My water is rather hard and seemingly alkaline pH approx 8.
What would be the easiest way to lower the pH
What would be the easiest way to lower the pH
Lowering pH
- Thread starter magunn
- Start date
Lowering pH in hard water is very difficult. Probably the best route would be to get a reverse osmosis unit that strips all the compounds from the water that make it hard, allowing you to reconstitute the water to whatever hardness you like.
Additives (pH buffers, pH Down, Proper pH) tend to not work very well and add all kinds of stuff to you water that may not be good for your fish.
HTH,
Jim
Additives (pH buffers, pH Down, Proper pH) tend to not work very well and add all kinds of stuff to you water that may not be good for your fish.
HTH,
Jim
You may not need to lower your pH, depending on the fish you'd like to stock. If you're wanting tetras and angels, then you probably will need to make some chnages, but you'll need to do so slowly, and the best method will depend on your water conditions (GH in particular).
Some basic method:
Using peat filtration in the water, or adding driftwood. Both of these add tannins, which will lower the pH--the exact amount varies with the amount of peat/wood used. This method will result in a tea-colored stain to the water that is harmless, but may be unnattractive--it's easily removed with carbon.
Mixing tap water with RO water will also lower the pH, since the RO water will be pH 7.0, so a 50-50 mix should give you a pH around 7.5. This isn't as convenient, and obtaining RO water (unless you have a RO filter) can be a pain. You'll also need to experiment to get the correct ratio, and make sure that you retain enough buffer in the water to prevent pH crashes.
Check http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/ for both more information on changing pH, as well as methods. Keep in mind that unless you're looking to breed the fish, most fish can be acclimated to a variety of pH, and all fish will do better with a stable pH than one that jumps around.
Some basic method:
Using peat filtration in the water, or adding driftwood. Both of these add tannins, which will lower the pH--the exact amount varies with the amount of peat/wood used. This method will result in a tea-colored stain to the water that is harmless, but may be unnattractive--it's easily removed with carbon.
Mixing tap water with RO water will also lower the pH, since the RO water will be pH 7.0, so a 50-50 mix should give you a pH around 7.5. This isn't as convenient, and obtaining RO water (unless you have a RO filter) can be a pain. You'll also need to experiment to get the correct ratio, and make sure that you retain enough buffer in the water to prevent pH crashes.
Check http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/ for both more information on changing pH, as well as methods. Keep in mind that unless you're looking to breed the fish, most fish can be acclimated to a variety of pH, and all fish will do better with a stable pH than one that jumps around.
magunn,
The easiest method for lowering pH is by C02 'injection'. A DIY system would work for smaller aquariums (<40g) but exact control is quite difficult and requires a lot of attention, and upkeep. Cost of long term system use should also be considered. A pressurized system is by far the easiest in terms of care and control. A solenoid/pH controller can be added to fine tune the system to hold the pH within .1 at all times.
Peat is a method which certainly works. Work being the key word in that sentence. Driftwood does similar but the effect is slow in coming. A decrease is often months if not a year or more in the offing. Adding a lot of driftwood would change that equation, but the effected change is still slow to occur.
HTH
PP
The easiest method for lowering pH is by C02 'injection'. A DIY system would work for smaller aquariums (<40g) but exact control is quite difficult and requires a lot of attention, and upkeep. Cost of long term system use should also be considered. A pressurized system is by far the easiest in terms of care and control. A solenoid/pH controller can be added to fine tune the system to hold the pH within .1 at all times.
Peat is a method which certainly works. Work being the key word in that sentence. Driftwood does similar but the effect is slow in coming. A decrease is often months if not a year or more in the offing. Adding a lot of driftwood would change that equation, but the effected change is still slow to occur.
HTH
PP
Hmmm, I have a piece of driftwood in the bucket outside (10L), and I change water every day... Its been left out for at least two weeks now.
After 24 hours, pH drops from 7.2 down to 6.4... I'm still afraid to put this in my 25g just in case it drives down pH too fast... I am still waiting for it to slow down pH drop.
Should I go ahead and put it in the tank without worrying about the pH drop? Theoretically, I can counter it by adding just enough baking soda, but I'm not sure I want to get into that battle...
After 24 hours, pH drops from 7.2 down to 6.4... I'm still afraid to put this in my 25g just in case it drives down pH too fast... I am still waiting for it to slow down pH drop.
Should I go ahead and put it in the tank without worrying about the pH drop? Theoretically, I can counter it by adding just enough baking soda, but I'm not sure I want to get into that battle...
gotta say thanks for the co2 tip. ive got water ph of about 7.8 so i went and got a few hornworts and set up a co2 system with leftover parts from my homebrew stuff. even after about 30 min of running my ph has dropped to 7.4 hopefully itll even out somewhere.