| Proper water chemistry in your home aquarium is | | | | should be avoided at all costs. Changing the pH by |
| paramount! Many beginner fish-collectors decided to | | | | more than .3 units per day is stressful to the fish. So |
| dive into this hobby because they didn't have time | | | | you want the pH of the aquarium to remain constant |
| for a cat or dog. I hate to be the bearer of bad | | | | and stable over the long haul. Second, fish have |
| news but many varieties of fish live MUCH longer | | | | adapted to thrive in a (sometimes narrow) pH range. |
| then many household pets. A Black Moor Goldfish has | | | | You want to be sure that the water pH match the |
| a life expectancy of well over 30 years. A Koi named | | | | specific requirements of the fish you are keeping. |
| Hanako lived to be 226 years old! If you have a Koi | | | | One of the first and most important aspects to |
| you might want to add it to your will, it will outlive | | | | understand, when it comes to your aquarium, is pH. |
| you by many years! | | | | Most fish can adjust to a pH somewhat outside of |
| Let me briefly get into the topic of pH in relationship | | | | their range. If your water's pH is naturally within the |
| to a home aquarium. The abbreviations pH stands for | | | | range of 6.5 to 7.5, you should be able to keep most |
| potential of hydrogen or Power of Hydrogen. Actually | | | | species of fish without any major problems. Many |
| pH is shorthand for the mathematical definition. In | | | | people religiously follow this rule. I don't recommend |
| chemistry a small p is used instead of - log10 and the | | | | that if you want your fish to live to its fullest age |
| H stands for the concentration of hydrogen ions. | | | | potential and with the highest quality of life. |
| It is extremely important to match fish that can | | | | What is dGH? Degrees of general hardness (dGH) are |
| survive in the same pH ranges. It isn't healthy to | | | | units of water hardness, specifically to general |
| place a fish from, let's say, the Gulf of Mexico and | | | | hardness. General hardness is a measurement for the |
| mix it with a species from the Amazon River Basin. | | | | number of calcium and magnesium cations per volume |
| The pH levels in those areas are different and | | | | of water. A cation is a positively charged ion that has |
| therefore would be perfect for one and a slow | | | | fewer electrons than protons. 1dGH corresponds to |
| miserable death for the other. | | | | 10 mg of calcium oxide or magnesium oxide per liter |
| PH refers to water being an acid, base, or neither | | | | of water. In water testing, the paper strips measure |
| (neutral). A pH of 7 is neutral, a pH below 7 is "acidic'' | | | | hardness in parts per million (ppm) one part per million |
| and a pH above 7 is "basic'' or "alkaline''. A pH of 5.5 is | | | | is one milligram (mg) of calcium per liter of water. |
| 10 times more acidic than water with a pH of 6.5. | | | | 10ppm = 1dGH.. |
| To a fish keeper, two aspects of pH are important. | | | | With this seemingly basic information you will be on |
| First, rapid changes in pH are stressful to fish and | | | | your way to having a vibrant aquarium of your own! |