how do gold fish affect the pH level of water in which they live & by what value?

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Request for Question Clarification by knowledge_seeker-ga on 03 Jul 2003 08:56 PDT

Do you mean little goldfish in a bowl or large goldfish (carp) in a
pond?

The answer will depend on how many fish, what size fish, how much
water, type of filtration system and many other factors. Any
information you can provide would be helpful.

Thanks -

-K~

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Clarification of Question by manjusha_srinivas-ga on 03 Jul 2003 09:55 PDT

I mean a little fish in a bowl for an experiment.

Hello -

According to the following pages, the pH of a goldfish tank will
slowly drop owing to acids in the fish waste, respiration (organisms
breathe in oxygen, and out carbon dioxide - carbon dioxide dissolves
in water to form carbonic acid which will tend to acidify the water)
and other biologic processes in the tank (microorganisms, mold, etc):
http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:yrhOFXOqfHUJ:www.goldfishparadise.com/water/ph.php+goldfish+ph&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
http://www.goldfishvet.com/water/pH.htm

Please let me know if you have further questions.

synarchy


Google search
goldfish ph
goldfish ph range

My GUESS is that they reduce the pH value.

But it's only a guess.

Here are some articles that may be of interest.

I've raised aquarium fish for 10 years and have never heard of fish
being able to affect the pH level, but I could be wrong.

The articles below speak in general terms and unfortunately do not
exactly answer your question, but it is suggested that overcrowding of
fish (too much fish and too little water volume) leads to poor tank
maintenance, which in turn can wreak havoc on pH levels.  Anyway, its
an interesting read.

http://oursimplejoys.com/freshwateraquaria/article1027.html

http://www.wrraquatech.com/fish_facts/water.asp

Hope that helps a little.

I have found a teacher who has students measure water pH in order to
answer that very question. Perhaps you could write to her and find out
what result the students get.
http://www.asmilan.org/teachers/ckennedy/Biology/Biology%209%20%20Individual%20Laboratory%20Experience.doc
http://www.asmilan.org/teachers/ckennedy/