# ph tester above 8.8



## jasone487 (Jun 15, 2010)

anyone know of any? cant find them at a lps. trying to keep lake Tanganyika cichlids and my ph is upper 8's wanted to know exactly what its at tho.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Jason,

A pH higher than 8.8 is probably not good for the fish, it really needs to be lowers, closer to 7.8~8.2 is optimal, if it is higher than 8.8 I would highly recommend doing something to lower it.

Otherwise, a standard pH test kit (possibly for pools or otherwise) could tell you this, but again, higher than 8.8 is too high.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

From an article on Lake Tang in our library :


> The water chemistry of Lake Tanganyika, is much more alkaline and hard than is the water from Lakes Malawi and Victoria. Its pH levels range from 8.6 to 9.5, with a total hardness of 11-17 dH, and carbonate hardness being between 16 and 19 dH.


Now, that said... I think that gH and kH are going to be more important to the fish, and a stable pH in the low 8's will be far better for tangs than an unstable one in the high 8's. There are things that affect pH, like dissolved CO2, that really seem to have little effect on the fish (unless it gets extremely high, of course). Folks with planted tanks often have a fair pH swing from day to night as the plants change their use of CO2, and in fact if you know your kH, you can use pH as an indicator of how much dissolved CO2 is in your water.

So, while a high pH isn't necesarily bad, it's not really necesary either... Almost universally, people find that buffering to ~8.2 with baking soda (and often adding other salts to increase general hardness) yields water that allows their tanganyikan fish to thrive.

AP has a "high range" pH test kit, but I believe it only goes up to 8.8. Out of curiosity, what are you using to achieve a high pH in your tank?

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

I stand corrected, I thought I had read that the pH range for Tanganyika was closer to upper 8's!


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## jasone487 (Jun 15, 2010)

ok lol i dont have a planted tank. my kh is 14 my ph is stable as far as i can tell over 8.8 and lake tank cichlids do need a high ph 9.0-9.5.

i buffed it over a 2 week peroid with crushed coral in my filter till it was around 8.4 then it wouldnt rise any more for a 2-3 day peroid. so i started using seachem lake tanganyika buffer. wich is 9-9.5 ph buffer.
from what i read it wont go any higher than 9.4 with the buffer. so im guessing my tanks anywhere from 8.8 to 9.4 -_-

as far as the baking soda comment i dide use boaking soda to buff my Kh. One teaspoon of baking soda added to 50 liters(13 ish Gal.) of water can raise the kH of the water by approx 4 deg dH without a major affect on pH.

and for my question on the test kit. i found a pond test kit that ranges from 4.0-10.0 there are also hand held meters that range in price from $20-$200 to read ph from 0-14.0


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## fubu56 (Aug 23, 2008)

I've been keeping Tang's for years and your PH is just about perfect. You can constantly struggle to keep it higher than 8.8 but it is just not necessary . Your fish should be very happy and healthy with your ph rite where it's at


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## jasone487 (Jun 15, 2010)

thanks  got 2 leleupi last night when they arent chasing eachother around the rocks they are awesome. next fish i add in are some daffodills and blue neons.


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## Hart (Jul 13, 2010)

To answer the original question, I use an HM Digital PH-200 digital meter. I think I got it online for about $150.


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