lowering pH

[Phoenixphire55]

I have a 30 gallon tank with several mostly tropical fish in it, and I think the pH is a little high. The water is definitely hard too. I'm wondering what I can do to lower the pH and / or make the water less hard? I don't really want to buy any new devices, but what can I put in the tank or filter? Would putting wood in the tank make it less hard and more acidic?

 

[Zagz]

Don't worry about altering your ph, a stable ph is better than trying to adjust. You could add some driftwood to the tank, although I personally am not convinced it does all that much.

 

[Purrbox]

I concur with Anne. In most cases there is absolutely no reason to adjust your pH and a stable pH is much more important than a specific pH. Even though your fish might have lived in a certain pH in the wild most are several generations removed from the wild and perfectly well adapted to aquarium conditions.

 

[marchmaxima]

As someone who used to try to keep the PH in check artificially thinking it was the right thing to do, don't bother. Refer to what Joy and Anne have said here.

Remember, if it ain't broke, done fix it.

 

[pitt420dude]

I too have an alkaline ph which is 7.6 and my water is pretty hard but I don't seem to have any problems. There are some fish though, that don't do very well at all. I've never been able to sucessfully keep german ram cichlids or other amazonian species (but african rift lake species love our water).

 

[neilanh]

I'm with everyone else. please don't try to alter your pH or your kH. Although there are instances where I can see this being necessary, it's really not an easy thing to do, and over time it will cause you tremendous trouble.

Don't buy in fully to what salesmen or websites tell you about "ideal" pH conditions for fish. Fish much prefer to have a stable, non-ideal level than a level that shifts constantly if you're trying to control it.

 

[lukebailey]

What about in an exreme cricumstance? For example, the ph is at 8.2?

-Sorry to bring up a month old thread, but i thought it would be less intusive than creating a new one-

 

[JessieVB]

My pH is at 8.2 and I have a betta. He seems untroubled by the pH, so I wouldn't worry about one that high either.

I definitely agree with everyone, keeping things stable is definitely more important than having things perfect. I've never altered pH and have never had a problem with fish.