# cannot get my ph down



## thereis10 (Dec 19, 2010)

i have a 150 gallon tank that is a year old and has not once had a ph problem. When it came time for maintenance i found high ph. i had lost one fish but all others looked healthy. a week later i lost two more fish and my ph is still really high so i checked it coming in the house to reveal a PH of 7.8 which is exactly what the tank is at. my water usually comes in around 7.3 to 7.5 but is fine and since it came in so high and did not stabilize i used a chemical ph down treatment and had no luck. i treated tank for 480 gallons over the course of three days and it has not dropped AT ALL!!! I also am seeing a lot of brown algae growing but i know for sure that my nitrates are ok just the high ph. i dont know what else to do maybe spring for disilled water and try to dilute? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Don't use chemicals to try and bring it down as it will just cause fluctuations that hurt the fish even more. The really only safe way is with RO water You can mix it in a bucket to find the ratios that you need.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

There lies the reasons you dont use those chemicals. Usually that is when fish start to die. Why is a ph of 7.6 high? What are your maintenance practices and how often do you perform water changes?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

TBH,with the PH having such a small difference,I highly doubt it is the cause of the death of the fish.Natural water PH changes all the time,and in my own tank,my CO2 knocks it from 6.0 in the morning to about 5.6 in the evening.I have very sensitive fishes and they do very well with the changes.

Brown algae is from diatoms and I have read its from an excess of silicates in the tank.Its just ugly to look at,but will do no harm.


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## madtyke (Sep 26, 2011)

Hi, I dont think you have a ph problem 7.8 is OK, though a bit on the high side its fine and isn't what's causing your fish to die. Look for another reason, what are you nitrite levels like?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I agree, unless you are tying to breed discus your PH is not too high and don't use PH chemicals, they are bad news.


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