got this beat now mmmahahahahahahahahaha

[tropicfishman]

I finally got a stable PH that ?I can live with, its been holding a very nice PH of 6.8 for almost a week even through 2 water changes and plant removal lol

 

[dskidmore]

Good for you! How did you do it? I'm thinking of lowering my pH by adding driftwood or peat.

 

[tropicfishman]

I took out the lonely dying live plant I had, did 3 water changes and gravel cleanings in a week and its holding a stable PH, maybe there was something in my water supply last week? iono I was about to go crazy though lol

 

[dskidmore]

pH tends to drift down over time when waste accumulates and breaks down in the tank. Partial water changes are good for fixing that.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

dskidmore, Peat will lower the KH of your water, but it's time consuming to treat the water before you add it.. I would recommend 50/50 RO mix if your tank size permits this.

 

[dskidmore]

75 gallon tank, and I don't have my own RO unit yet. So RO is pretty much out of the question for regular changes.

 

[tropicfishman]

I hear peat turns your water like a brownish color....what kinda preperations do you have to do before you can add peat?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

none before, but at each waterchange you have to prefilter the water to soften it up, not as important with a 75Gal @ 20% water change, the difference is absorbed by shear volume.. but with 10 Gals where you are changing 40-50% of the water, it can make a huge difference and shock the fish.

Also, running it in the filter, you have to watch you params, it can easily soften your water to unstable levels.. the effect can be accelerated with temperature (the warmer your water, the faster it will work.)

 

[dskidmore]

none before, but at each waterchange you have to prefilter the water to soften it up, not as important with a 75Gal @ 20% water change, the difference is absorbed by shear volume.. but with 10 Gals where you are changing 40-50% of the water, it can make a huge difference and shock the fish.

Shouldn't the percentage be the only thing that matters? Given, with a smaller tank you have less tolerance for error in the amount of peat you add...