Why wont my aquarium pH lower?

[Nicki Gaga]

My tank water (and tap water) is around 8.6 and I've wanted to lower it to 6.8 to breed my neon tetras (and possibly glowlight tetras).

I change 15% of my water once a week in my 24 gallon tank with 18 small fish in it (I know - it's overstocked).
I've got a 30cm piece of bogwood (added two years ago).
Use Irish peat moss in the filter (added 3 weeks ago).
Have a carbon dioxide diffuser (added 2 days ago).
Quite a lot of live plants.
3mm gravel.

So why isn't the pH going down especially after I put in the bogwood and peat moss?

 

[PNWaquarist]

If your tap water is ph 8.6 and you want to breed tetras, I'd suggest using mostly RO water and a little of your tap water. This will also soften your water, which is an added bonus for tetras.

Peat and bogwood will only knock your pH down a little, and it'll happen very slowly.

 

[Gillie]

I'm guessing you have well water. Well water has a very high mineral content which includes lime, which is why you're having trouble dropping your ph. Wood, peat and leaves will do little to lower your ph, as PNW said mix ro water with tap water. If I remember correctly I was doing a 70/30 ro to tap mix when I was on a well. That should get you closer, then you can switch to something like 90/10 if you want to drop lower. The fish you are looking to breed come from water with a low mineral content in the wild. You might want to look into a TDS meter to moniter dissolved solids accurately as even though we think of them needing a low ph, they actually require a low TDS, the ph just lowers as the disolved solids are removed.

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[gilpi]

Breeding neon tetras can be very challenging. I met someone in the Caribbean that breeds them in a fish farm outdoors! His secret was the rain water.
May I suggest a Google search, there's lots of interesting information on this topic.


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[Nicki Gaga]

Where can I get RO water? I live in the south east of UK. Or can I use water through a Brita filter?

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

I've never understood RO water, doesn't it have like nothing in it at all, no minerals nothing?

I'm in the same boat with a PH of about 8.4, well or city, maybe I should just get some Mbuna haha

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Some LFS have RO water but in your (and most) cases I would buy a $200-400 RO thing to make your own.

 

[Gillie]

Where can I get RO water? I live in the south east of UK. Or can I use water through a Brita filter?

Do you have water refill stations at your grocery store? Those dispense ro water, I fill 5 gallon jugs when my rain water runs low.

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[gilpi]

I've never understood RO water, doesn't it have like nothing in it at all, no minerals nothing?

I'm in the same boat with a PH of about 8.4, well or city, maybe I should just get some Mbuna haha

Hey, sometimes is best to conform to what we have. My city water is around 8.0 and I did just that, got mbunas and other Africans.

But that doesn't mean you can't have other fish as well, I would think many of the store bought, farm raised acidic water fish... Angels, Discus and other cichlids have so many generations being bred in high pH water that they can thrive in alkaline water. From personal experience I have discus and angels doing very well in 7.8-8.2 range. I have to say I never tried breeding them and don't care to. Years ago I tried messing with buffers and peat moss but the pH fluctuation was more of a disaster than a benefit for the fish. I now feel it is best to just maintain a steady pH.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Hey, sometimes is best to conform to what we have. My city water is around 8.0 and I did just that, got mbunas and other Africans.

Yep. I have super-soft tap water (like 3 dGH), so tetras, rams, and corys were sort of a no-brainer.

One of these years, when the kids are older and I have more free time, I may take on the challenge of a saltwater tank.