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Peat is also expensive, lol.

I picked up a small container of Seachem Acid Buffer today, it says it will treat up to 700G.

So we will see what happens.

SEACHEM regulator, you can buy it at petco since i've been using it my ph has been a constant 7.0

me

I use pH-minus and/or boiled peat water with tap water. My difference is 6-6,5 in aquarium and 8,5 (if directly)from tap. 7,8 water to 7 tank will not cause stress by itself i think if other factors than pH are not very different and water changes are 50% or less.

So how do you lower the pH of the new water used for water changes? If someone has tap water that is 7.8, and they lower their tank to 7.0, wouldn't doing a water change with the 7.8 water cause a problem?

Thanks for the advice!

Impossible to say. Your tap KH and pH will determine how much you need. Also different peats used can have different effect. Further more how often you change water is how often you are rising pH again! Try with handfull or two and monitor with frequent pH tests what happens. Don't skip water changes because of this, they are more vital anyway.

Hello, I am also in the process of lowering the PH in my 120 litre tank. Does anyone have any ideas how long it would take for a handful of peat to lower the PH down to around 6.6? is a handful enough to achieve this or do i need more?

(I am using organic peat and for a huge bag it costs 2.99 here in the UK)

ThankJames

Go with Franks suggestion. Anything else is going to end in needless expense, yo-yoing PH and possible disaster.

Tan plants? Can't say I can think of any off-hand, except rotting ones ! Ludwigia Repens can have kind of a golden color in the right light.

Red plants = lots of light.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Trys: I'll have to speak to my fiance about that. I've used wood before for that purpose, but he seems to be enjoying this rocky look as it is right now. I'll show you what I have so far... provided I can FIND THE picture.

It's not done yet, I believe he wants to plant it with some tan and red coloured plants. Will be a nice take IF I can finally master aquatic plants =p

I personally use a combination of peat and a large chunk of mopani driftwood to lower my tank pH from 7.6 to about 7.0-7.2 for my rams. I highly reccommend using something that will release a lot of tannins into the water as it seems to make them most comfortable and shows off their colours really well.they also like to nest in and around driftwood IME so it's a really great thing to have. Now that I've moved my pH is only 7.2-7.4 out of the tap so I'm looking at getting it down to about 6.8 for breeding them.

EDIT: I forgot to mention blackwater extract. I don't use it as I like the look of big chunks of mopani wood in my tank to get the same effect but many ram breeders I've spoken to recommend it for breeding.

[span class="edited"][Edited by trystianity 2004-08-02 19:32][/span]

My water here ranges from about 7.7-8.0

I would like it to be more around 6.4-7.0 for a certain tank.

What can I do to achieve this, in a very detailed manner?

Cheers!

Hi,
The products that you mention do work - but, do you want
to be continuously purchasing that stuff? It is expensive.
The quickest, and least expensive way, is still to simply
add some peat to the filter.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I also would be glad to hear user reports on these products! I guess peat has week acids not lowering pH too low so easily. Also it binds some ++ ions making water softer. Guess it works quite similarily as those products. As Frank told earlier.
Adding a little pH minus with water changes would help then things go steady and smooth pH-wise.

Would it be a good idea to use any products from Seachem, like Discuss Buffer, etc etc?

pH minus solutions or HCl is one way. Have to be very carefull with those and check pH of the treated water that's going in and the tank pH after adding it. If the tank doesn't have too much fishes pH stays pretty well where you adjust it. I think rams do well even pH 5 but it's the speed of change that can be leathal. I use pH minus and peat for my blackwater fish. If the KH is high it's a lot of peat you need if used alone.

Hi,
As the tank is still cycling, "lets" hold off on
adding any more peat and see what the values are
once it stabilizes. As was mentioned in Gomer's
post you could also use driftwood, or RO water.
However... Properly cured driftwood, while it
will lower pH, will not lower it more than a
few tenths of points and it is not something one
can easily control. It would be hard to see the
pH lower "too much" and then have to decide if
you needed to saw off 1 inch, or four inches to
raise it back to a more desireable pH .
Controlling pH by the use of RO or distilled
water, is an expensive chore, as you have to
constantly keep purchasing the stuff (distilled
water), or the expense of the RO unit, and
replacement membranes.

The easiest way still remains, the use of peat in
the filter. Some place a layer in the tank, under
the gravel, but you cannot easily "adjust" the pH
that way. With the layer, the pH simply drops, and
stays as some value in the 6's.

Frank



-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

You could go about this a number of ways. Through the use of peat, driftwood, CO2 injection, R/O water, etc..

Seeing you are still cycling, wait a few more days then test the pH and KH again. If it hasn't gone down, add abit more.

BTW, what is the KH?

-- Gomer

[span class="edited"][Edited by Gomer 2004-07-30 07:56][/span]

It's for Ram Cichlids.

I have a little larger then a thumb sized amount of peat in the filter, pH is about 7.4-7.5 in that tank where as normally my tank water is 7.7-8.0

However, I am still cycling this tank and waiting to see what happens with the parimeters.

Should I wait longer to test the results again, or should I add in some more peat fiber?

Hi,
You don't say anything about the inhabitants of the
tank (fish,plants) so it is a bit difficult to give
the detailed directions you requested. But, perhaps
the easiest way is to simply add some peat to your
filter so that the water flows through it and back
into the tank.

Peat will soften, and acidify the water. How much
will depend upon how much peat you use. I'd go
slowly (a thin layer in the filter at first)and
see how much difference a handfull (for instance)
will make.

The pH drop will also depend upon the KH of the tank.
If it is high, then it could successfully buffer the
handfull, and you may need to increase the amount of
peat.

Also, be sure that any ornaments (rocks, substrate)
are not carbonate based. In other words they should
not be crushed coral, dolomite, oyster shells, or
limestone. They too will keep the pH high and modify
the affects of the peat.


Hope this helps...

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--