I don't have a way to messure aquarium ph, but I do have a test kit for my pool. It will be high as the water here just tends to be high. As for consistent I don't use any buffers or anything so it should be pretty consistent, I just use aquarium salt.
tanks about 2 months old but I cycled everything but the glass in a 6 year old tank.
PH will change just as a by-product of the nitrogen cycle...the longer the water stays in the system the water will be quite a bit different than from the tap...that is why weekly w/c's should be done consistently as well as to remove the build-up of NitrAtes.
I suggest you get yourself a test kit, so you know what's going on with your water...The actual PH numbers aren't as important as the fluctuation that can send the fish into shock and stress them out so bad...most of the secondary ailments they get are caused from an initial problem of water quality...
No more fish till you can test your water correctly IMO...
How is the Aro doing now BTW?
sounds like he might be having some swim bladder problems... I lost my very first silver this way. You might want to quarantine him for a while in a smaller tank if you have one cycled and setup. You can lower the ph with blackwater extract if you can find it but you need to do so slowley. I don't think the ph is the problem though. Aro's are fairly tolerant to a wide range of ph. I would look into some digestive problems. As a last resort you can up the temp to around 82F SLOWLY and dose epsom salts to flush him out. I can't remember the proper dose of the epsom salts though. I will see if I can find it for you.
the muriatic was a joke. But from what I can tell its the same as most chemical reducers.
by the way I have an aquarium test kit(strips) for Ph as well and its reading the same as the pool one, I didn't think i had anymore but I did, this is out of the tank not the tap. 7.5-7.6
I change my water the same day every week and remove 20 gallons from a 120 gallon tank.
I used the substrate from a 55 gallon that was very old and ran all the filters for 3 weeks before I moved everything from an established tank, decorations and all to a non established tank. That was about 2 months ago.
he is looking worse now basically floating head down.