Ph

[ryan2170]

The PH of my 20 gallon tank is 8.0, how can i lower it to 7.0?
does a water change ake any difference?

Thanks

 

[timmystood]

Providing it your pH stays stable, that is far more important than lowering it to neutral unless you are planning of keeping something really pH demanding.

 

[ryan2170]

ok thanks for the quick reply

 

[shang hi]

well im new to this too (tropical), but i had a small ph problem arouns 8.0 aswell, i got in down by doing a partual waterchange about 6 liters (1/5th of water in tank). and its now its running smooth, id give it ago (unless the tank has been running for under 6weeks, cos u need to wait for bacteria to build up).
anyway hope this helps.

 

[ryan2170]

cos u need to wait for bacteria to build up).

wont make much of a difference because most of the bacteria is in the filter media and the gavel!

 

[mark.w.jones]

If your tap water is close to pH 8.0 already then you've got no chance of making any change to your tank pH with water changes. Test your tap water first. Even if it is a lower pH than your tank it won't stabilise at that. Your only real options for lowering pH are bogwood in the tank (but this will certainly stain your water) or fluval do peat which you can put in your filter in a small bag. However... I wouldn't bother at all. Most fish will happily tolerate a higher pH than they are quoted to in the wild. In fact, few fish come from the wild anymore and most are captive bred, not usually in conditions matching those in the that they would experience in the wild. You may want to avoid sensitive fish or fish who prefer a very low pH but the vast majority will be fine.

 

[Musho3210]

agree with jones, unless you want to start a huge business of breeding rare colors of discus, i wouldnt worry lol.

 

[littlest]

Am I right in thinking you don't have fish yet? If so, just stock fish that like a higher pH. Much easier than trying to change the pH of your tank. When you are researching your potential new fish, just check the pH they like too (most fish profiles will include this info).

 

[rdd1952]

What is the pH of your tap water? If it is consideraly lower then it is very possible to get it back down. In that case, most likely you have something in your tanks that is raising it. If the tap pH is the same in the upper 7s to low 8s then there is nothing much you can do other than use RO and tap water for water changes.