# High PH planted community tank



## OakRaid (Mar 17, 2004)

I am running a newly set up planted tank with community type fish.
I seem to have very hard water.....
PH .. 7.8 (water suplier shows an 8.4 PH average for my area)
GH .. 7 dgh or 125.3 ppm
KH .. 4 dkh or 71.6 ppm

My question is how this is going to affect my tank?? And any sujestions on how to deal with it??
The tank has been running for a month now...and I have already had a big ick problem.
I am wondering if the high PH stress factor could have caused the ick??

Tank You .. Dave


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## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

ick is often caused by stress usually adding medicine or adding salt can get rid of it most plants don't tolerate high ph that well you might want to try anubias or java fern they can tolerate higher ph's which most other plants cannot


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Actually your water looks pretty good as far as plants are concerned. With a KH of 4 if you consider using CO2 you can get the pH down to 6.8, you will have about 19 ppm CO2 in the water which is just about ideal for both fish and plants. I have never had a fish with Ick since I started keeping plants in my aquariums. If you do get one with Ick I would treat it in a small isolation tank. I even have wild caught sailfin mollies that I keep in KH=7 water. I've never added salt and they have never had Ick.

Whats your lighting setup, and nutrient regimen for the plants? Happy plants=healthy fish.

Steve Pituch


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## OakRaid (Mar 17, 2004)

spituch said:


> Actually your water looks pretty good as far as plants are concerned. With a KH of 4 if you consider using CO2 you can get the pH down to 6.8, you will have about 19 ppm CO2 in the water which is just about ideal for both fish and plants. I have never had a fish with Ick since I started keeping plants in my aquariums. If you do get one with Ick I would treat it in a small isolation tank. I even have wild caught sailfin mollies that I keep in KH=7 water. I've never added salt and they have never had Ick.
> 
> Whats your lighting setup, and nutrient regimen for the plants? Happy plants=healthy fish.
> 
> Steve Pituch


Hi Steve... Thanks for the reply! I thought plants would have a hard time in a high PH like I have?? 
My lights are... one 4 ft 2x65 watt corlife power compact, 6700 K bulbs.
Also running one standand 4ft 40 watt, with a daylight bulb. Lights are on 12 hours a day. Tank has only been running about a month, so haven't added any nutrients yet. Was told to wait a couple months for tank to cycle before adding anything, or I could have an algae problem.
As for CO2 ... I was hoping I could get away without using it, mostly because of the expense getting set up. (unless someone here has a spare system that they don't need anymore...for a very reasonable cost?  )

Dave


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