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One of my tanks, the Ph is about 7.4 and I would like it to be at about 6.8-7. How can I keep it lower, without using something like Ph down, because I want to keep it very steady for blue rams.

Kitty,

Although the literature maintains that rams prefer an acidic environment, this generally refers to their original habitat. Most rams are now farmed by breeders and withstand a wide range of pH.

In my experience, the fish do not tolerate a excess hardness. They prefer soft water in the context of GH and KH. You can create a soft water environment through the use of distilled water, RO water, de-ionized water or rain water with your tap or well water.

They also do not tolerate a build-up of nitrates. So, the key imo is soft water with lots of water changes.

Note that pure water with little hardness is very unhealthy for fish so do not use only distilled, RO or DI water. If you like, you can acidiy the "pure" water by filtering it through peat prior to mixing with your tap water.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Hi,
If you feel that you absolutely need to lower the pH of
the tank, another way of making your water more acidic
is through the use of Peat Moss.

Purchase it at any garden supply and be sure that it is
pure peat moss and contains nothing else. (sometimes they
use additives to make terrestrial plants grow better or
to make the moss retain moisture for dry seasons)

Place a handful or two inside the toe
of a pantyhose leg, tie it off, and place the assembly
inside your filter. It will gradually lower your water pH.
Don't pack it tight as you want the water to flow through
it, and, don't put in in the intake side of the filter, put
it in the output side. If you place it in the input side
it will rapidly clog up with "junk" from inside the tank.
You want it on the filtered side, the output side.

There are also chemicals that can safely be added to the
tank, for instance, a product called pH Down which will
lower the pH. I would hesitate to use it however because
once you start relying on chemicals, you seem "doomed" to
keep buying them. Should you decide to use chemicals, get
them from any "Pool Supply" business. You will pay far,
far, less for them there than purchasing the same product
off the shelf at the LFS, and get them in larger
quantities.

Bob is right. Unless your fish are "wild caught" they have
been born and raised in fish farms where the water is
much closer to neutral (7.0) and as long as you keep the
water "clean" and a stable pH, most any fish will adapt.
Be sure to check the water that they came from (in the
LFS) and then if there is a difference acclimate them
to your water slowly. If there is a big difference, you
may want to use the "drip method."

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 16-Jan-2006 10:58

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Ok Thankyou very much, they are not wild caught. The shop I am getting them from their pH is 7.0. I just want to get the maximum beauty out of them!

I have been using peat for about a year, as long as I've had my tank. I lower the pH with adjust down because it comes out of the tap at 7.5 or higher. I adjust the water before it goes in the tank but within a few days it goes up again. Even in the bucket, I have tested this phenomenon. I want the water to be at 6.5 or 6.8 at the highest, otherwise the iron I add (Flourish Iron) doesn't stay in solution, the plants are showing iron/potassium deficiency. I have to add iron about every three days. I have just found out that the water from the tap is very hard and the kh is between 120 and 180 ppm. This is way above the target for a planted tank. I am looking for any way to quickly lower the kh and keep the pH and the kh down where I want to keep it. I am using peat, I may need to change it more often, I have some driftwood in both tanks, it is an option to add more as I can afford. I will be changing the gravel in the 25g this spring and I am considering adding peat under the substrate. I am also looking at changing from pH adjust down to Blackwater Extract. To adjust the pH from the tap to 6.5 it takes 6 times the recommended dose of 1 drop / gallon using the pH adjust down. I am not sure I like adding that much sulphuric acid to the tank or the buckets. I am even considering getting a hagen CO2 unit for it's pH lowering capabilities. Neither tank is high-light though so I haven't really looked at this as a viable option, unless it wouldn't cause any major problems.
Any ideas or advice here is greatly appreciated!

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

My tap water is also very hard with a high pH 7.8 - 8.0. I have been slowly lowering the pH and KH by using Distilled water changes every week. Once I get to a point when my KH and pH are where I want it, I plan on maintaining it by mixing my distilled water with tap.

It takes some work to find the right ratio for you, but once I'm done I hopefully shouldn't need to add any chemicals to the tank.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

im lucky, if my local fish stores RO water machine goes down, i can buy filtered water that is safe and has great buffering potential as well as ideal hardness.

i have never messed with ph too much, i buffer it to keep it consistent, and i use the "store bought" carbon filtered drinking water with a tap safe addative to it to reduce and hard chemicals or harmfull "stuff", and then buffer its ph before it hits the tank (i let it sit a week in containers before the water change).