PH at 8.8 two new 3/4 inch clowns in bag from LFS

Help pease. I have a 29 gal system with a 10 gallon sump. Live rock about 15 lbs andI'm just starting it up. Got two new true percs from my LFS today and brought them home. Tanks been up three weeks, but felt like doing a final water test during acclimation. Everything was perfect except PH was low. I added a PH buffer that says it sets PH to 8.3. Followed dosing instructions, But still after an hour PH is at 8.8. My poor little fish are floating around in a platic bag in the tank, and I don't have any PH lowering chemicals.

What should I do????

Thanks!!

 

A water change? Nothing too large maybe 5 gallons. Are you drip acclimating the clowns?

 

I don't know what drip acclimating is, and believe it or not I already tried a five gallon water change (forgot to mention that sorry). Thanks for the reply Skurious andif youdon't mind please educate me on drip acclimation. Thanks!!

 

+1 on the water change. how low is low? My tank runs 7.7 at times. There is a big variation in most tanks in ph throughout the day and fish can withstand a pretty big swing. pH is good to test, but I'd worry more about stabilizing your alk and not so much about stabilizing your pH.

 

8.8 is a bit high, do a small water change and then test again. Mine is around 7.9-8.0.

 

well his ph is now at 8.8, a little high. Drip acclimating: basically take your new fish in the bag they are in and put that in a bucket or something safe to be around your fish/reef/tank. take some aquarium tubing and tie a loose knot in it. start a syphon from your tank water and drip it into the bag with your new fish. around 2 to 3 drips per second or so. this will help your new fish survive in your tank. once the bag gets so full dump some out and keep dripping until you thing they are ready. the time varies by what it is your adding.

 

My fish drip acclimate for at least 30 minutes. Longer if I am patient enough. Be sure to float them for a little while in the tank so they can get used to the temperature once they are done with the drip. I usually give them 15 minutes of float time. My PH hovers between 8.1 and 8.3. Small water change, test, repeat. You will get there.

My Tank

 

Thanks for all the comments and advice -especially the drip aclimation procedure. Happy to report even though PH is still pretty high at about 8.6 - 8.7 baby percs seem happy in their new home. Eating and playing already!!

 

O good, did you drip acclimate them then?

 

I've never drip acclimated. Float, dump some tank water in the bag, wait a bit, dump more in, then release the fish after netting. Just my method, never lost a fish acclimating yet.