help decrease ph,kh

[jcardona1]

i'm struggling to understand why you won't buy the RO???? if you cannot replace the fish, then i'd be saying you gotta wear the costs of gettin the right water to keep it sane and healthy. Also making assumptions about water conditions is never a good idea really ... assumption is truly the mother of all f**k ups. get the hardness test kits and find out exactly how hard your water is first, then plan how to manage it.

IMO RO water is definitely the way to go

I second that. Was about to say the same thing. I will add on bit that was left out. The first mistake was to get a fish that isn't compatible with your set ups or the facilities to make proper changes.

You may want to consider taking it back to the seller if it's not too late for a refund and look into something else. Since you haven't stated what the fish is or any other real details it's kind of making it harder to help you.

*pH is not a reading of hardness, but of acidity level.

This. Either get an RO system and do it the right way, or buy fish that will live comfortably in your water. PH has nothing to do with hard or soft water. It's your GH. KH is your buffering capacity, and all it does is help keep your ph steady.

 

[PostalPenguin]

you lack the basic understanding, the fundamentals, of water chemistry to be playing chemist. Don't play chemist. Sell your fish and buy an ant farm.

That is a little unfair considering he/she is trying to learn how to do it properly.

Anyways, if you are unwilling to buy an RO system your best bet to lower the hardness of the water reliably is to get bottled RO/DI water. Adding acids like citric acid or even acetic(vineagar) will cause a temporary drop in pH but they are biodegradable and eventually the pH will go back up.

 

[Red_Belly_Pacu]

Textbook: A stable ph is a lot better than trying to adjust the ph in your aquarium.

But this is just my opinion.

 

[h1n1]

Nothing in this thread makes any sense and seems like a gigantic troll to me.

1.) You haven't tested any parameters yet you need to change them
2.) You haven't named this "expensive fish"
3.) You've tried "driftwood, oak, peat, almond leaves" yet can't spend money on RO/CO2
4.) You won't use CO2 even though it's heavily planted and you need to lower your pH
5.) You're willing to risk massive plant loss (expensive) but you're not willing to spend the money to get an RO system to fix all your problems permanently
6.) Adding juice... Really?

I'm not trying to be mean, but come on. If this IS serious, please just get the real long term solution which is an RO system. You can probably find one used if you look.

well idk if the exact info is completely nessacarry, all u need to kno is that i need soft acidic water, and the cost of a ro is very expensive pluss the electricty bill need be no more than nessacary so a diy method is cheaper all i need to kno was weather raw friut juice is a viable idea but apparently u think its not so thnks for your help

 

[h1n1]

You still haven't given sufficient information on what type of fish or hardness levels. Essentially, you are wanting to soften the water you are putting in which means taking particles out of the water, mainly CaCO3 an other carbonates. A much more difficult task than adding them. you will then lower the ph closer to neutral 7pH.

The DIY ways like peat moss or in your case lemon juice just adds acids to the water. Citric acid I believe reacts with CaCO3 to form Ca(C6H5O7)2 + 3 H2O. I have no idea if calcium citrate is good for your tank. Also, if you using lemon juice, you are better off using just citric acid. At least you wouldn't be putting other organic material in your tank from the lemons.

The fish is also probably more affected by the hardness of the water and not the alkalinity because of osmosis and buoyancy. So we get back to removing particles. Reverse Osmosis is the most cost effective way to do this. Continually buying Peat Moss and gallons of lemon juice, in the long run DIY methods will generally far exceed the initial cost of a good RO system.

Or don't buy soft water wild caught specimens. Stay with locally bred or wild caught fish from hard water.

thank u for ypur helpful response. i see what you mean by the hardness but i was hoping to combat that with acid, and time bc minerals disapate ad some evaporate in time pluss plants eat a lot of minerals like potassium, iron etc.. but i do bi-weekly to monthly waterchanges bc my plants do most of the work for me nitrogen wise, so i like to leave it without changing the water bc i want he acid to build up naturally in the tank from the fish/waiste/xtra foods. which create oc2 so i need no co2 system, they are normally a waiste of time and money aslong as you set up your tank and plants correctly

 

[jpierce3]

You seem to be very misinformed. Minerals do not evaporate. H2O evaporates and leaves minerals behind. For instance, you living with hard water have noticed lime deposits on in your shower or dishes? That is mainly CaCO2. The main culprit in your tanks. If it evaporated with the H2O then you wouldn't have build up residue.

They also don't dissipate. Some may be absorbed by plants but they don't magically leave the tank. You are kind of correct with the decaying organic material. The decomposition process will produce CO2 in the form of carbonic acid. Your plants probably consume that immediately as you said it was heavily planted. In fact, they probably are using all of the available CO2 in the water.

The reason CO2 injection is used is because with the right amount of lighting, Nitrogen, and trace elements, the plants utilize the CO2 faster than it can dissolve back into solution from the air or other sources can produce. CO2 dissolves more readily in lower temperatures which our tanks aren't. CO2 injection is not by any means a waste of money, though it can be a very expensive venture for sure. It allows plants to grow at their maximum potential. Though not necessary, there a lot of benefits to maximum plant growth. They will generally out compete algae, create a richly oxygenated environment for fish, allow for propagation and sale, and of course general aesthetics.

Anyway, the real question is: how is your fish doing?