Murphy's right on the driftwood lowering ph. It's been years since I fooled with parameters. I just do my thing. 
To adjust pH or not??
- Thread starter shimek182
- Start date
With a pH of 8.2 more than likely you have hard, alkaline water that is next to impossible to change anyway without cutting it with RO. Trust me, I have 8.3 and have tried the peat, driftwood, water softener "pillows", etc. Nothing would budge it an iota. This is actually good, however. Certain species won't do well in hard water, but some like African cichlids, Mollies, Guppies, etc. thrive in it.
Thank you so much for your input.
I actually love guppies and mollies so I am going to leave the pH alone.
It's already been covered in this thread and countless others, but for the vast majority of cases, it is absolutely not necessary to adjust the pH of your tap water for your freshwater tank(s). Fish are very adaptable and so many species have been bred and raised in captivity for so long that they're okay with whatever we provide them (so long as we're talking about a reasonable range).
The biggest exceptions to this rule are if you're raising a finicky species, wild caught specimens or trying to breed certain species -- and even then it may not be necessary.
Most important -- the PH UP and PH DOWN products really should be avoided. If you are going to adjust pH, you want to change it gradually (over the course of days or weeks), reach your target, and keep it there for the long run. The PH UP/DOWN products tend to get used incorrectly and aren't really designed to keep the pH stable.
Crushed coral and certain types of properly prepared oceanic rocks are great for maintaining a higher pH and keeping those values stable. Lowering pH is a little more difficult (making it more acidic) but some options would be...
1) Peat. Add some to your filter or filter the water you use in your tank through it. Peat is a little unpredictable, messy and will turn your water brown (which the fish will like, but you may not).
2) Driftwood. This may also stain your water brown, until the tannins all leach out. Honestly, I've always found the long term pH affect for driftwood to be minimal. Initially it may drop your pH, but over time it stops affecting that parameter.
3) Carbon Dioxide. Carbon dioxide injection will lower your pH. Drawbacks are that it can be expensive to use the professional/manufactured systems and the DIY systems are generally less reliable and stable.
4) PH buffers. These are chemical additives, but unlike PH UP/DOWN products, they are buffering chemicals which means they'll help maintain a stable pH. Seachem acid buffer is my preferred solution these days as it's much more controllable than peat and by mixing buffering agents together, I can create and maintain very specific pH (using the alkaline or neutral buffers). The downsides are that the chemicals can be pricey and if you aren't careful, it's still possible to change the pH of your tank too quickly and too drastically, which can kill or sicken your fish.
The biggest exceptions to this rule are if you're raising a finicky species, wild caught specimens or trying to breed certain species -- and even then it may not be necessary.
Most important -- the PH UP and PH DOWN products really should be avoided. If you are going to adjust pH, you want to change it gradually (over the course of days or weeks), reach your target, and keep it there for the long run. The PH UP/DOWN products tend to get used incorrectly and aren't really designed to keep the pH stable.
Crushed coral and certain types of properly prepared oceanic rocks are great for maintaining a higher pH and keeping those values stable. Lowering pH is a little more difficult (making it more acidic) but some options would be...
1) Peat. Add some to your filter or filter the water you use in your tank through it. Peat is a little unpredictable, messy and will turn your water brown (which the fish will like, but you may not).
2) Driftwood. This may also stain your water brown, until the tannins all leach out. Honestly, I've always found the long term pH affect for driftwood to be minimal. Initially it may drop your pH, but over time it stops affecting that parameter.
3) Carbon Dioxide. Carbon dioxide injection will lower your pH. Drawbacks are that it can be expensive to use the professional/manufactured systems and the DIY systems are generally less reliable and stable.
4) PH buffers. These are chemical additives, but unlike PH UP/DOWN products, they are buffering chemicals which means they'll help maintain a stable pH. Seachem acid buffer is my preferred solution these days as it's much more controllable than peat and by mixing buffering agents together, I can create and maintain very specific pH (using the alkaline or neutral buffers). The downsides are that the chemicals can be pricey and if you aren't careful, it's still possible to change the pH of your tank too quickly and too drastically, which can kill or sicken your fish.
Thanks for your expertise!
I think the overall consensus is to leave the pH alone,, and thats what I plan on doing.
I am just starting out and have no business messing with chemicals.
The pH up/down chemicals I just purchased will be returned, no doubt.
Would you like a surefire technique to succeed in aquarium keeping? Well here it is anyway! Exchange the pH Up & Down for Prime. You will now have probably twice or even three times as much Prime as you did before. Use it up by doing two or three times the amount of water changes you were planning and you'll amaze yourself with your success.
^ the gospel of SubRosa lol.. Sound advice though. Pretty much described my technique to a T.
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Tap water varies, you'd do good to understand the in's and outs of gh kh & ph. Ph up/down is no good, use Seachem alkaline and acid buffers. Here's a good read for you : http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html -N
If you ever decide you want to lower the pH, alkalinity, and hardness of the water, then use RODI water to cut your tap water with. Otherwise, just leave it alone.
