Are you a fish lover? Are you planning to own some or already have? You may know that to ensure the best underwater-living environment, proper pH adjustment of the fish tank is very important. In this article, we would love to show you how to safely lower the pH level in your aquarium and other useful information.
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How to Safely Lower Your Aquariums pH Level
Before starting to adjust the pH in your aquarium, you will need to check what is the right pH for your potential fish pet. For the most part, they can thrive in a wide range of pH conditions, typically spanning 6.5 to 7.5 pH. But there are some other species of fish that need pH conditions out of this range. After knowing what is the proper pH for your fish, you should check the current pH level in the aquarium. This check must be done from the beginning and also regularly because the influences from the surrounding environment or even things inside the fish tank will change the pH over time and this change doesn’t have any specific sign.
Another tip before you start lowering the pH in your aquarium is don’t try to make a perfect pH level. This may cause your fish stress and make them sick. If your fish is still good with the current environment, keeping a stable pH level is a better way to try.
In this post, we would like to introduce to you two ways to lower the pH in your aquarium: biological and physical. Using leaf or powder is a natural biological method to lower the pH. There are also chemical methods but you shouldn’t reduce the pH by using chemical products. These chemicals may have unexpected affection on living creatures in the aquarium or changing living conditions. Besides using leaf and power, using a RO machine to maintain a stable pH level is a physical way to lower your aquarium.
Biological way – use leaf, powder
Catappa leaves or also known as Indian Almond leaves are one of the most common and easiest ways to lower the pH level of your aquarium. You only need to place them into your fish tank, they will slowly start to decompose and lower the pH in the tank. Besides, these leaves can soften the water in the aquarium. Catappa leaves also have antibacterial properties that will be very useful if your fish is vulnerable or suffering from fin rot. If you don’t want to add directly these leaves into the water or your fish don’t like them, you can soak them in another basin of water and then add the soak to the aquarium. As Catappa leaves decompose and lower the pH, they also release tannins which will yellow or brown your aquarium. You can try soaking the leaves before putting them into the tank to reduce the color change.
Physical way – use RO machine
Using a RO (reverse osmosis) machine to lower the pH in your aquarium is another effective way. This way is a little more expensive than the other solution, but it will be a long-term solution for your high Ph aquarium. The RO machine will first let the water go through a sediment filter, then through a carbon filter, and finally through a fine RO membrane, which will remove the minerals that raise the pH from the water. RO can also remove chlorine, nitrates and phosphates, which are not good and you never want them in your aquarium. With a RO, fish owners can connect their faucets and drains at home to the available reverse osmosis unit and then produce their own low pH, demineralized dechlorinated water. No matter what kind of fish you have, this machine can still be useful and bring many benefits.
When should you lower the pH in your tank?
It is really difficult to determine exactly when to adjust the pH because there is almost no sign that the pH is changing. You should watch your fish closely so that you may see the change through the fish’s behavior or their skin. If your fish is distressed or they have some wounds on their body, then you should check if the aquarium has the proper pH or not and adjust it to the proper level. Or else you should check the pH regularly so that you are aware of the change as soon as possible. But don’t try to make a perfect pH level. This may cause your fish stress and make them sick. If your fish is still fine, just let them be.
Why should you lower the pH in your aquarium? What are the disadvantages of high pH?
You should lower the pH in your aquarium because it is one of the most important indicators that directly affect the living environment as well as the health of your fish. Each species of fish, depending on biological characteristics, distribution area, age stage, weather, climate, will adapt to different pH levels. pH is the determining factor to limit the distribution of aquatic species, including fish. It affects embryonic development, nutrition, growth and also reproduction of fish.
An improper pH level will affect the respiration of your fish. If the pH is too high, the skin and gills of the fish will be destroyed, the oxygen transport slows down and the metabolism is also restricted, causing the fish to grow slowly. The high pH also causes an increase in the concentration of toxic ammonia gas in the tank. For example, when pH in your aquarium is higher than pH in the koi fish’s blood, the diffusion of ammonia through the gills will be reduced, and toxins will accumulate in the blood, causing dangerous ammonia poisoning. Due to the suffocation, your fish will suffer from neurological disorders, swim abnormally or swim around, fish continuously catch the ball on the water.
To sum up!
As all above, we have shown you how to safely lower your aquarium pH level as well as when and why you should do it. The proper pH level is very important for your fish’s health and reproduction. It will make a suitable living environment for your fish. We hope this article is informative for you. And so, you can adjust the proper pH level for your fish.
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