Whenever I test the ph in my aquarium, it’s always like 7.6-8.0, which seems awfully high. I can’t determine what is causing the problem. I do a weekly 40% water change. I vaccuum the gravel as best I can, but I don’t want to remove everything because otherwise my Cory won’t have anything to eat. I feed the fish every other day, either bloodworms, brine shrimp or Tetleys flake food.
My aquarium is a 6 gallon and I have 4 fish in there now and don’t plan to add any more. 1 female betta, 1 little albino cory and I added a couple little otos who help keep the algae in check. It’s a marineland system 6 that came with a pretty powerful filtration unit that seems to do a good job. I’ve also added an airstone and a heater and keep the temp pretty steady between 78 and 83 (it goes up a bit during the day). I have a couple plastic plants and some smooth gravel. Fish all seem happy and energetic.
Maybe my tapwater is just naturally alkaline? I do treat it before adding it to the tank.