How to lower pH?

[KcMopar]

You can use 1 teaspoon per 10G to raise it slowly. However, you cant get over about 8.2 with sodium bicarbonate itself. You need to increase your KH and GH as well so you have a better buffering ability. I control mine like this, these will be per gallon and only approximately as water is different in different areas so adjustments will need to be made based on you water tests. 1 Teaspoon on baking soda, 1 teaspoon of instant ocean sea salt, and 1 TABLESPOON of Epsom salt per gal. These are just in the ball park adjustments and need to be adjusted per your water tests on pH, gH, kH, and salinity. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROCEDURE UNLESS YOU HAVE THE KIT TO TEST WITH AND PLAN ON DOING THIS EVERY WATER CHANGE SO YOU DO NOT SHOCK YOUR FISH. YOU WILL NEED TO RAISE THESE SLOWLY NOT ALL AT ONCE. I ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING THIS WITH RO/DI WATER ONLY!!!

 

[Thyra]

In ordinary circumstances, unless you have some very specialized fish, there is no need to chase your pH. The fish will adjust to your pH, but the constant fluctuations that could occur is very hard on them and even dangerous.

 

[KcMopar]

It sure is Thyra!!! You are correct.
I strive to keep my parameters with 2-3% week to week. There is a lot of math involved as well. You need to know to the wire how much you take, the values of that water plus the values of what it was before evaporation. Now you need to know to the wire how much you are putting back in and adjust those values to make it within 2-3% difference with regard to the fact that you are adding more due to evaporation between this and the last water change. That should make it simple enough for ya right??? Also note that its more then chasing pH, its also kH, gH, and salinity as well. If kH and gH are low then just adding baking soda is a waste as the pH will not hold because the water has low buffering. That part clears it up for sure! LOL, its really a pain to be honest!!!!

 

[Kiara1125]

Yeah, I'm not going to raise my pH. My friend is getting Cichlids and he's tried the Cichlid Salt but he can't keep his pH stable (6.8 where he's at). He doesn't want to constantly buy salt, so he was wondering if there was a cheaper method. I remember using baking soda and salt to raise the pH when I was hatching brine shrimp for my fry. I told him about this site, so hopefully he'll join.

 

[KcMopar]

If you do not get the gH and kH up there is not way to stabilize it. Those fish will be fine without it.

 

[Floster939]

I would not add chemicals, as they make the pH very unstable. Try naturally lowering the pH by placing driftwood in your aquarium. Don't forget to let the tanins in the wood soak out before adding it to the water, unless you are going for a South American biotype and want tea-colored water. Good luck!

If you let the tannins soak out of the driftwood does it still have the ability to reduce ph ?

 

[Felipe]

Newtofish, I have 15 neon tetras in my tank. they've been there for over two months, the females have eggs sacks, but they dont lay them. probably because of the ph. But anyways, My Ph is 7.6. So yes, you can have neon tetras, and probably other tetras in a high ph level. I also have five angelfish.

 

[Felipe]

Based on the various responses, I am going with not messing with PH and letting it stay at 7.8. Makes the water changes much simpler!

Question still is - has anyone tried keeping neon tetras or any other tetras at this high pH level? I am very interested in getting these fish.

I have 15 neons in my tank. and five angelfish. The PH is 7.6.

 

[Thyra]

I have neons, serpaes, and I think they are called "red eyed" tetras with a pH over 8.2 with no problems.

 

[caprig]

Neons Need Copper

For whatever it is worth, neons tend to need a touch of copper in the tanks and when they don't have it they die. Case in point- I have PH of 7.8 in my water. I tried to raise neons and lost them in droves. I blew through tons of them and they didn't last more than a week or two, no matter WHAT I did.

I then remembered about pet stores having old copper pennies in the tanks so I put a couple of old copper pennies in the tank after cleaning them well and rinsing very well, and like magic they stopped dying! I have had them for almost a year now with no problems.

I related this story to quite a few people and discovered that two of the identical pet stores (same chain) have completely different water. One of them has copper in the water, and the other has no copper in the water.

Store with copper rarely lose neon tetras. Store without copper can not keep neon tetras alive.

A word of caution- the one type of fish that tends to be sensitive to copper is the bottom feeders. I find that with just a couple of pennies, the cory albino catfish are okay, but they don't tend to live over 7 months. In my other tanks without the pennies, they don't seem to die as often.

So in the case of neon tetras in our area, it does not seem to be the PH but the copper content of the water.

Newtofish, I have 15 neon tetras in my tank. they've been there for over two months, the females have eggs sacks, but they dont lay them. probably because of the ph. But anyways, My Ph is 7.6. So yes, you can have neon tetras, and probably other tetras in a high ph level. I also have five angelfish.

 

[FishDad]

RedTurquoise, I'm glad I read your post. My wife and I are planning on starting a planted discus tank. I'll start a new thread and I would love to here your advice if you wouldn't mind.

 

[KcMopar]

Copper kills fish in moderate quantities. A penny or two is not keeping fish alive and healthy!! Its more likely due to the more frequent water changes due to the penny thing had encouraged you to do so. Dont take this a bad way as I am just being very FRANK.