My Amazon Tank

[Aquaboy]

My tank very much resembles an amazon one. I found out that all my fish happen to be from South America (Amazon river). I need some help though. I want sand as a substrate. How do I get and keep pH levels down? What kind of sand is good for this type of aquarium? (Won't raise pH) Where do you get this sand?

Pictures Coming Soon

[czcz]

Search archives for "Home Depot playsand." Many discussions and tips for testing inert sand.

[mattrox]

Don't worry too much about keeping the pH down. Just keep it stable. It is a lot of work trying to keep pH low and stable at the same time.

[acronym:d90dabfb36="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:d90dabfb36] injection can achieve a stable and low pH.

Pre-mixing water (eg tap and [acronym:d90dabfb36="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:d90dabfb36]) can be used to keep it soft.

Pre-treating water with peat can keep the pH down, just make sure the water is the same pH as the tank. A lot of work to achieve.

I think that stable pH is far more important that the trying to achieve a 'target' pH.

[travis simonson]

Originally Posted by mattrox

I think that stable pH is far more important that the trying to achieve a 'target' pH.

[acronym:fd16b282d7="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:fd16b282d7] it's a lot easier to kill fish with a drastic change in pH than it with a change in [acronym:fd16b282d7="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:fd16b282d7] or [acronym:fd16b282d7="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:fd16b282d7] so keep a close eye on things as you do your water changes, if you do change the substrate. Some fish do not tolerate it very well.

[Aquaboy]

Thank you all. Your advice will go to good use.

[TankGirl]

There are lots of options for sand that will not buffer your water. My personal favorite is pool filter sand. Cheap, coarser grain than playsand (won't fly around the tank so much) and is inert.