Hi all

I seem to always have a High PH level in my tank, I did a little investigating and while checking it every day once i did a water change it went from 7 to around 7.8. So i went and checked the PH of the tap water and it was around 6.3-6.6. I then treated the water with Prime conditioner and it jumped to 7.6. Is this normal? I have recently put in drift wood to get away from chemically changing the PH back down but its going to be hard to maintain it if this happens every time i do a water change

Ok so I had a brain wave and did the same test on Bottled water and it didn't change the PH. Is it that my water is that hard that it breaking it down to alkaline?

Woody, Hi, I haven't noticed Prime messing with my pH but I have always wondered something about it, maybe someone has an idea.

I use Prime in water changes if I have a concern about ammonia / nitrate but generally use Aqua Plus by Nutrafin because I use "Cycle".

Given that Prime "removes ammonia" and "detoxifies nitrates / nitrites" would it not follow that it would mess with your tanks bio filter? Aren't we trying to cultivate bacteria that feed (for want of a better term) off these chemicals so that our tanks self-manage waste? If we remove their chow every time we do a water change, aren't we starving our little friends to death? Don't we need them in vast numbers to continually convert the nasty chemicals spontaneously through the waste cycle or have I misunderstood water chemistry???

Obviously it is a fantastic product when needed, and I am using it every day on the babies water because of the amount of food and waste going into the tank...but on a long term basis, could it not hinder a healthy tank???

Whaddayathink? Shaz

I'm not aware of Prime altering your pH.
It's best to have a steady pH instead of having to change it everytime.
Somewhere between 6-8 wouldt be best, as long as it's steady.

Driftwood can help in dropping the pH a bit.

On the other hand i do alter my kH, or the hardness of my water and i think there's a link between a steady kH and pH.
We got very soft water in Holland, only about 3 degrees kH.
I add kH+ to keep my kH steady at 7 and supposedly that will help stabilize your pH.
I learned this from the guy where i got most of my plecos and imo he's a master in fishkeeping with over 30 years of expierience.
When i asked him, what i had to do to get my plecos to live a long and healthy life, this kH altering advice was his main point, next to a varied diet and some hiding places made of driftwood.

altering kH can be done without big risks, as long as you don't raise it, with more than 2 degrees a day.
But to be honest, not many members do use this method.
Ph altering pH can be dangerous, for the pH scale is exponential.

Give your tank some time to settle after a waterchange and before testing, for your pH results may change quite a bit after a waterchange.

Ok so I am still having problems with my PH being too high so i checked my GH & PH of the tap water and it is off the scale KH 13 and GH 20, I think that the hardness of the water is stuffing my levels around. Any suggestions on bringing it down?? Has anyone used the API tap water filter for removing KH and GH or the API Water softener Pillows??

i have not known prime to adjust ph in any way either. I have just checked the data sheet and no mention of it there either. lowering the KH and leaving the GH will make your PH stable. you could then use a buffer to get proper ph. it may be a better idea to add a RO system?

Prime converts ammonia into a less toxic form, but the bacterial you need in your filter that live off of ammonia can also live off of the less toxic form, so prime doesnt affect your filter cycle. This is why its a great product for cycling tanks with fish in (although i have never used it)

I cant see prime altering your Ph

Can you do the retest on tap water (did you use a lot of tap water and dose it with prime in the correct amounts)