Help with Remineralizing RO Water and keeping Acidic pH?

[TheDojoMojo]

Hello all,

I am setting up a tank in which I hope to breed German Blue Rams. I live in Texas, and my tap water is hard with about 10 dGH and 6 dKH, as well as a pH of ~8. So, I will be using an RO/DI unit to fill this tank. I am looking for a remineralization method that would restore the RO water's GH and KH to an ideal level, while not raising my pH, since I am looking for an acidic pH of around 6.5. My pH meter doesn't work for RO water according to the instructions, but it is my understanding that RO water tends to be around pH of 7? Anyways, I need a method to be able to keep my tank at a stable and slightly acidic pH using remineralized RO water.

Thanks!

[nabokovfan87]

Seachem sells acid buffer, which would work for your situation.

RO lowers GH, Acid buffer lowers PH/KH.

I would try to get something like that if this is going to be a long term setup for the tank.  Second to that, I would highly encourage it to be a tank with a lot of wood, tannins, Indian Almond Leaves, and Alder Cones.

It should lower PH by ~.3-.5 or so depending how much is used and the other water parameters seem to be "fine" for the sake of having a stable PH that doesn't crash easily week to week. (Specifically what I'm talking about is keeping the KH where it's at but only lowering PH)

[TheDojoMojo]

On 7/11/2022 at 1:49 PM, Pepere said:

Seachem also sells equilibrium to dial in gh to what you want.

 

and alkaline buffer to raise kh to where you wNt used with acid buffer to alter kh and ph.

Thanks guys. Will alkaline buffer raise pH as well, or just KH? I have never attempted a softwater tank before, so most of this is fairly new to me.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/11/2022 at 11:59 AM, TheDojoMojo said:

Will alkaline buffer raise pH as well, or just KH?

Alkaline buffer raises PH/KH.  Acid buffer lowers them.  You would add them at a ratio (seachem has some math on their website with these ratios) based on performing a small test in a bucket to determine what your goal is.

I ran a test for 3-4 days, dosing a very small amount until I was confident in how much to use during my WC.  Adjust it slowly, because it will cause stress if you're giving the tank a big swing in parameters.  As always, preconditioning water is best if you do something like this.

[TheDojoMojo]

On 7/11/2022 at 2:01 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Alkaline buffer raises PH/KH.  Acid buffer lowers them.  You would add them at a ratio (seachem has some math on their website with these ratios) based on performing a small test in a bucket to determine what your goal is.

I ran a test for 3-4 days, dosing a very small amount until I was confident in how much to use during my WC.  Adjust it slowly, because it will cause stress if you're giving the tank a big swing in parameters.  As always, preconditioning water is best if you do something like this.

Okay. I have heard negative things about chemical methods for changing pH. Are these ones safe? What natural ways would you recommend?

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/11/2022 at 12:07 PM, TheDojoMojo said:

Okay. I have heard negative things about chemical methods for changing pH. Are these ones safe? What natural ways would you recommend?

Raising KH/PH - Crushed Coral

Lowering KH/PH - Botanicals, tannins

I would argue that using the acid or alkaline buffer individually is "safe" but again, keep in mind that doing it to the water before you use that water for a WC is the safest way. The water that the fish and tank is in contact with will be constant and stable and you can adjust it as you need to. Once you start raising and lowering things trying to hit perfection, I think that's where people run into issues. In my case I'm going from KH being 40 ppm to KH being 60 ppm. (Eventually 80)

This is a necessity for me because I am having PH crash from 6.8 down to 6.0 fairly easily.