Ph Won't Go Down

[Biulu]

Hello,

I have had my 60 l tank up and running for 6 months now, planted and with fish and the pH stays at 8. The water is very hard here, and I am using drops to get the pH down, but it doesn't seem to work. The water I am using has a pH of 8 before putting it into the tank.

Every 7 - 10 days I do a water change, comprising of about 20%, and I vacuum the substrate.

What can I do to get it down to around 7ish?

 

[celaeno]

i think bogwood lowers the ph, so maybe you could put of that in your tank.

 

[Tolak]

Any reason you want to get the pH lower? Hardness stabilizes pH, you may get it down with additives, but it will rebound back up if you have hard water. The only safe alternative is to start with ro water. This will give you a blank slate so to speak to start with, as a reverse osmosis unit will remove nearly everything from your tap water.

 

[Tessla]

What kind of fish are you planning on keeping in there? I've got hard water with a pH of 8 from the tap where I live, and no problems in my tanks, just very stable water with a high pH. Unless you're going for something finicky like discus or breeding, just stay with your tap water.

Using RO water as mentioned (cut with tap water or with nutrients added back in) or rainwater for water changes would get your pH down, but if you don't have fish with specific needs, don't bother. Putting some bogwood in your tank or filtering your water over peat wouldn't hurt anything if you want to get your pH down a bit, but it likely won't go as low as 7.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

a stable pH is the most important thing, there's no problem with a pH of 8 so long as your a little careful with your fish selection. It's much worse for it to be fluctuating while you try to get it down

 

[Biulu]

Thanks for all the replies ! I wanted to get it down to between 7 and 7.5 just for the fish to be more comfortable (I am keeping gouramis and serpae tetras), although I have not had any calamities since I've had this tank.

I will try the peat filtering. Thanks again, guys!

 

[gpgscott]

As many earlier poster have already said, stability is more important than a particular number. The RO route is expensive and then you have to remineralize. Unless you need a particualar pH for say breeding purposes I would not worry about it. Scott