Lowering PH?

[iheartjeffrey]

I purchased the neutral regulator by seachem and my pH is staying at 7.6? I've tried it several times and it's not budging. Could someone help me?

 

[Byron]

There is a reason which I will explain. But first, do not use pH adjusting products in an aquarium with fish, it will harm them and may kill them. If fish are present, do a major water change to remove most of this chemical.

Now for the reason. The pH is tied to your GH (general or total hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness or Alkalinity). CO2 (carbon dioxide) is also a major factor, but it is the GH and KH primarily. Depending what these levels are, the pH is unlikely to change unless the GH and KH are adjusted. I am not going to get into this as it is very complex and without knowing the numbers difficult to predict.

You (we) first need to know the GH, KH and pH of your source water. Second, we need to know these numbers for your aquarium water because substances in the aquarium can/may impact these.

 

[Essjay]

You should be able to find the GH of your tap water - probably called hardness - on your water provider's website. We need the number and the unit.


Which species of fish you have?

 

[iheartjeffrey]

You should be able to find the GH of your tap water - probably called hardness - on your water provider's website. We need the number and the unit.


Which species of fish you have?

How do I find that info from the water provider? I believe it's called yes energy management...

We have some fancy guppies, platys, and mollies.

 

[Essjay]

I googled that company and they don't provide any information as they seem to be just a billing company. You can take a sample of both your tap water and tank water to an LFS and ask them to test both for GH and KH - but make sure they write down the numbers and the units, not give you words like slightly hard or whatever.

You do not need to lower your pH for those fish. Platies need pH 7.0 to 8.2; guppies and mollies 7.0 to 8.5. Your pH 7.6 is within their ranges.