Setting the PH by chemicals

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DarrenDownUnder

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
7
Location
Geelong, Australia
Hi everyone - I am new to this forum and I am from Australia so if you respond to my post, please talk s l o w. The sun plays hell on my brain. I was wondering if anyone knows what chemicals are used to set PH to a specific level - like 6, 7 or 8. We have a product here by Aquarium Pharaceuticals called PH Proper but I need about 1000 kilograms of it which would be more than Australia GDP. Even if someone knows of someone who can help me, I am more than happy to pay for a technical persons assistance.

I am going to spend some time looking over this site because, fair to say, I have not seen anything the size of this in Aus.

Regards

Darren :p
 
Hi, there are products sold by API (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc.) called "pH Up" and "pH Down" which you might want to check out. Btw, how come you need so much?!

However, I always recommend using chemical products as a last resort. There are more natural ways to get the pH in your tank to be a certain level: it depends whether you want to reduce it (i.e. make it more acidic, below 7, or make it more alkaline, above 7)?
You can use tank ornaments such as limestone rock, bogwood and so on which will all alter the pH. You'd need to spend more time, sure, getting it right, but your pH only needs to be around a given level for it to be acceptable to your fish.
Fish do fine within a certain range of pH: you're not going to find they'll all die if you need 6 and the tank is at 6.1 ;-)
 
Agreed. Only use a pH altering product after all other avenues have been tried. Something else you can look into would be compressed CO2 which would allow for a very specific pH (with a pH controller) while not technically adding chemicals. This would allow you to easily be between 6.0 and 7.4 depending on the pH of your starting water. Not to mention allowing for a very nice planted setup if you so wish.

And are you sure that wasn't a typo? 1,000 KILOgrams? Are you trying to change the pH of a lake/river?

I'd be very interested to know what the target "tank" size is. :)
 
hello darren and welcome. do you mind telling us what it is you are trying to accomplish and your goals? a few more details would help us you may get better results this way.
 
Avoid chemicals completly. Unless your pH is so low or so high that it is killing your fish, don't alter it. If it is too low add some crushed coral to the tank. It will naturally raise the level and keep it stable. A stable pH is better than a perfect pH. Stores need to stop selling those products that claim to alter the pH. It's a temporary fix and the level will go back to normal after a few days.
 
imho i use discus buffer i havent figured out a way to lower it any other way at the the time.
And my ph has stayed stable for months. I tested regualary and gave up due that it stays the same. i may use it but its stable and my fish and i are happy until i can find/afford something that will do it for me.
i dont use anything else , some discus trace and prime.
in some cases i beleive fishyfantic is right, but i got lucky.
The only products i do like using for anything in my tank is seachem
 
Thankyou for your replies. I need so much because I want to include it in a product for resale which does (among other things) sets the PH to pre-defined level. As I said, Aquarium Pharaceuticals does this but I could not get the quantities I want at a cost effective price. I hope that clears up a few things. One thing for sure, I am not going to alter any lakes. "This portion of your post has been removed as it is in violation of the User Agreement. Continued violations of the User Agreement could lead to you being removed from the site"

Thanks again
 
That makes total sense now. :) I think a lot of us where thinking, hmm, this guy can't be up to anything good, or, this is a multimillionaire trying to build a 5000 gallon tank in his palace.

As to your question: The problem with selling a pH buffer for a specific pH (and not a range), is that you don't know the conditions of the tank your product will be going into. Do they have hard water and alot of dissolved organics, or is their water so soft that the pH is already in the 6's. Because you don't know this in advance, a company making a pH buffer product needs to overcompensate, that is, make a buffer so strong that it will shift any tanks pH to where you need it. I don't like this, not one bit.

Now factor in that unlike a beaker of water, this is a tank with living organisms constantly using and creating chemicals, and you realize very quickly that the pH will not stay where it is meant to for long periods of time.

So if your intentions are pure (ie selling a viable product that benefits a tank), I'd leave out the pH buffer.
 
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