Lowering PH to 7.0

[bullyboy]

So i have quite a bit of driftwood 3 pieces and half my tank is substrate is sand and the other is Florite (that clay shale lookin type stuff)
The stones all test as not being the type that raise Ph.
My Ph is constantly at a high 7.? - 8.0
I do have a small bit of biomax in the filter with carbon cartridges in my aqueon filter.
Any ideas to lower it ??

 

[Brookster123]

What type of fish are you wanting to keep?

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[bullyboy]

Ive already have a betta and Rasbora in the tank pictured above.
Amano shrimp and a couple snails.

I know i need to drop the PH but im not sure what else i can do.
Ive thought about RO water but i dont want to crash my buffer to quick either

 

[Brookster123]

Crash your buffer? Ro is the only way imo. If everyone in there is healthy why mess with it?

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[bullyboy]

The buffer that water has which stabelizes PH to a certain degree.
If you knock it down to drasticly to quickly (like with a prodict like "PH Down") it can cause a cycle crash and kill yer BB.
They are fine now but its not good long term for these species.
Also i wanna take out the Drift wood and tannins as well as benefit my plant growth.

 

[bullyboy]

Crash your buffer? Ro is the only way imo. If everyone in there is healthy why mess with it?

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Is there a way to use RO water to drop the ph buffer but then not have to keep using it.

Also:
KH is 89.5 (5 drops)
Gh is 125.3 (7 drops)

Would lowering my GH bring it down?

 

[Brookster123]

Yah, use ro.. you can cut your tap with ro. I use a 70/30tap mix.

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[Autumnsky]

Just check your KH and make sure that it is not hanging to low for buffering. I am not too scientific. This looks interesting to help.

Water Chemistry: pH, GH and KH What are they all? - Scott Thomson

 

[acewiza]

I started using crushed coral as a layer in the canister filter to push pH down a bit. Our tap water is just slightly high, so it seems to be a good solution for us - suggested by Caliban.

 

[Brookster123]

I started using crushed coral as a layer in the canister filter to push pH down a bit. Our tap water is just slightly high, so it seems to be a good solution for us - suggested by Caliban.

Crushed coral is primarily used to raise the ph, not sure how it would help in this case??

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[acewiza]

Right, sorry - don't know why I was thinking dyslexically about that. It's been awhile since I was struggling with pH and must've completely forgotten what I was doing at the time.

 

[bullyboy]

My ph outa the tap is 7.0 on the mark.

 

[bullyboy]

It just is getting bumped up to 8 in tank

 

[bullyboy]

Picked up some alder cones on a hike today so maybe?

 

[Caliban07]

I'm with Brookster in the sense that if everyone is healthy why mess?

As for the buffer and pH affecting BB. This is not likely. BB do rely on alkalinity for nitrification but what we thought we knew about BB is changing rapidly. It would seem that Ammonia oxidising archaea (AOA) are becoming forerunners for the predominant ammonia oxidising responsibility as opposed to (AOB). There are studies that support this theory. Not wanting to get too scientific my point is that we should be careful generalising theories about the microorganisms in our tanks based on old information. I had my ph running in to the 5s and my tank was running fine. It would seem that there is a suite of microorganisms that are capable of carrying out their tasks in most environments.

Try not to worry too much about pH despite what you read in on the internet

[emoji846]

Edit: if you really want to lower it then RO is the way to go.

 

[Fresh2o]

My ph outa the tap is 7.0 on the mark.

Let it sit out overnight and test it again. It might actually be higher than 7.0 after gas dissipation.
IMO the pH is fine.

 

[bullyboy]

Would a high ph atribute to wilting Microswords or holes or fraying edges in anubias leaves?

 

[Brookster123]

Would a high ph atribute to wilting Microswords or holes or fraying edges in anubias leaves?

More likely a deficiency of sorts, than again if the water is too far away from desired parameters they're not going to grow right. You use ferts?

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[bullyboy]

Ya flourish liquid and tabs

 

[Brookster123]

Lighting?

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