Ditto!Leopardess said:You know, I somehow missed the drain cleaner part. Absolutely do not use that. It has other contaminants that just can't be conducive to life.
Homeade pH down solution
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Leopardess said:You know, I somehow missed the drain cleaner part. Absolutely do not use that
lead copper arsenic, other metallic substances leached from processing equipment. etc. From what I remember from the MSDS sheet on one brand I was looking at here. Was thinking of using it for an electroplating experement but the metalic impurities would have poisoned the bath.
Not cool in a fish tank.
Plus I agree chemicals are a coat of white paint over a rust stain. it will come back before the paint dries.
From my experience you have to deal with the buffering capacity (carbonate hardness, kh). as you raise it and your ph will slowly rise. If you have lots of KH, acids will have to "consume" the kh before it can affect the ph. basically it will take a large amount of acid to move the ph because you have to consume the majority of the carbonates before the free Hydrogen ions start to acidify the water (lower the ph). as you consume the KH it will take less acid to change the ph. Because of this it might be really easy to fry your fish if you are not careful. like It may take 1 unit of acid solution to move from 8 to 7 were .0001 units will move it from 7 to 6. plus you get those ph bounce backs mentioned if your KH is still high.
Although I never had to lower my ph (my water is already eqiv of distilled water) Peat sounds like the best plan. the PH of the leache (sp) from my insectivorous plant terrarium was about 5.0-5.4 PH.
Thanks everyone for the great advice. The more I think about it the more i realize how it sounds......"DRAIN CLEANER IN MY FISHTANK" doesnt really sound all that appealing. But I have another great idea, its for bleach as a fish killer additive for an aquarium.....just kidding. Anyway I am definitely going to try filtering my water through peat moss. I kinda like the idea of the natural approach and Ive read that the tannins peat moss releases give the tank a murky effect, very calming for nervous fish. Until next time.
If you must have lower pH (extremely doubtful), driftwood is short-term and loses effectiveness as tanin leakage fades. Peat must be done before adding the water to the tank as it tank significant quantities if your water has any significant GH/KH. CO2 reduces pH but does nothing, repeat nothing, for the GH/KH of the water, and fish
requiring soft acid water for breeding require low GH, not low KH/pH.
So, if you want to have soft acid water, mix tap and RO or RO/DI before adding it to the tank. That works and will continue to work indefinitely. The other processes do not do so, or are much more difficult to control.
requiring soft acid water for breeding require low GH, not low KH/pH.
So, if you want to have soft acid water, mix tap and RO or RO/DI before adding it to the tank. That works and will continue to work indefinitely. The other processes do not do so, or are much more difficult to control.
