Using peat moss to lower pH

[Guest]

Ok, i bought some peat moss for my snake, to use as a moist humid hide, but i thought i could use some to help lower my pH because its always like 8.2. I put some in a stocking and rinsed it and put it in the filter, but i am afraid it will discolor the water.. im wondering if i should maybe mix it into the substrate? I was just wondering what the best way to do this without discoloring the water.

 

[rich311k]

It will turn the water slightly yellow. If you wash all the color out of it I don't know how effective it would be. You could add activated carbon to your filter that might keep some of the color down. That being said, if your fish are happy and growing why play with the PH.

 

[Guest]

i know i know, i shouldn't mess with it, but my angels have been exhibiting spawning behaviour and i thought a slight drop in ph might aid in it.

 

[rich311k]

That is a good reason to mess with your PH. I would just live with the yellow color you wont really notice it.

 

[Guest]

ack, it turned my water yucky.. i took it out, i would rather have clean water than spawning angels.. i know that sounds bad but as long as they are happy and healthy im not worried.

 

[greenmaji]

i would rather have clean water than spawning angels..

WOW.. I cant say that I would feel the same way... but.. I am a proponent of leaving the PH allone unless absolutly nessisary..
besides.. they can and have spawned for others out of there ideal PH..
is your water exceptionaly hard? Or is it just your PH is a little high?

 

[shawmutt]

The only way I have found to effectively lower pH is to use distilled or ro water. I actually make my own water for my two tanks so I can have a soft acidic tank and a hard alkaline tank.

 

[Guest]

i would rather have clean water than spawning angels..

WOW.. I cant say that I would feel the same way... but.. I am a proponent of leaving the PH allone unless absolutly nessisary..
besides.. they can and have spawned for others out of there ideal PH..
is your water exceptionaly hard? Or is it just your PH is a little high?

ive got city water so its pretty hard.. when i had a well when i lived out in the country i always had a perfect 7.0 pH.. i used a water softener pillow that lowered my pH pretty good and kept it steady but it ran out and i haven't gotten another one, i think that was my best bet and ill probably go back to that. I don't have the mony to do RO water right now.

 

[greenmaji]

I would save up and get a RO/DI off of e-bay.. the household systems are much cheaper then the ones sold for "aquarium use" that and you can get ones that have a DOWE(r) membrane for aquarium use.. big fancy ones for less then $150.. smaller ones for less then $70.. over time it will likely pay for itself in the water pillow replacements.. that and/or the fact of the matter is.. The only safe way to lower PH is using RO, RO/DI, DI, or distilled water in a % of your total water volume.. water softening pillows if used incorrectly can drop the PH too quickly and even if there used correctly there are unnatural fluctuatons in ph as the DI resin exausts.. leaving you with an undesired effect from the softened water.. the angels will not likely spawn.. HTH

 

[Guest]

you say spending 150 or even 70 is nothing in the long run, but to someone who is a full time student and my grocery allowance is only $50. You have to understand that not everybody is financially sound yet.. i may be in years to come once i get my education and start working full time, but right now thats not even feasable.

i think i will just leave the pH alone

 

[greenmaji]

I didnt realize the water softening pillow was the price it is now.. I need to double check prices, its been a while..
that and compratring those prices to a Kent marine unit that can do 100gpd makes them seem afordable..
your right about financial situations.. I wait untill I can afford what I want (what my inhabitants will need) before setting up a tank.. hince not starting yet..

 

[Guest]

I didnt realize the water softening pillow was the price it is now.. I need to double check prices, its been a while..
that and compratring those prices to a Kent marine unit that can do 100gpd makes them seem afordable..
your right about financial situations.. I wait untill I can afford what I want (what my inhabitants will need) before setting up a tank.. hince not starting yet..

you make it sound as though i am a bad pet owner.. i have all the necessessities, i just can't afford the caviar. THey have clean water, good filtration, several types of food. The tank was given to me for free and at the time i had all i needed to set it up. Just because i can't buy a RO system... and i wasn't talking about the water softener pillows they only cost about 3 bucks and are good for recharges, i was talking about the RO system i can't afford. I STILL have everything I need, just because i can't afford something thats a want and not a need. They have adjusted to my pH and have lived in it for about 6 months now so now that i think about it lowering the pH would probably do more stress than good.

I feel i did the research on my pets and I pay for the neccessities.. I have 4 cats who are frankly a heck of a lot more important than any fish and their vet bills come first. THen of course i have a pet snake that i researched and saved up for... but it wasn't that expensive. Just becuase we encounter a financial wall and have to overcome it doesn't mean that I don't have the means to provide for my pets.

 

[gbnw28178]

I used to also buy the scottish peat for my discus, but there does'nt seem to be a way to stop the dis-colouration from happening. I tried all sorts of stuff. Like putting it in socks and floating it in my tank to using filter floss etc. I know carbon will take out the colour. But then that defeats the whole object of using it as a cheap alternative in the first place.

In the end I just bought an RO and do 50/50 with tap water to act as a buffer and to put something back in the RO water.

 

[greenmaji]

AshleyNicole... I didnt mean that you dont have what your inhabitants need.. I ment that I dont have what my inhabitants need.. I did not mean to make it sound like anything otherwise..
I dont feel like anything else would be needed at this point for you.. A ro/di might be a nessisity for the inhabitants I wish to have though.. sorry if this caused confustion..

 

[Guest]

oh im sorry! I was taking offense i thought you meant that I didn't have the means to provide for what i already had, but you were saying you were waiting to get what you needed for YOURS.

exuse the misunderstanding, as you can tell money is touchy subject right now

 

[greenmaji]

I could have been a little clearer with my post, Im thinking SW.. and RO/DI is good for making SW.. I thought it would be unrelated to this discusion though..
good luck