Buffer Ph Or Acclimate New Fish Slowly?

[coolfishguy12]

My tap water is medium on the hardness scale, and the pH is naturally around 7.7 or so.
 
I would like to start a tank for South American fish that need lower pH and soft-medium water. In researching the topic I seem to be getting mixed opinions on whether to adjust the hardness and pH to better suit the fish.
 
Some articles recommend never trying to adjust the water in this way, and say the fish should be fine as long as I drip acclimate the fish to the water as is. Other articles suggest adjusting the water with peat moss, almond leaves, driftwood etc.
 
What do you think? Have you tried either, what were your results?

 

[Byron]

There is some truth but also some "myth" in what you've read.  It is true that some fish seem to adapt well to parameters that are not the same as what they were intended to live in, while other species simply cannot do this and remain healthy.  The degree of the difference is also important for those that do adapt.
 
By "medium" for the hardness, is it somewhere in the range of 10-12 dGH (= 180-214 ppm)?  The GH is actually more important for soft water fish than the pH, provided it is not extreme and here it is not that.  There are a lot of characins that will be fine in the parameters I've indicated.  If the species are wild-caught, adhering to paramters close to their habitat is much more significant than it is for commercially-raised fish, provided again these are not extreme differences.  How a species is acclimated is of course important too, but there are limits; we cannot hope to "acclimate" a fish within a few minutes to vastly differing water from the parameters in which it evolved over thousands of years to function.
 
On the matter of adjusting water parameters, this is indeed not always easy, which is why so many recommend selecting species that will likely be fine in the water you have.  And softening water is more difficult than making it harder.  There may be no need to enter into this discussion, depending upon the intended fish species, but if asked I can offer some suggestions.
 
Byron.

 

[coolfishguy12]

I'm thinking about possibly using a mix of distilled water and tap water to dilute the hardness. Just really nervous of doing things with peat/driftwood at this point, might have to graduate to using those natural methods once I've got more stable parameters.

 

[Byron]

I'm thinking about possibly using a mix of distilled water and tap water to dilute the hardness. Just really nervous of doing things with peat/driftwood at this point, might have to graduate to using those natural methods once I've got more stable parameters.

 
OK, since you raise the issue, I'll deal with water adjustment.  Diluting the hard water with some type of "pure" water is the only safe and reliable way to soften hard water.  The GH and KH will reduce in proportion to the mixing; as an example, mixing half tap and half pure will cut the GH/KH in half.  Until you do this lowering of the GH/KH, you will not be successful in reducing a high pH because the GH/KH will work to maintain it, what some term buffering.
 
Distilled, Reverse Osmosis and rainwater are all ways to dilute the hard water.
 
Attempts to soften the water and lower the pH via organics, such as wood, peat, cones, and/or dry leaves, will almost always fail if the GH/KH is on the high side to begin with.  This is also why the chemicals sold for lowering pH do not work.  The KH in particular buffers the pH to keep it stable, so this must first be reduced along with the GH which as I think I mentioned previously is the more important parameter for soft water fish.
 
One you have the water diluted, the organic matter will be more effective, depending upon the resulting GH/KH obviously, and this normally won't hurt the fish, provided it is not fluctuating up and down.
 
Byron.