Hydrogen peroxide for Ph

[kevkev3321]

I was wondering if peroxide could be used to lower the Ph in my 10g planted

There's only plants and not fish at all

Or if anyone knows another alternative besides those bottles of PH adjuster

 

[mfdrookie516]

I honestly don't think it will lower it... after all, its just water with a little extra oxygen in it (h2o2). Why do you want to lower the pH?

 

[BigJim]

+1 Hydrogen peroxide dissociates into water and oxygen.

There's rarely any reason to need to lower the pH. The best way to do it is start with RO water and add the appropriate buffers to get the pH where you want it.

 

[kevkev3321]

well my new planted 10 gal has a Ph of ~8.6

isnt that a little too high?

i was reading that most plants require a Ph between 5 and 7.5 and it shouldn't be any higher

i was just looking for a reason not to buy the little bottle of "Ph down" or "Ph up"

however i did start my Co2 this morning and im going to check the Ph again when i get home

i just want this tank to be perfect and grow at its full potential

 

[fort384]

What kind of plants are you growing?

Obviously the CO2 injection will lower the pH quite a bit...

 

[kevkev3321]

right now i just have about a dozen small pieces of Elodea densa along the back wall but im going to the LFS when i get out of class to get either dwarf hairgrass or baby tears to create some kind of foreground

also im going to get some anubias nana and java moss

and i know the co2 will lower the Ph, my 100g always maintains a neutral Ph but my 100g is well established and and the 10g has only been going since sunday(if that has anything to do with Ph anyway )

 

[fort384]

It could settle one way or the other over time. I think once you get the co2 cranked up it will be fine for most plants.

What kind of light do you have? Baby tears and dhg need higher lighting to create a foreground effect.

 

[kevkev3321]

i have two 27w CFL 6500 bulbs which are each in their own homemade reflector hoods

i have plenty of light, over 5w per gallon and im using a soil substrate covered in 30 grit silica sand

i also added a dose of flourish excel so the plants have some available nutrients in the water

i have my lights on a 8 hour cycle and i have an air stone that only runs when the lights are off so that the co2 levels do not skyrocket overnight

 

[fort384]

flourish excel does not provide anything but a source of C.

With dhg or hc under high light, you will be looking at dosing N and K, and maybe P.

Good plan on the airstone/light cycle.

 

[kevkev3321]

Yea 8hours always seems to be the perfect amount of light, if I go up to 8.5 or 9 hours I get algae blooms

The soil substrate has a supply of nitrogen, potassium, iron, phosphorous, and carbon

And. Read that the soil will supply nutrients for years

 

[fort384]

ok, you will probably be good to go then for awhile. What kind of soil are you using, just out of curiosity?

 

[kevkev3321]

It's supersoil potting soil