Lowering Ph

[Chuka1212]

Just did some tests with my testing kit that finally came in the mail (it beats taking a sample to my LFS every week). Anyways, Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia are all at 0 ppm, but my pH was approaching 8.0 and I am keeping Amazonian fish in my 25 gal. I already had mopani driftwood which I thought would acidify the water a bit, but it doesn't seem to.

Do the pH lowering chemicals they sell at the fish store work? Any other ideas on how to lower pH?

 

[dixaisy930]

What exact fish do you have? And are you hoping to breed them?

Stay away from those chemicals...nothing but trouble. They will send your pH into swings, which is far worse than a pH of 8.0.

 

[Chuka1212]

What exact fish do you have? And are you hoping to breed them?

Stay away from those chemicals...nothing but trouble. They will send your pH into swings, which is far worse than a pH of 8.0.

I have two angels, cories, a few neon tetras, a rubber lipped pleco, and a bolivian ram. I am not planning on breeding, but I wouldn't complain if I had a mated pair of angels...

 

[dixaisy930]

I think they would probably be ok. How long have you had them?

I'm tetering on the ram though....it might want that lower pH. I would ask the cichlid section, they'll give you a better idea on how the ram would do long term in that pH.

 

[AndreaC]

Hi. My Ph is 8.0 and all my fish are fine with it. I have a blue ram, neon tetras, penguin tetras, mollies and corys. I find driftwood can help lower it but only when water changes are minimum (which you need a good mature stable tank for)

 

[Callum]

driftwood doesnt tend to do much unless you have a relatively low KH. Ro is the best option for PH lowering but it is quite expensive.

 

[Chuka1212]

driftwood doesnt tend to do much unless you have a relatively low KH. Ro is the best option for PH lowering but it is quite expensive.

What's Ro?

PS Thanks to all that have responded

 

[Callum]

Reverse Osmosis this is pure water. you can buy it from your LFS or you can buy a unit which makes it. The water is 99% free of pollutants however you will need to add minerals back in. You can do this by mixing it with tap water and the amount of tap you add can adjust the water to any PH or GH to suit the fish. However particularly with larger tanks it can be expensive to buy from the LFS. A unit is the alternative but RO still wastes a lot of water and can take a while to fill a bucket.