pH buffer

[StereoKills]

Hi all!
I'm trying to find something to lower the pH of my tank a little. I had originally planned to use aquasoil or eco complete, but as neither are available in my area, I'm using laterite which doesn't affect the pH. I'm trying to use NO CHEMICALS in my tanks since I plan to have shrimp. Any advice?

 

[Squawkbert]

What is your pH now and why do you feel the need to lower it?

W/O some sort of "chemical", altering your pH is not possible.

There are "natural" ways to introduce pH lowering chemicals gradually (almond leaves, moss, driftwood) but with any pH changes, you will have to be careful at water change time. A big swing in pH due to adding a bunch of higher pH water (if it has any substantial buffering capacity) can be very harmful.

 

[StereoKills]

My tap water has a pH of about 8.0 and I'm starting a shrimp tank, so I'd like the pH to be closer to 7.0. It is a planted tank, with some java fern and baby tears. I'll be adding some java moss as well as soon as I can find some. No LFS around here has any, so I'll probably get some from someone around these boards or aquabid.

 

[soobie]

You could put some peat in.

 

[el wadd]

my water is exceptionally hard, and I use peat moss in my filters in conjunction with driftwood to soften my water. seems to work pretty well, but I have no numbers to share since I don't test for hardness.

 

[StereoKills]

Well, I'm using a sponge filter, so I couldn't put peat in it, but the driftwood would probably work well. Would peat work anywhere else in the tank?

 

[Squawkbert]

Is your pH 8 right out of the tap, or do you let it sit for a few hours before testing? If not, try it before messing w/ pH...

 

[el wadd]

you could put some in a filter bag and hide it behind something in your tank if needed.

if you have enough driftwood in there, that would probably do it as well.

 

[jm1212]

you can add driftwood to the tank to help soften up the water. adding chemicals will onyl wreak havoc on the fish and inverts in the tank.

 

[StereoKills]

Right, and I want this to be a non chem tank, since it will have shrimp in it. Just out of curiosity, will any driftwood work? I live right near a lake so there's always plenty of driftwood around. Would it need any special treatment prior to going in the tank?