Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
I want to breed GBR rams and my ph is at 8.2. What r the best way to lower it (no chemicals!)
Lowering pH.
- Thread starter Sillyfishies
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bud29
Aquarium Advice Addict
Running peat moss through your filter will lower pH, so will tannins from driftwood and Indian Almond Leaves. Clay will also lower pH.
molliwopp
Aquarium Advice Addict
A reverse osmosis system is the best way. Lots of drift wood and or pete in the filter can also lower ph. You can buy different types of leaves that also lower ph but some will stain the water, people use leaves in black water setups.
OP
OP
Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
A R/O system won't be available or quite a while. I know driftwood doesn't lower right away (maybe not ever) and what do I do with peat balls? Put it in my filter and just leave it forever? Or do I have to replace/ squeeze the juice into the tank
I don't recommend trying to lower your PH. Most fish can adjust to different PHs easily, if acclimated correctly. I had two GBRs in around the same PH you have for a while. I would try GBRs in your unchanged water now, and see how they do. Make sure to acclimate them very slowly (drip acclimation is what I recommend). Another thing to consider is that PH isn't as important as general hardness and carbonate hardness. Using peat moss or driftwood is usually not as effective in lowering these as it is with PH. Since you wouldn't be able to get an RO system in a while, I suggest trying them in your water as it is now.
OP
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Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
They can live and adapt fine, but they don't breed very well is the problem.
They will spawn in harder water, but the main issue is that the newborn fry are more sensitive. I meant that for the time being you could keep them in your unchanged PH and see if they spawn. When you are able to get an RO/DI unit you will probably have better results.
Since you won't be able to get an r/o system for some time, I would suggest going to your local store, and seeing if they have one of those bottle your own water systems. That's how I lowered my ph years ago. Or you can try co2 injection. I'll post those pics we talked about here in a minute.
bud29
Aquarium Advice Addict
There is also something called Seachem Neutral Regulator, it dechlorinates your water and brings it down to 7.0. But seriously I wouldn't sweat pH much.
OP
OP
Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
The rams won't want to spawn in my water and the babies most likely wont survive! So I am sweating it
That's not entirely true... wild caught rams would never spawn in high ph but many of todays rams bred by responsible breeders, not ones coming from Asian Fish Farms that commonly use hormones on their rams causing them to have reproductive issues as they mature, can spawn and raise fry in higher ph. If your that concerned you don't have to buy an RO unit as many grocery stores have fill it yourself RO water stations. Fish stores, especially ones that have saltwater fish often sell RO water. Depending on the size of the tank it wouldn't be any more expensive than keeping Indian Almond leaves or other blackwater additives added into the tank.
OP
OP
Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
These may be wild caught. I've had multiple wild caught fish from the LFS...
There is no way to know for sure so you either try adjusting your water with RO which is the most reliable way to absolutely be able to keep ph/gh/kh where you want them to be or you try them with your tap water. Also should add that not many rams on the market here in the US are wild caught anymore. More are imported from Fisheries in Asia.
Okay, obviously his rams won't breed in his current water conditions, or they would have done so by now. The guy wants advice on lowering ph, so lets give him advice on lowering ph. First step, check your gh. The harder your water, the more dangerous and difficult to lower the ph. So, if your hardness is up there, try softener pillows in your filter you'll need to rinse them in salt water from time to time. Otherwise, you'll have to add more and more acidic material until the ph drops, and when it does, it will PLUMMET! So, work on that first. Then, managing ph will be cake.
He doesn't have rams yet and I told him the best way to lower ph/kh/gh via use of RO water. Using a water pillow is not at all advisable as all it does is exchange calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions. Sodium ions are not a good thing in tanks for the most part but especially in planted tanks.
molliwopp
Aquarium Advice Addict
Get an ro system. Its not complicated, Its easy, just like a buying a new filter.
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
Most people spend waaaay too much time worrying about pH and worrying about the actual important factors with fish, namely TDS, KH, GH, etc. If you don't address these factors, all the artificial ways to lower pH won't help you.
If you're looking at seriously breeding rams, and RO system is almost required. If you aren't controlling your water parameters, you will probably have limited success, especially if your above parameters aren't in line with the Amazon. If you're not going to do it seriously, like if you just want to breed them for fun, then I suggest that you look at apistogramma species beyond. I know several serious breeders that have stopped breeding rams altogether due to a combination of factors. Apistogramma cacatuoides are easier to breed, similarly beautiful, and they have a market not unlike rams. I can almost guarantee that the rams you get from a LFS that's not a major importer won't be wild caught, and probably suffer from the same genetic/hormonal problems that plague rams in general.
As an aside though, I've had rams spawn in pH 8, GH 14/ KH10, but never got them to hatch because my ram parents were dumb as a sack of potatoes, as many/most rams are these days.
If you're looking at seriously breeding rams, and RO system is almost required. If you aren't controlling your water parameters, you will probably have limited success, especially if your above parameters aren't in line with the Amazon. If you're not going to do it seriously, like if you just want to breed them for fun, then I suggest that you look at apistogramma species beyond. I know several serious breeders that have stopped breeding rams altogether due to a combination of factors. Apistogramma cacatuoides are easier to breed, similarly beautiful, and they have a market not unlike rams. I can almost guarantee that the rams you get from a LFS that's not a major importer won't be wild caught, and probably suffer from the same genetic/hormonal problems that plague rams in general.
As an aside though, I've had rams spawn in pH 8, GH 14/ KH10, but never got them to hatch because my ram parents were dumb as a sack of potatoes, as many/most rams are these days.
OP
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Sillyfishies
Aquarium Advice Addict
I do have my rams... And I'm getting an RO system in my new house (which will be a few months)
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
Are you sure it's an RO system and not a water softener?
