How Do I Lower My Ph?

[OneOnion]

Right now my tap water pH is 8.4, and I want to make my stocking choices larger by lowering the pH. What's the best way of doing this? Or, can you recommend any community fish that likes kind of high pH? Thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

Most of the common livebearers would survive in a tank that high in pH but it is on the high side even for them. It is almost the ideal value for the African rift lake fish so you might want to check them out. They are among some of the most brilliantly colored of the freshwater fish but play too rough for my tanks. I keep mostly hard to find livebearers in the goodeid family that need a bit more peaceful neighbors than Malawi cichlids would be. They are rough in their own right but not like the Africans.
If you decide that you really must have softer water, lower pH fish, you could start by finding out the hardness and KH of your water. If it is hard or high in KH, the only way to do much to affect the pH is to start by lowering the hardness. Once you have removed the hardness of your water, it will be much easier to lower the pH. To reduce hardness you use a mix of tap water and either RO or rain water. The purer water is used to dilute the chemical content of the tap water. Once the water is softer it will start to drop the pH a little on its own and you will be able to move it with things like black water extract or using peat moss in the filter.

 

[OneOnion]

Mot of the common livebearers would survive in a tank that high in pH but it is on the high side even for them. It is almost the ideal value for the African rift lake fish so you might want to check them out. They are among some of the most brilliantly colored of the freshwater fish but play too rough for my tanks. I keep mostly hard to find livebearers in the goodeid family that need a bit more peaceful neighbors than Malawi cichlids would be. They are rough in their own right but not like the Africans.
If you decide that you really must have softer water, lower pH fish, you could start by finding out the hardness and KH of your water. If it is hard or high in KH, the only way to do much to affect the pH is to start by lowering the hardness. Once you have removed the hardness of your water, it will be much easier to lower the pH. To reduce hardness you use a mix of tap water and either RO or rain water. The purer water is used to dilute the chemical content of the tap water. Once the water is softer it will start to drop the pH a little on its own and you will be able to move it with things like black water extract or using peat moss in the filter.

Sounds complicated o.o . I guess lowering my pH is my last resort, then. I forgot to mention that my aquarium's size is a 10 gallon(US). Any suggestions for fish of 8.4 pH that will fit in 10 gallon? It would be nice if they were a little common, too, because there's not that much variety around here.

 

[OldMan47]

You might look at platies, as an example of fish that would be OK with the pH that high. Most of the other fish I was considering are a bit big for a 10 gallon tank.

 

[drobbyb]

Right now my tap water pH is 8.4, and I want to make my stocking choices larger by lowering the pH. What's the best way of doing this? Or, can you recommend any community fish that likes kind of high pH? Thanks.

You might look at the blue eye rainbows. They stay small and can withstand a high pH. A group of 6 would be perfect for a 10 gallon aquarium if you can find them.

 

[AquaBaz]

I'm not sure but if I'm correct (and it helps keep the water bills down) but a water butt left to stand mixed with some tap water (40/60) should lower them down right? Obviously not wanting to lower the hardness too much that it cause too much flux in the PH levels...

But I'm pretty sure that would work? I have a water butt waiting to be hooked up atm which I intend on using for water changes. It saves lots on water bills and helps out loads if it's stood for a week waiting for your next change? (Supporting comments would be advised, any more experienced people know?)

 

[OldMan47]

Rain water makes a great mix with tap water to reduce the hardness and TDS of your water, Aquabaz. The thing is knowing what water you are starting with so that you can get your proportions right. For me, with my particular water, I use 3 parts rain water to 1 part tap water for the sensitive soft water fish that I keep. When it is too cold outside to collect rainwater, I end up using my RO water for the dilution. Basically you need to start out knowing what the tap water has in it, in terms of mineral content. Then you decide what the target value would be for the sensitive fish that you are trying to accommodate. Once you have both of those parameters, just figure the mix it will require to bring the mineral content down to where you want it. For my livebearers, by far the biggest group of fish that I keep, the straight tap water with a pH of 7.8 and a TDS over 300 ppm works fine. I try to run the soft water fish at less than 100 ppm, which means almost the same thing as less than 5 degrees of hardness. A 2 to 1 ratio is not enough to get me there but a 3 to 1 mix gets me into the target range quite nicely. Fiddling about with a 2 1/2 to 1 ratio is just not the kind of thing that I will do. I like the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid.

 

[OneOnion]

Thanks guys. Do you think if I could find some Lamprologus Similis, could I put maybe 4 of those in the ten gallon and then have another small cichlid(or other fish) that's about 3-4 inches in there, or is that too much? Thanks.

P.S. Is it Neolamprologus Similis or just Lamprologus Similis?

EDIT: Nevermind, I made a new thread for the above question. Please place reply here in this link: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/312475-stocking-idea-and-suggestion-help/