LOL thats amusing. I have had GBR in 7.4 pH and raised them from fry and they eventually spawned all by themselves. I won't touch discus though :lol:.


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## amazon21

aunt kymmie said:


> Ph is 7.8 out of the tap, the discus tank sits at 7.6 without me doing anything. It's heavily planted, lots and lots of driftwood. The diurnal shift drops it to 7.4. My discus are all tank raised (second generation) by a local breeder in the same water as my tap, so it's no problem for them at all.
> There are fish I would never attempt at my ph (German Blue Rams, for one) and I'm not skilled or patient enough to buffer and keep a tank at a lower Ph. What's your water's Ph??


It's around 7.4 out of the tap. I never thought fish could get used to a pH like that..... maybe i should find a local breeder?


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## amazon21

Kym, i saw some congo tetra's in your 75 gallon tank pics. Do you keep those in hard water too?


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## aunt kymmie

Mikaila31 said:


> LOL thats amusing. I have had GBR in 7.4 pH and raised them from fry and they eventually spawned all by themselves. I won't touch discus though :lol:.


Wow, really?? I love GBR, but was too afraid to even think about keeping them. They go so well with Discus! Hummmm....your giving me some new ideas, Mikaila!


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## aunt kymmie

amazon21 said:


> It's around 7.4 out of the tap. I never thought fish could get used to a pH like that..... maybe i should find a local breeder?


A local breeder? Why not, it's what I did! 
Yes, I do keep Congos in my "hard" water. All my tanks are heavily planted with lots of driftwood, so I think that helps lesson the hardness of my tap water.


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## SeaHorse

Hi all, just wanted to chime in here that mine is always at 8.2, I do nothing to fix it and everyone is happy. My list of fish is in my profile and kept up to date. I buy locally and give the bag many, many drinks of tank water before release to aclimate them. At 7.4, I would not worry about it!
More importantly, at three weeks new, where are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate numbers sitting in this new tank?


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## Volt

So I am sure the fish will adapt themselves to it. I really want to get a sun catfish (this) but I've learned that they grow up to 12" which I can't possibly keep in a 10 GL tank. So I will go to the local pet shop tomorrow and get whatever I can.


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## SeaHorse

If you buy fish tomorrow just be aware that this has only been 3 - 4 weeks and a cycle can take over 6 weeks. I'm going to ask again do you know your other numbers? Those have to be stable or when you bring new fish home you run the risk of them potentially struggling and you could lose them. Take it slow!!


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## Volt

My ammonia level is between 0 and 0.5.

Edit: I am using the API branded test kit that goes from 0 to 8.


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## SeaHorse

Hi Volt. If your ammonia levels are as much as .5 definately don't put anything in there yet. If you do have fish in there do a water change immediately. Probably as much as 50% as this is like acid to them and you should be seeing clamped fins. Fish are often lost at this level. You are striving for zero. 
What are your nitrIte levels? This is equally toxic to your fish. You are striving for zero here too. 
Once the ammonia and nitrItes are converted by the good bacteria you should see a nitrAte reading of 40 or less according to my API booklet. You have not mentioned either of these. 
Are you using the bottles or test strips? Let us know what your other numbers are.


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## Volt

Jakiebabie said:


> Hi Volt. If your ammonia levels are as much as .5 definately don't put anything in there yet. If you do have fish in there do a water change immediately. Probably as much as 50% as this is like acid to them and you should be seeing clamped fins. Fish are often lost at this level. You are striving for zero.
> What are your nitrIte levels? This is equally toxic to your fish. You are striving for zero here too.
> Once the ammonia and nitrItes are converted by the good bacteria you should see a nitrAte reading of 40 or less according to my API booklet. You have not mentioned either of these.
> Are you using the bottles or test strips? Let us know what your other numbers are.


I'm using the API bottle test kit which (apparently) tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I see no way to tell the difference, because there is only 1 color chart.

I do not have fish yet. I suppose I will have to keep waiting, with 20% water changes daily.


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## SeaHorse

Hi Volt, well that is really weird... did the kit come with 4 tubes and 6-8 solution bottles? Mine is just new, replaced it last week and the colour card has 5 test results vertically listed on it. 
Humour me and make a list for us of the names on each of the solution bottles. 
You are new at this and all of us here want you to succeed and it is tough to do if you don't have the right equipment and you are trying so hard to do this right !! 
We'll get it all sorted out while you wait for the cycle to finish. (keeping in mind that you can only add a small number of fish at a time to allow the good bio to catch up with each addition)


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## aunt kymmie

Volt said:


> I'm using the API bottle test kit which (apparently) tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I see no way to tell the difference, because there is only 1 color chart.
> 
> I do not have fish yet. I suppose I will have to keep waiting, with 20% water changes daily.


This is a beef I have with the newer API Master test kit. It comes with only one test result card, listing all the tests vertically across the one card. If you take API's singular card reading for nitrate and compare it to the multi card's reading for nitrate you'll find that the 20ppm looks to be the same color as the other card's 40ppm. Quite a dang difference to me! I tossed out the multi test reading card and kept my singular result cards. The ammonia colors are a bit off between the two cards also, as is the PH. Granted, it's just a slight difference of shade but it still bugs the heck out of me!

Volt, didn't your test kit also contain a PH test??


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## SeaHorse

Hi Aunt Kymmie! Thanks for the input! That's not right for a company who supplies the main testing kits for North American (us in Canada too!) pet owners to cheep out on us. Are they going to replace our fish when they die because the readings are wrong. No!, because no one (the newbie) will know the test kits are wrong, that the colour cards are inaccurate. We complain to each other that the test strips are inaccurate... so now the master kit is also inaccurate!! Only someone experienced and who has purchased new and old kits will know the difference. *This is so wrong on so many levels aunt kymmie!!* If you took it back the LFS is just going to say," I don't know, that's what they sent us." I paid $40 bucks for my master kit. Did you write and complain aunt kymmie? It's not even something that we can take a pic of and email it cause it is all subject to the printer an ink that Volt has or his/her monitor screen. So wrong!!


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## aunt kymmie

Jakiebabie said:


> Hi Aunt Kymmie! Thanks for the input! That's not right for a company who supplies the main testing kits for North American (us in Canada too!) pet owners to cheep out on us. Are they going to replace our fish when they die because the readings are wrong. No!, because no one (the newbie) will know the test kits are wrong, that the colour cards are inaccurate. We complain to each other that the test strips are inaccurate... so now the master kit is also inaccurate!! Only someone experienced and who has purchased new and old kits will know the difference. *This is so wrong on so many levels aunt kymmie!!* If you took it back the LFS is just going to say," I don't know, that's what they sent us." I paid $40 bucks for my master kit. Did you write and complain aunt kymmie? It's not even something that we can take a pic of and email it cause it is all subject to the printer an ink that Volt has or his/her monitor screen. So wrong!!


Well, it looks like I flew the coop on this one. I threw away the all-in-one test reading card. This is a problem for API to explain, not the suppliers of the test kits. I'm sure the all-in-one card is cheaper to produce than the individual cards. I should have done my nitrate test, held the two cards up against the tube, snapped a picture and then sent an email to API for clarification. Regardless of how the picture is taken, or how the monitor displays it, you will still see that there is a difference. 
I just placed another order for a master test kit. It's amazing how quickly one can use up a test kit with five tanks and being neurotic, lol. 
When the new kit arrives I will snap the pictures and send an email. To be continued...


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## SeaHorse

Ooooooo !! I LIKE!! Thank you Aunt Kymmie for understanding the importance and helping to make a point here. I only have the new kit with the 5 tests in vertical colour bands on one card so have no proof to give. Here is a pic of what I bought in Ontario last weekend. But also this new kit I got needs two diff bottles to test the ammonia, and two diff bottles to test NitrAtes. So will these new procedures produce a new range of colours?
I wonder if the code numbers in the corner of the card are part of a date or batch. 
The instruction book show the company to be www.marsfishcare.com dealing in Chalfont, PA and France and the UK. The web site shows nothing of what is in each kit, just the outside packaging. 
This is just bizarre to me. Can't wait to see what your new test kit shows. If your new kit matches your old card perfectly then how many wrong ones are out there.... ?
Volt... still want to know exactly what is in your kit, how it compares to AK's and mine.


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## Volt

EDIT: I AM A MORON

I am a moron, my kits do not test nitrate and nitrite. I do not have the master test kit. I use two separate kits for the pH and ammonia.

These are the products I use.

pH kit
Ammonia NH3/NH4 kit

I have no method for testing the other things as of now...


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## SeaHorse

See !!??!! Did I know there was more to that story or what? LOL 
But you have identified a possible concern in that the test kits do not seem to be consistant or in some way reliable until we confirm what the colour rankings are in Aunt Kimmie's kit... the card she threw out vs the new kit she ordered. I'm interested to see what that reveals!! 
Try to fit it into the budget when you can... those numbers are all part of the whole picture.


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## aunt kymmie

The bottles and procedures are exactly the same, it's just that there's a slight difference in the color shadings on the new "master" card they are enclosing with the new kits, versus the old kits which have a color coded card for each test. I'm not sure you're going to be able to see the differences on the different shades on the nitrAte cards based on these pics but here are the pics anyway. I really wish I hadn't tossed the master card. Looking at them side by side they are different.


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## SeaHorse

Well I sure like your seperate cards with the white space beside them compared to mine cause it gets distracting! I have to lay white paper over the other columns when I check my tubes. Total decision to save money on their part! Thanks for showing us!


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## Volt

Sorry for this 3-week-old bump...

Guys, my ammonia is not going down. This is the 6th week of cycling. It stays between 0.00 and 0.25 no matter what. When I change the water it increases, then drops to normal after several hours. The tap water I use has ammonia of 2.0 by itself.

It has been 6 weeks now. I read that cycling takes 4-6 weeks average. I have been changing the water every other day. I am convinced that it's going to stay this way. I also have no fish, so from my understanding the tap water is the only source where this ammonia could be coming coming from. And it is never going to reach 0. Even if it eventually does, when I change the water it's just going to spike up again.


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## SeaHorse

Hi Volt! Good to hear from you again! now don't get discouraged ok>? 
Cycling can take 6-8 weeks. a few questions... 
You tested the water straight from the tap and you are getting 2? Not .2? Is this city water, well water? Ammonia is a result of decomposing matter.... I would not be driinking that water if I were you if it is 2. Even .2..... that is what chlorine is for to kill all that. Someone help me here but tap water should be 0 ammonia, am I wrong? Mine is .25 often but I have 15 fish in a 75 gal. and I tend to overfeed so my ammonia sits a bit higher and I vacuum my gravel with each water change. Are you using any kind of additive ie good bactieria or ammonia fighter? probably not at this point. 
Test it again tomorrow, straight out of the tap ok and let us know. 
Just keep doing what you are doing till we sort this out. Try to come into chat with us in the evenings. if you can get in. Takes at least 10 posts to be allowed in but you can chat with us in there. talk soon!!


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## clayton1169

Volt said:


> I've had my filter running in my aquarium for about 3 weeks now, the pH always reads 7.6+ on the API test kit. I am changing about 40% of the water weekly with tap water.
> 
> I've read that the high pH comes from tap water and also that API test kits are not very accurate. I know that I should not use pH up/down chemicals because they may stress the fish.
> 
> I want to maintain a normal 7.0 pH before I get any fish. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?


did you test ph at the tap some tap is high in ph mines is around 7.2 if its high use powder buffer a little at time the liquid stuff doesn't work a use a powder buffer mix with a little tank water in a cup then dump in tank but a little goes a long way so add slowly


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## Volt

Jakiebabie said:


> Hi Volt! Good to hear from you again! now don't get discouraged ok>?
> Cycling can take 6-8 weeks. a few questions...
> You tested the water straight from the tap and you are getting 2? Not .2? Is this city water, well water? Ammonia is a result of decomposing matter.... I would not be driinking that water if I were you if it is 2. Even .2..... that is what chlorine is for to kill all that. Someone help me here but tap water should be 0 ammonia, am I wrong? Mine is .25 often but I have 15 fish in a 75 gal. and I tend to overfeed so my ammonia sits a bit higher and I vacuum my gravel with each water change. Are you using any kind of additive ie good bactieria or ammonia fighter? probably not at this point.
> Test it again tomorrow, straight out of the tap ok and let us know.
> Just keep doing what you are doing till we sort this out. Try to come into chat with us in the evenings. if you can get in. Takes at least 10 posts to be allowed in but you can chat with us in there. talk soon!


Hi again...

The tap water is definitely 2.0 in ammonia. I live near NYC so I suppose it is 'city water.'

I was told to use this product called "Cycle" which will apparantly lower the ammonia but I have yet to know anything about it.

The other day I used these two things called TetraAqua AquaSafe and API Stress Coat + which came with my tank but they did not seem to do anything.


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