PH verses vinigar

[simonbrown403]

Heres one for you, my dads just got him self a master test kit, and he's keeps going on about his PH, and bringing it down from 7.4 to about 6.6, for soft water specises, i,ve give him all the usuall advice.

The thing is he keeps going on about using vinigar to bring the PH down, which dose work, but is it safe for the fish

Anyone know

 

[pica_nuttalli]

well, technically it *would* bring down the pH but the effect would be mostly temporary. inconsistent water conditions are worse for fish than perfect conditions are better. using vinegar would also only affect the pH and not any of the underlying causes for a low pH--it'd be a bandaid when you really need stitches.

go with peat and diluting your water changes with reverse osmosis water. driftwood/bogwood will also help lower pH at a relatively constant rate, but won't affect water hardness.

 

[SirMinion]

Apart from being acidic, vinegar also contains sugar and a huge range of other compounds most of which are organic and will decompose and foul the water.

Bad idea.