Personally I think that it's the osmotic pressure (water hardness) which
has more bearing than the pH. If your water is soft but has a pH of 7.8
(artificially) then this might be quite different from someone who has a
natural pH of 7.8 in much harder water. I would agree that it's easier
to keep fish in softer water, and I would also agree that higher pH
levels are known to be less friendly to various diseases, however given
the choice between naturally buffered soft vs hard, soft is better. If
this particular soft water is artificially brought to higher pH levels by
the municipality (ie: using caustic soda), it does not seem to affect the
fish anywhere near as much as if they were in the harder water which
would normally be associated with the higher pH. Again, just various
observations over the years. Thanks for sharing, and if you know the
hardness of that LFS, it would be interesting to compare.
--
www.NetMax.tk


"Margolis" wrote in message
...
I say that from my experience. The fish always seem to do better with
the water slightly alkaline than slightly acidic. I have never had any
problems at all keeping any fish in our water of 7.8ph. Tetras, angels,
discus, rams all love it. The angels even breed in it. But anytime I
have tried keeping fish in slightly acidic water, the fish that wanted
the alkaline water always ended up getting sick or getting fungus when
they got hurt. Fungus seemed to be a lot more common in acidic water
than in alkaline water. This has just been my experience of course. It
was also recommended by one of the best mom and pop fish stores in town.
All of their tanks were kept at 7.8 and they always had the healthiest
fish in town. The proprieter told me 20 years ago that it is easier to
keep fish healthy in alkaline water than in acidic, and I found it works
better for me.

btw, I am not talking about hard or soft water, only the ph.


--

Margolis
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