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How to safely lower ph?


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Are you testing your water right out of the tap?

If so, fill a large Tupperware container with tap water, set it aside with an air stone running in it for 48 hrs, _then_ test that water.

That is the best way to ensure you’re getting a fair reading.

What are you using? Test strips? Titration drops? Digital?

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On 1/23/2024 at 8:23 PM, Fish Folk said:

Are you testing your water right out of the tap?

If so, fill a large Tupperware container with tap water, set it aside with an air stone running in it for 48 hrs, _then_ test that water.

That is the best way to ensure you’re getting a fair reading.

What are you using? Test strips? Titration drops? Digital?

I am testing the aquarium water and using the api freshwater master test kit…

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On 1/23/2024 at 8:53 PM, face said:

Is this the same tank you’ve been adding baking soda to? If so what is the ph/kh if your tap water a water change might be the easiest way 

Kh is 120 ppm ph is 8.2 ppm. Yes this is the same tank.

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On 1/23/2024 at 9:04 PM, face said:

What are you planning on getting? most fish will adapter to harder water if you water out of the tap is hard it might be easier just to leave it be 

White Cloud Mountain minnows. They can handle that I think…

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I’ve never kept them but they are notoriously hardy fish imo they would be perfectly happy in your water simple and stable is better than perfect that’s my two cents anyway 

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On 1/23/2024 at 9:12 PM, face said:

I’ve never kept them but they are notoriously hardy fish imo they would be perfectly happy in your water simple and stable is better than perfect that’s my two cents anyway 

Thanks yes I heard that!

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A drop of 8.2 to the low 7s is a pretty big shift to accomplish. 

However, believe it or not, muriatic acid (which is a weaker form of hydrochloric acid) can be very effective in dropping ph, but you have to do it a few drops at a time (depending on tank volume) and then wait a day or two and measure your Ph. Then add more drops if needed, measure again -- rinse, repeat -- until you know how much acid it take to lower your Ph to tyour desired target.

I know people will gasp at this concept, but it's pretty safe so long as you do the work to figure the proper amount needed to swing your water to the Ph you's like before doing this with fish in the tank.

However, this could get tedious as you'll need to measure PH on a periodic basis and re-dose to lower it again. 

My guess is that this is more or less similar to using something like API's Ph down, whose main ingredient is sulfuric acid. 

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On 1/23/2024 at 7:18 PM, Bigdog99 said:

How do I? Ph is 8.2 but I need it to be less. About 7 to 7.5…getting a school of fish soon..

If you use A LOT of driftwood / Leaf Litter, it will lower your PH naturally.

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Honestly I wouldn’t worry about your ph. As long as your water supply is stable and consistent, your fish will adapt. Especially if you’re getting fish from a local source. Ph is highly variable in the US. With over half the country having ph of around 8. And gh of at least 10. Kh usually around 7. Most aquarium fish as well as plants will do just fine in this water.
 

The places with the low ph and soft gh, kh are basically on the east coast, south east and Pacific Northwest.


Mountain west, Midwest, and south west all have hard to very hard water. And the fish are fine. Best way is to use your tap water and keep it consistent. 
 

that being said, some fish will have problems breeding successfully in hard water, but live just fine in it. Thinking of sensitive species like discus and rams.

As for plants, plants love hard water. The boost in calcium and magnesium is great for them. 

Edited by Tony s
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On 1/28/2024 at 12:18 AM, Tony s said:

Honestly I wouldn’t worry about your ph. As long as your water supply is stable and consistent, your fish will adapt. Especially if you’re getting fish from a local source. Ph is highly variable in the US. With over half the country having ph of around 8. And gh of at least 10. Kh usually around 7. Most aquarium fish as well as plants will do just fine in this water.
 

The places with the low ph and soft gh, kh are basically on the east coast, south east and Pacific Northwest.


Mountain west, Midwest, and south west all have hard to very hard water. And the fish are fine. Best way is to use your tap water and keep it consistent. 
 

that being said, some fish will have problems breeding successfully in hard water, but live just fine in it. Thinking of sensitive species like discus and rams.

As for plants, plants love hard water. The boost in calcium and magnesium is great for them. 

Oh cool. Nice thanks I am putting some WCMMs in this tank and some Anubius nana plus windelov java fern!!

@tolstoy21and @Dacotuathanks!!!

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