Lowering My Ph With Bogwood

[agusf]

hello,
I have a 150 liter tank and I am almost done cycling.
my tap water ph is 8-8.5. to lower it, I will put
bogwood as adviced.What I want to know is, will the
bogwood always(constantly) lower my ph is it only a
temporary solution?
thanks,
Agus

 

[OldMan47]

Woods will tend to lower the pH slightly over time and the effect can go on for quite some time. What happens is that tannins leach into the water lowering the pH and tinting the water a pale brown color. The leaching goes on seemingly forever, although we know there is only a limited amount of tannins present.

 

[PDSimon]

It may not even lower your pH at all, it all depends on the specific peice of wood and how hard your water is too.

 

[waterdrop]

OM47, what is your opinion about the independent nature of pH and mineral content? My (perhaps oversimplification) take on it is to think of it somewhat as a oneway street: Changing mineral content will sometimes change pH as a consequence but changing pH will not change mineral content (or at least the kind of pH changes we would see in a tank wouldn't.)

The reason I'm bringing this up is that frequently the reason a beginner would express a desire to change pH is because they have heard or read that particular species of fish do better in particular pH ranges. But I think we've discussed in the past that the real sensitivities of the species usually lie in their mineral content preferences (if indeed a given species has much narrowing of range at all as compared to typical available tapwater hardnesses) and pH is just a sometimes consequence of mineral content.

So the real concern that agusf has may not be getting to the surface here... what do you think?

WD

 

[karin]

I'm interested to see the responses to WD above as I am just starting to understand that issue. But the other thing is this. OP states Ph of tap is 8 to 8.5. I just wanted to know more about this. It seems like a quite large range. Ausf, are you using a liquid PH test for high PH ranges pr a strip test? You should have the liquid test specifically for high PH ranges. Is this tap water from a municipal water source? A well? It just seems like tap water would not range/swing like that. The other thing, and I am new so this is based on experience not academic knowledge, but my tank is stable at 8 PH and I have been fine with fish and plants. Now I know I may not be able to get Discus and German Blue Rams and other Ph sensitive species but other tank bred species are doing fine from tetras to cichlids to plecos to cory cats, to snails and shrimp and plants etc.

I need to get some mineral tests so I can figure out that end. We all say our mineral content is high around here but that is because of the marks it leaves on sinks and such.

 

[waterdrop]

I'm interested to see the responses to WD above as I am just starting to understand that issue. But the other thing is this. OP states Ph of tap is 8 to 8.5. I just wanted to know more about this. It seems like a quite large range. Ausf, are you using a liquid PH test for high PH ranges pr a strip test? You should have the liquid test specifically for high PH ranges. Is this tap water from a municipal water source? A well? It just seems like tap water would not range/swing like that. The other thing, and I am new so this is based on experience not academic knowledge, but my tank is stable at 8 PH and I have been fine with fish and plants. Now I know I may not be able to get Discus and German Blue Rams and other Ph sensitive species but other tank bred species are doing fine from tetras to cichlids to plecos to cory cats, to snails and shrimp and plants etc.

I need to get some mineral tests so I can figure out that end. We all say our mineral content is high around here but that is because of the marks it leaves on sinks and such.

Right, Agus is probably new to all this and I anticipate that if this thread is typical, we'll try to check on a few things and then possibly reassure him that stable pH is the name of the game for a wide range of fish, so we've got that discussion going.

Meanwhile, your post may start a second, more advanced, discussion, but that's ok as long as we can all keep them straight. I agree with your plan that gathering information via testing helps give a better baseline to understanding. I use both Tetratest and API GH and KH liquid test kits to determine my general hardness and carbonate hardless numbers and I've found that helpful to my learning (I often feel that testing is about learning as much as its something that's actually necessary for actions.) I believe that OM47 also uses an electronic probe for his TDS results but I could be remembering someone else. Incidently, OM47 just made an excellent post about pH in one of our other beginner threads if you didn't catch it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

i wish I could still PM WD on this but his mail box is full. I find that mineral content is really the main thing that I need to consider. If water conditions show a large KH, I am quite comfortable suggesting an approach that focuses on the present GH hardness and merely suggests that it be reduced. If the problem seems to be more a case of a high GH, the real answer is often more a case of changing the target KH. Since both situations arise quite often, I am not often comfortable with the call about which approach will be best.