# PH Problems



## Whiwem Dawing (Oct 19, 2013)

So ive had my tank going for about 6 months now. Since ive started it I can not for the life of me get my PH lvls to balance out. Its stall right around a 7.8. Now i was told that was high for what I have. I have two Cichlids super red severum, and a jelly bean, also have a angle fish (was told this is part of the cichlid family had no clue), and a bristenose pleco. No live plants in the aquarium atm. All my other lvls have been reading fine. I did replace live rock to sand and added two clay jars and havent checked since but im sure it will still be high. Any help is welcomed. BTW my tap tested at like 8.2 PH. Its the only choice I have as i cant afford to go buy 20 gallons of treated water every other week.


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## Whiwem Dawing (Oct 19, 2013)

Just added water Parameters I just took. I did a water change yesterday when I added the new sand and took out the gravel.


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## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

last i heard, cichlids are happy with a PH around 8.
if your insistant on changing your water's PH, do it slowly

if you have a pleco, what kind ?
some pleco's prefer wood in the tank, ... actually they eat the wood - not all pleco's mind you.

wood will also release tanin (tanic acid) into the water column and will try to lower the PH
-in addition to turning your water a watered down tea color

don't use any wood, there's safe wood, and unsafe wood
unsafe wood is loaded it's it's own preservative to ensure it's own survival from disease and infection of the tree, ... some of these trees the toxin is ... 

to reduce this toxin, boil the wood, drain, and boil again, one species of tree the first water you get from this process can be used as an effective poison for killing in even small amounts, ... and other species of trees it's present just no where near those concentrations, ... not the stuff you want leeching into your tank.

so find wood that is safe, ... or find aged wood that has had this toxin leached out of it by exposure to the elements for an extended period of time, ... just stay away from fresh/live wood.

or you can play it safe and buy something from your LFS.

---

now the scary part is over
the good part

wood has tanic acid that will lower your tanks PH
wood is good for 'some' pleco's, (what kind of pleco do you have ? is this a concern)

could solve 2 issues in one step.

otherwise, if your tank inhabitants are doing fine, deliberatly changing water parameters is going to be a source of stress instead of helping bring the balance you seek..

other then that, i don't know how quickly the tanic acid in the wood will act, nor do i know how low it will try to drive the PH


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## Myrox (Oct 29, 2013)

Your angles and other cichlids will love 7.8 ph. Also this will go down over time and with the addition of drift wood that your bristlenose pleco needs to survive. So you should add drift wood for ur pleco and ur ph is good where its at. Your cichlids and angles will be happy in ph range 7.5- 8. To lower ur ph from ur tap ur lfs should have a supplement to help with this go all natural if possible but with the water in ur tank at 7.8 mixing with the tap at 8.2 I would say you probably don't need a supplement.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Whiwem Dawing (Oct 19, 2013)

Ok thanks guys. I do have drift wood in not alot but a small piece. I can actually buy my drift wood straight out of the tanks they use to show the fish at the local fish store so I know its safe that way. Ive had it in there for about 3 months now havent seen a major change but I could need more, like i said its just a small piece. If yall say my PH is fine then ill just do what i can to keep it at 7.8 and not change it. Thanks all.


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