Ready to try anything...

[WendiDell]

they wouldn't give filter material, so it was gravel or nothing

I wish you were closer, I have both gravel and extra filter media that I grow nitrAtes on in a 5g bucket. Sometimes when you have to add medication to your tank it not only kills whats ailing your fish, but it kills the NitrAtes too. By growing my own nitrAtes in a bucket, I know it's safe and that there is no way to get any hitch hikers.

After you've cycled your tank you may want to try the bucket thing. It's saved my butt and that of few a friends more than once

 

[Fishy123]

It's something that you should never do.

Aquarium product manufacturers constantly want to try to make us believe that aquarists are also chemists. I (and most on these boards) don't have a chemistry degree, and don't need one to keep an aquarium either.

More often than not, tap water is just fine for aquariums. There's never a good reason to use chemicals to modify the pH of the water you add to your tank. However, if you feel it absolutely necessary, using natural methods to raise or lower pH is a much better option. Peat moss and driftwood tannins are a good way to lower pH naturally, and crushed coral is a good way to raise it naturally.

I didn't add the pH down to adjust the pH. An article on this forum and several members suggested using a small amount of it to add phosphates to the water. It was suggested the bacteria I am trying to grow need phosphate and if things aren't moving along well, that could help speed it up.