How to naturally lower pH?

[J-D]

My pH level is pretty high - at 8. The fish I have at the moment seem really happy and I don't really want to start putting too many chemical treatments in the water and making the conditions fluctuate but I was wondering if there's a natural way to bring the pH down a little - any particular kind of plant I could put in there or something? Or if I should just leave it alone?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

dont add chemicals...unneaded. there IS a natural way. whenever you put a piece of driftwood in your tank, depending on how big i would think...it will lower the pH. also, i think its called peat moss or something...well you put it in your filter. theres probably a bunch more that you could put in your filter, but i dont know the names of them, even tho i know i've heard a few more for sure. If you have room, i'd do the piece of driftwood, just because it adds so much to the tank.

and i wish my water came out at 8.0.....mine comes out at like, 7.4 and i got a salt tank

 

[J-D]

OK thank you I'll do that. Can I pick up driftwood from the lfs or just grab it off the beach (sounds like a good excuse to book a surfing trip!)

 

[sir_dudeguy]

well, if you buy it in the stores, you'll quickly find that they usually rip you off as far as price on it. you can definately go and get one off the beach, but you'd have to do a bunch of stuff to it...i think i saw where someone said that you should clean it w/a very mild bleach solution, but dont do that yet...wait for someone else to approve of that, as i'm not 100% sure on that...and i know for sure that you should boil it...get as big of pot as you can, and if it fits in it, boil it (not sure how long tho) or if it wont fit, boil water, and dump it in a rubbermaid tub or somethin w/the wood in it. you'll probably find that while its soaking in the hot water, it will turn the water very brown. Nothing to worry about, as its just the tannins coming out of the wood...kinda like how tea works, this will just stain the water that color. But if you continually empty and refill the water that its soakin in, it should go away after a while...i still get a little bit out of mine after about a year, but its to a point where its only getting dark about 1 or 2 times a month, right when i do my water changes, then its back to clear. You could also run carbon in your filter, and that makes the water really clean.

also, you might have trouble getting it to sink...only time (and hot water i think) can make it sink, unless you're really impatiant (like i was) and use something to weight it down..i had mine floating in water in a rubbermaid out in the arizona sun for the whole summer, and it still wasnt sinking completely. I had also been putting a brick on it to sink it...well i got impatient and decided to just tie a baggie full of sand to it, which was all that it needed.

hope this helps

 

[talloulou]

Personally I prefer buying driftwood because if you don't know wood you may end up putting wood in the tank that is too soft and it will eventually rot. I like to buy the african driftwood because it's self sinking and that way you don't have to mess with figuring out how to weight it down. Well worth the money for the time and trouble saved in my opinion.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

yeah, buying has that great advantage as said above, and takin it from the beach is free, where if you were to buy it, you'd be surprised at how overpriced it is...but even saying that, all mine is bought. i've got something that was sold as "bogwood"...not sure how it differs, but it does the same thing to the water. and the other one i got is a big grapevine...sold for reptiles, but a lot of people use it w/no problems, nor have i had any besides the sinking, which is what everyone else says about it too.

 

[shawmutt]

I have a piece of african root wood in my tank, I love it.

As far as lowering the pH, the only way I have gotten consistent results is to buy ro water and use that. Driftwood may lower pH over time, but water changes with high pH water will minimalize the effect and may cause harmful effects to the fish.

The most important thing is to have a steady pH. If your fish are happy there's no reason to mess with water parameters.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya thats true...if your pH is fluctuating, it can cause shock, and thats definately not good for the fish..also, would a piece from africa have as much of an affect do you think? just wondering, because i know that in africa they got higher pH, so would a piece from there really lower pH much? i dont know, just a thought.