High PH -- Tap Water

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Anyone else have other suggestions on this matter?


I'm doubting that vinegar will work since its only what 5% acidic? Trying to think of other ways to soften up the water. Distilled water / Purified water gets costly.

They are also newish fish owners, So im showing them the ropes per say.
 
Well,

No luck really on the vinegar. Only applied a little bit. Was in a rush. Seems the PH settled a little since the tank has been filtering.


However, Bad news. And a face palm moment. I walk into the house and they have the 55G filled with rocks, from local rock place. Lace, slate and other pebbles.. Looks good but no substrate doh.

And then I see two new fish.. a tricolor shark, and what looked like some type of barb. All I could do was roll my eys.. Tanks only been filtering for 2 days. No heater. ( Florida though )

The sisterl whom im helping setup her 25 wants to wait till she gets back from vacation before I do any more. Will need water change etc... Any other suggestions to getting water Ph down.
 
I don't know about the other rocks but I know for sure the lace rock is going to up the PH. In my experment it knocked up my PH by .3 Try putting a piece of driftwood in there.
 
Ksane;2019890; said:
You should leave it alone, upper & lower products will do nothing but make the fish sick and the environment unstable. If he's got fish that are sooo sensitive that they have to have soft water to live (like wild-caught breeding Discus) then he needs to be mixing RO water with tap water to soften it, NOT adding those pH upper and lower products.
Click to expand...

This post is soooooo CORRECT!:headbang2

Leave the water alone, if you start in with all that chemistry you are never going to keep fish alive. Every water change will potentially cause wild swings in pH. Those will harm the fish, living in high pH water is not going to hurt unless they are soft water fish and wild caught, even discus can be grown up in hard alkaline water. I know becase my water averages around 8 pH.

The only way you will keep the pH down is to remove the source of all that alkalinity such as mentioned above by belnding in RO water. You will not win the battle no matter what anyone tells you about how good a product is. You can lower the pH with things like peat moss, driftwood, and vinegar but it will NOT stay low if you do proper water changes. And the alkalinity will be high, which most all fish that like low pH will not like.
 
Thanks for the responses. I'm helping these people out, friends of mine. And they are new to the fish experience, Looking to show them the right ways.

Peet moss added under the gravel or into the filter will more or less make the water not be clear, but be more of a hassle fo them.

All water prior to water changes will be treated with a PH buffer so the fish are not shocked.

I already have PH regulator for them. Added it directly to tank after water was added.. Going to do water change with the regulator added.

They do not have a canister, so any water polisher or softener is out of the question. I'm pushing them to get a canister for the 55G along with their HOB filter. But doesn't seem as they will.

The PH DID come down slightly, Stil high 7.4+. But it is higher coming out of tap. The PH neutral did have small impact.

I'll look into a small piece of driftwood for the 25G tank for her.

Other suggestions?

if not, Just will shoot to keep PH ~7.4 - Fish will have to get use to it.
 
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