How to lower PH

tommyh1977

Hi hopefully someone can help me. I have a water ph of 8.2 at the moment. My tap water is 7.2. Problem is I introduced some neon tetras without realising they prefer a lower ph. I need to bring my ph down regardless but was wondering the best way to do this. I know you can buy ph down etc but have read the buffers in the water will have it back up in no time again and this constant change in ph can be more stressful on the fish.

Sleepy

Bog wood will generally lower your PH in a stable and natural manner that's safe for the fish.

It can make your water a little murky though (slight yellow cast in my experience) as the tanins are released from the wood.

campo

My PH is 7.2 and I recently added some Neon Tetras and they all seem fine so I dont think you need to lower it that much, some people say add Moss Peat ???

tommyh1977

Hi, excuse my ignorance but where is best to get bogwood? I presume as it name implies it has a peat content, therefore adding moss peat, where would i do that?

Sleepy

Most fish / pet stores will have suitably pre-treated wood for fish tanks.

fred funk }{

tommyh1977 wrote: »

Hi hopefully someone can help me. I have a water ph of 8.2 at the moment. My tap water is 7.2. Problem is I introduced some neon tetras without realising they prefer a lower ph. I need to bring my ph down regardless but was wondering the best way to do this. I know you can buy ph down etc but have read the buffers in the water will have it back up in no time again and this constant change in ph can be more stressful on the fish.

What's in your tank that raises it from 7.2 to 8.2?

Neons will do just fine in 7.2 but as others said, bogwood will slowly lower it. KH is more important than pH. KH is the waters buffering capability to changes of the pH, the higher the better as it means the pH will remain very stable.

And as you know, sudden changes of the pH is deadly to fish. Water chemistry is a real head wrecker lol.

paddy147

A digital CO2 injection system is a great way to keep a stable PH level.

Senor Willy

Why is your pH jumping up to 8.2. What is the substrate / rocks in the
tank. These could be causing the jump.

As was already say. 7.2 is fine for Neons.

It is really dangerous dropping the pH. Much easier and safer to raise it.
Depending on your kh and size of your tank, Bogwood won`t drop it
down. You might need to add tons of it to drop it down.
Moss peat is better. Put it in a tight in a sump ( if you have one ).
Don`t buy compost by mistake.

tommyh1977

OK Really confused now, test PH using ow range reagent in API Master kit and get a reading of 7.6 which is end of scale. Test again using high range reagent and get 8.2Any thoughts what I might be doing wrong?

fred funk }{

Not sure tommy. What is at the lower end of the high range kit? It looks like 8.2 could be the correct reading.

Senor Willy

Maybe the low end test kit only goes to 7.6

fred funk }{

Senor Willy wrote: »

Maybe the low end test kit only goes to 7.6

Yeah, maybe it will still show something even though the reading is much higher than highest mark on the test kit. 8.2 seems like the most likely reading.

Draupnir

A couple of home made coconut caves will lower PH a bit for you, I've got three in my tank and the fish love them as hiding places also.

tommyh1977

Have one coconut cave in there already, must get some more. They are the ones available in pet store's but don't seem to be coated or anything so I presume they are as natural as homemade ones.

Draupnir

I just buy a coconut in the shop, chopped it in half and then carve a door out of it. If you boil them for about 30 minutes you can get the tannins out of it pretty well, but for the purpose of balancing the pH a bit, I'd throw them straight in without boiling.

I find the discoloured water goes well with my tank setup too.

tommyh1977

Just to let you know how I faired out finding a resolution to this, got some black alder cones in Underwater World in Castletroy Limerick. They are reducing the ph as we speak, and look quiet well scattered on the tank bottom!!
Thanks for all your help