How to lower ph and hardness?

S

Seaglish

Registered Member
Apr 28, 2006
1
0
0
I should start by saying that I've never had fish before. I just bought a 10 gallon aquarium, and I will be starting a fishless cycle just as soon as I can figure out this water thing.

The problem is that I have well-water. I've tested it, and it doesn't have any heavy metals, but even after aerating the ph is 8.7 and the hardness is about 480mg/l. I'd like to get a few otocinclus and some pygmy corydoras (it's not a very big tank, after all!), but they prefer softer, acidic water.

I guess my question is, what can I do to lower the hardness and ph? Some people have suggested mixing my water with distilled water, but most of the information I have found suggests using no more than 50% distilled water. At 50%, my water is still very alkiline and hard. Some websites mentioned that a person could buy aquarium water from a pet store, but there isn't one in my area that sells it. I know I can use peat to lower the ph, but the hardness has me stymied. Any ideas of advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Seaglish
 
Most freshwater fish will adapt to your pH as long as it's not extreme (6-8). Most people will only try to reach a cartain exact ph when trying to breed dificult species.

It's dificult to modify your pH, specially when you have such a hard water.
There are several method to lower the ph and hardness:

1- Mixing with RO/DI water. Already done.
2- Dosing CO2, specially useful for planted tanks.

YOu can buy pH lowering chemichal at any fish store, but this will work for a limited time and soon you tank will return to thew previous pH. Believe me, not worth the money, and causes more harm than good.

You have a difficult task ahead. Maybe, the best way to go would be to reconsider your fish and look for hard water species that can live in a 10 gl. aquarium.

Post in the Cichlids Forum and ask for African cichlid small enough for your tank.
 
with that chemistry there are only three ways to decrease your pH, gH and kH.

* a Reverse Osmosis system
* dilute your tap water with RO or distilled water.
* a CO2 system

while most fish can adapt to 'most' reasonable water chemistry, yours is pretty darn hard and alkaline. i'm not so sure that you'll be successful with some species. if you find that to be the case, consider African Cichlids .. specifically Lake Tanganyikan shell dwellers (they'll do well in ten gallons)
 
Remember that Co2 will lower the pH but will have no effect on the GH or Kh, and will not reduce Solids levels. The pH itself is not the true issue with fish, the solids are. So CO2 would really not help you situation even though it would lower pH.

I would try to acclimate you fish slowly to this water and live with it. I have kept cories (Long term) in water with a pH of 8.8.

If you want to adjust things then mixing with RO or DI water is really the best avenue, and a 50/50 mix should bring your levels down far enough to remove any worry. The downside is that you will have to keep enough Ro and DI water around for emergencies. If you go this route, you may want to start looking for an RO filter to save some money eventually.

I would probably mix water if my source was that hard, but I would not say it is out and out necessary either. And Of course the suggestion for africans is certainly not a bad one, but if you want cories Then Get cories.
Dave

dave
 
Hi, I have well water too, my ph is like 8.4, Alkalinity 300ppm but my total hardess is only 25ppm. But I have cories, gouramis and tetras that are doing very well so I think you would be ok if you acclimate them correctly.
 
goldenchld24 said:
Hi, I have well water too, my ph is like 8.4, Alkalinity 300ppm but my total hardess is only 25ppm. But I have cories, gouramis and tetras that are doing very well so I think you would be ok if you acclimate them correctly.
Click to expand...
It's not the alkalinity that is the problem, it is the hardness. Yours is 25ppm and Seaglish has 480ppm. Your water is soft and great for Amazon type fish. Theirs is extremely hard and very difficult for Amazon type fish.

Alkalinity is not an issue.

Roan
 
It's not the alkalinity that is the problem, it is the hardness. Yours is 25ppm and Seaglish has 480ppm. Your water is soft and great for Amazon type fish. Theirs is extremely hard and very difficult for Amazon type fish.
Click to expand...

While I fully agree with What Roan is saying, I highly suspect the 25 ppm to be a mis-print. goldenchld24 is your GH 25 ppm or 25 Degrees of GH. 25 Degrees of GH would equate to 447.5 ppm Gh and would be just about what is expected from a natural ground water source with a pH of 8.4

Either way the above info applies, but Gh 25 ppm and pH8.4 would be really odd in natural ground water.

Dave
 
daveedka said:
While I fully agree with What Roan is saying, I highly suspect the 25 ppm to be a mis-print. goldenchld24 is your GH 25 ppm or 25 Degrees of GH. 25 Degrees of GH would equate to 447.5 ppm Gh and would be just about what is expected from a natural ground water source with a pH of 8.4

Either way the above info applies, but Gh 25 ppm and pH8.4 would be really odd in natural ground water.

Dave
Click to expand...
HAHAHAHAHAHAH! OMG, did I ever hose that one, DAVE!
:laugh:

Boy, I need a nap :)

Roan
 
I dunno, it says ppm total hardness with a scale of 0-425.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom