| Is your freshwater aquarium pH level important? | | | | livestock! A change of 7.0 to 7.1 is not a significant |
| Very! | | | | concern, however if you are maintaining a species |
| Most fish live within a very limited pH range of 5.5 to | | | | tank of Neon Tetras at 5.9, a change of 0.1 would be |
| 7.5, there are exceptions and it is critical that you | | | | significant. |
| know the optimum range for your fish. Sudden | | | | To keep things simple, match your fish groups |
| changes, which could be as little as a few tenths in a | | | | optimum pH to that of your tap water; there are |
| 24 hour period, may prove to be harmful, if not fatal, | | | | means available to adjust your pH but it will require |
| to your aquatic pets.pH is the measure of how acidic | | | | some effort and more frequent testing to prevent |
| or basic your water is, being rated on a numerical | | | | catastrophes. |
| scale from 0 to 14. 0 being acidic, 7 neutral and 14 | | | | The average tap water will fall within 5.0 to 8.0. Since |
| alkaline (also referred to as basic). To put this in | | | | freshwater fish come from all over the world, each |
| perspective, battery acid and lemon juice are down | | | | species has adapted to various pH ranges, the key |
| around 1-2, ammonia and lye are around 12-13. Rain | | | | word here being "adapt". Fish can adapt to their |
| water, at one time, was neutral at 7.0, it now ranges | | | | water environment as long as it is not too far off |
| in the 5.0-6.5 range due to contaminates in our | | | | their optimum (remember that 10x logarithmic rule). |
| atmosphere. | | | | The most important thing you can do is to keep |
| What causes the water properties to change is an | | | | your pH constant! |
| alteration in the number of hydrogen (H+) and | | | | We mentioned earlier that an aquariums biological |
| hydroxide (OH-) ions. Equal numbers of each yield | | | | function will affect your pH, which is why it is said to |
| neutral pH - more H+ ions and your water becomes | | | | be "constantly in flux". Readings will usually be at their |
| more acid - more OH- ions and it is more alkaline. As | | | | lowest in the morning, rising over the course of the |
| your freshwater aquarium matures, biological | | | | day, and then beginning a gentle decline at night. This |
| functions, water changes and other events add or | | | | is perfectly normal and there is no cause for alarm |
| remove these ions, altering the pH levels. | | | | unless the changes are way off your baseline. |
| Another vital point to communicate is that this scale | | | | Establishing a baseline for your specific setup is most |
| is logarithmic. This means that each progressive step | | | | important, anytime a new aquarium is setup and |
| away from neutral is 10 fold that of the previous | | | | every 4-6 months thereafter, take a series of daily |
| step. For example: | | | | readings, once each in the morning and evening for |
| 7.0 is neutral | | | | 7-10 days - keep a detailed journal of the test results |
| 6.0 is 10 times more acidic than 7 | | | | to establish the "norm" for your aquarium. |
| 5.0 is 100 times more acidic than 7 | | | | After that, you can reduce your testing to once a |
| 4.0 is 1000 times more acidic than 7 | | | | month, twice each month is even better. Be sure to |
| The further away from neutral your water becomes, | | | | take your readings at the same time of day and |
| the more intense the impact on your aquarium | | | | compare the results to your baseline. |