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!)
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.
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.They can live and adapt fine, but they don't breed very well is the problem.
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.
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.
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.
I do have my rams... And I'm getting an RO system in my new house (which will be a few months)