How to lower PH

[Fish_Mike]

I will soon be getting 4 Wild Caught Peruvian Angelfish from my LFS, however i know that wild fish need to be kept in ideal water conditions, and also that for them, the perfect PH does matter. Now, my tap water PH is around 7-7.5, and i need it around 6.5-6.8 for the angels, and to lower PH i need to add potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KH2PO4). However, how much should i add and where can i get some?

 

[pseud]

You could just add some bogwood... or some peat in your filter

 

[Kieron1]

You could just add some bogwood... or some peat in your filter

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Yeah, peat based media will do the trick over time

 

[Fish_Mike]

Ok, thank you, and by over-time, you mean a period of how many days?

 

[rdd1952]

Definitely try the peat or driftwood. Using chemicals is just asking for problems since the pH will never be consistent.

 

[Kieron1]

I've not tried using peat myslef yet but I'm led to believe it will reduce Ph gradually in a matter of weeks

 

[Fish_Mike]

ok, no chemicals, but my current blackwater tank, with peat AND driftwood, still has a pretty high PH, 7.5, and it's not the aquarium for my angels, but i would like to know why it's still so high.

 

[rdd1952]

Have you checked the KH of your water? It sounds like you have very hard water and you may not be able to safely lower the pH enough. You may want to try RO or bottled water. They will have no buffering capacity and a lower pH.

 

[Fish_Mike]

alright thanks, i'll check out the KH

 

[Fish_Mike]

My KH is 9*, is that fine?

 

[Bloo]

Your KH is quite good actually and I would not fiddle that. Unless you actually plan on breeding with your Angels, your pH is absolutely fine.
I found this article brilliant to explain the basics of water chemistry.

My one tank came down from a pH of 8.4 to 7.6 by just adding bogwood - though I can't tell you how long it took, but it's a fairly gradual process is more a matter of months. Edit: it also depends on the actual piece and type of wood as well as the wood to water ratio.

So I would add your angels and some bogwood and just let time do it's thing.
Don't start fiddling with chemicals - instability of water is a far greater issue and problem to deal with. When you bring your Angels home, just adjust them very slowly over a period of several hours to the new water - just add a bit of the tank water at a time to the bag.

Ps: you said your pH is as low as 7 - well in that case it's really almost as good as you'll get without complicating things. If after a month the bogwood hasn't made any difference, try a different piece from a different store.

 

[rdd1952]

Your KH is quite good actually and I would not fiddle that. Unless you actually plan on breeding with your Angels, your pH is absolutely fine.
I found this article brilliant to explain the basics of water chemistry.

My one tank came down from a pH of 8.4 to 7.6 by just adding bogwood - though I can't tell you how long it took, but it's a fairly gradual process is more a matter of months.

So I would add your angels and some bogwood and just let time do it's thing.
Don't start fiddling with chemicals - instability of water is a far greater issue and problem to deal with.

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Good advice. The KH of 9 is something most of us would love to have. Mine is 0 so I have to be careful with anything I add to the tank such as driftwood, CO2, etc. The down side of a KH of 9 is that you have very good buffering capacity which means that lowering you pH by adding things (peat, driftwood) will be more difficult.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Ok thanks, i'll make sure to be very careful about acclimating them to the aquarium, and as you say, 7.0 is fine even for wild caught ones?

 

[Bloo]

Ok thanks, i'll make sure to be very careful about acclimating them to the aquarium, and as you say, 7.0 is fine even for wild caught ones?

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Yes I would definitely say that's absolutely fine. Unless you want to go to the huge hassle and expense of using treated RO water - but then that will have to something you keep up. Very time consuming and relatively expensive.

You could also add some peat to the filter in addition to the bogwood and over a matter of a couple of months or so, your pH will certainly start dropping.

My KH is 11 and my pH 8.4 so it did very well coming down to 7.6 by just using bogwood.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Alright, well i already have peat in the filter anyways, and the fish i already have seem to be already used to it, and thanks a lot for your help everyone